"He's my favourite," Rosemary admits as she calls to the eight-year-old bird.

Boy Boy appears a little shy about displaying his iridescent plumage but he's up against some stiff competition as a white peacock fans out its magnificent tail over by the machinery shed.

"The more they 'shudder' the more they are showing off to the female because it's up to her who she wants as a partner," Ray explains with a chuckle.

The delightful couple runs the Mount Pilot Tourist Farm at the base of the Mount Pilot National Park in their "spare time".

Since they purchased the 60-acre bush land property 20 years ago, Ray and Rosemary have accumulated a wonderful assortment of friendly farmyard animals - from goats, geese, guinea pigs, peacocks and ponies to kangaroos, alpacas, emus, elk and deer.

There's even a hefty looking pig called Dallas.

"Pigs are intelligent," Ray informs us as we take a stroll around the farm.

"Pigs have no sweat glands; that's why they need to wallow in the mud.

"Hear him snuffling at me? That's the way Dallas expresses himself."

We pat the very tame kangaroos who, together with the cheeky emus, were adopted by the Browns when Albury's Ettamogah Sanctuary closed in 2012.

Ray even demonstrates how you can pop a piece of bread on your head for the emu to peck off - a little too enthusiastically for this journalist's comfort.

However it's clear when we enter the pens of the Canadian elk which animals occupy the largest space in Ray's heart.

They truly are magnificent up close.

"I do love the elks," Ray admits, scratching their ears fondly as they jostle for the feed bucket.

"Although," he adds, "I wouldn't mind one of those shaggy highland cows - that would be fun.

"I don't want a camel - they spit."

Ray keeps up a non-stop and highly entertaining commentary about their beloved animals and the tourist park, proudly pointing out the pool, barbecue facilities and three cabins where he says families return year after year to stay and enjoy the wide open spaces.

There are horse rides on offer and a totally novel teddy bear scavenger hunt where Ray and Rosemary take out a trailer load of kids behind their quad bikes to search for an odd assortment of stuffed toys hiding around the bush.

And, if the squeals of excitement and well-worn teddies clutched in the arms of the finder are anything to go by, the game is a roaring success.

Often it's difficult to tell just who is having more fun - Ray or the kids.

"We've had weddings, we do lots of birthdays and we also have schools coming here," he says.

"Often children start out that frightened but after a few days they are patting the animals and feeling comfortable."

The couple takes animals to Myrtleford Show every year for the sheer enjoyment of seeing the delight on faces young and old.

"We just love the kids," Rosemary says.

"We love giving them an experience some of them have only seen in pictures."

The love of animals runs in the veins of Ray and Rosemary, both 66.

Prior to purchasing their farm at Chiltern, they ran trail rides from a property at Wooragee in the North East for 15 years.

The couple, who have been married for 45 years, met in Wodonga.

"Ray's father was my farrier - his mum and dad lived down the road from us at Albury," Rosemary recalls.

(Ray's brother, Bob Brown, is a well-known farrier in the Jindera region.)

"I started riding ponies when I was 6 years old, we rode horses into our teens and I guess it just went from there."

Ray says they first seriously decided to do the "tourist thing" at Mount Pilot in 2003.

They had brought the horses and ponies with them from Wooragee and Rosemary immediately started building up her flock of chooks.

The menagerie gradually grew and grew and grew during their many "treks" looking for animals.

At times it's been a steep learning process along the way as they sought to turn their passion into a business, Ray admits.

They've had to get their heads around things like public liability insurance and ever-tightening OH&S policies and procedures.

Both agree all the necessary red tape is absolutely worth it and that they intend to devote their energy full-time to the tourist farm once they retire.

"The people you meet are just incredible ... absolutely lovely," Ray says.

"We've had the cabins for about 14 years and have so many repeat customers or people who book in and say, 'We've heard so much about you'.

"My heart is here."

On the rare occasions this salt-of-the earth pair gets a chance to head off on holiday, they take to the ocean.

"We love doing cruises on our time off," Rosemary says.

"It can be tricky getting someone to look after everything here but one of our sons comes out and looks after things.

"We've been on four cruises so far..."

They can't ever stay away for too long though, Ray reveals.

"Rosemary pines for the animals and keeps ringing home to ask how they are so it's not always relaxing," he laughs.