Of South Island: The Motorway

The next two days involved a lot of driving.The route we took might seem odd at first glance, but we had another free place to stay in Christchurch, and this way we were able to drive through the center of the island, which we heard was really nice.

At the very beginning of the drive, we ran into something I never thought I’d see. A lady on a four-wheeler along with her five dogs were moving a flock of sheep across a bridge and down the highway. It was awesome:

We continued the drive to Christchurch, stopping a couple of times to see a waterfall (I can’t remember its name), or just on the side of the road to look at the landscape. Since the trip was more about the national parks for us, we didn’t do too much in Christchurch, besides getting a bit lost and driving around the center of the city to see some of the impact from the 2011 earthquake. More than a year later, there are still portions of the city blocked off from traffic with a lot of repair work going on. We owe a big thanks to the Hawke family (again, friends of the Withingtons) for letting us stay with them (twice!).

On the fifth day we left Christchurch early and set off on the Great Alpine Highway, going through Arthur’s Pass National Park. Even these long driving days didn’t disappoint, as there were plenty of stops along the way worth seeing.

The water from those last two pictures is really that color. I assume it’s glacier water flowing down. The only problem with that place was the sandflies. Actually this is a good time to warn people about these annoying things, if you don’t already know about them. They are all over the South Island (especially in the western part), and when they find you, it’s not just a few of them that surround you, but dozens at a time. They are slow, so if you keep walking they can’t keep up. But if you stop, they will quickly find you. Get some bug spray if you ever visit!

Anyway, we made it to Franz Joseph Glacier in the late afternoon. It was actually cold and rainy that evening, so we just relaxed at our “backpackers” after getting there. I got a cool Wild Kiwi waterproof jacket at the i-SITE. It was a good investment, I ended up wearing it a lot through the rest of the trip…

Of A Four-legged Beast

Sheep are generally pretty gentle, easygoing animals, which makes herding them a pretty simple and easy task. As you approach them, they’ll just start moving in the opposite direction. And they follow each other, so stragglers tend to move towards the big group. But for every rule, there is an exception, and for this story, the exception looks like this:

This is Shrek, named after another merino sheep that achieved much more notoriety a few years back when it eluded shearers for six years, and grew a massive fleece in the meantime. Our version probably only avoided the clippers for a couple of years, but it carried a lot of wool nonetheless. Shrek looks pretty pleased with himself in the picture above, but as soon as he realized that we were trying to catch him, that smile on his face quickly vanished.

When Joey and I were given the task to move him towards the shearing pen, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. But as soon as we got close, it became apparent why he hadn’t been shorn in so long. While the rest of the sheep moved away when we approached, Shrek turned to face us and stood his ground. He doesn’t like being herded, barked at and especially prodded with a stick.

It took time, but eventually, after several failed attempts to even get him to budge, Joey and I moved him along and Ken had to literally ride him into the pen. Finally, after Ken and I got Shrek on his back, Bucko took over. He’s been shearing since 1966 and was definitely the hero of the day. Have a look:

The before and after shots are above. In the second picture you can get a sense of how much bigger Shrek is compared to other sheep. Combine Shrek’s size and hostility, and you see that he is no ordinary ram. But given how Bucko made it look so easy, you have to also conclude that he is no ordinary shearer…

Of Pets

Sometimes people ask me if I’ve ever had pets. When I answer that I had a hamster when I was a kid, they usually laugh, and say it doesn’t count. Then when I say we named him Buddy, they are even less impressed with the lack of originality.

So I guess I’ve never really had a pet that counts. But I do have the most adorable pictures ever from when my cousins’ Weimaraner had pups, almost ten years ago:

    

The Withingtons have pets. Let me introduce you to the main characters. Chester is the patriarch. He’s been around for a while and knows what’s going on. Chuck is about a year and a half old and bursting with energy. Chopper is Chuck’s brother (no white spot on the head) and actually belongs to Glenn, but he comes over during the day while Glenn is working. And then there’s Tiger, the one-eyed cat. He’s old, but still bold. He’s been in a few battles, and evidently has lost some of them.

In clockwise order, starting from top left: Chester, Chuck, Chopper and Tiger.

Then come the livestock. You can’t call yourself a New Zealander unless you own sheep. Well, there is no lack of them here. And just for good measure, there are also cows, pigs and chickens.

There is one particular sheep that merits more storytelling. But I’ll save that for another post. For now, at the risk of not being taken seriously ever again, I’ll leave you with a ridiculous video…

(For those of you in US, the video is blocked on YouTube. Try here.)