With 58 "children" to look after - 59 if you count the dog - Patricia Bova was always going to allow plenty of time if it came to evacuating the Penrose property she has owned for more than 20 years.
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And so, with dire bushfire predictions forecast across the state for New Year's Eve and no desire to leave things to chance, Mrs Bova made the decision to shift half her alpaca flock to the safety of the agricultural showground at Moss Vale - an evacuation point for people with animals to care for.
She moved the other half on Friday ahead of Saturday's scorcher.
The 58 ladies - Mrs Bova's six stud males have been moved to a friend's place in Bargo - now roam the showground's main arena, attracting their fair share of attention for obvious reasons.
But the alpacas are not the only animals seeking refuge at the showgrounds: the stables are full of horses, ducks and chickens are being kept in the poultry shed and there's even a cheeky pig called Wilbur on the grounds (he loves strawberries, we discovered).
When asked why she chose to relocate early, Mrs Bova said the risk of remaining on her 42-acre property wasn't worth it.
"The warnings that were coming through....I was worried about the southerly and what it would do, and you can't move them [the alpacas] in a hurry," she said.
"There wasn't enough water to fight any fire that come through, so it was either let them burn or get them out.
"We made the decision early and at the time we thought 'should we be doing this', but last night I was really pleased we did.
"We'll stay until the fire is out."
Moss Vale Show Society president and fellow alpaca breeder Neil Parker was at the showgrounds on Saturday night as evacuees and their animals began pouring through the gates around 11pm.
"It was pretty chaotic," he said.
"Most people were coming from Bundanoon and lots of people with horses."
