We’re back in Whangarei and on Charisma. Yay! But…we really enjoyed our two weeks of land cruising and look forward to seeing much more of New Zealand next season when we’re back (Novemberish).

We drove from Hamilton (yo, JHam) four hours back to Whangarei. Made it past Auckland this time on a Saturday, so no significant traffic.

Coolest part of the day-stopping at SheepWorld! OK, sounds a bit “iffy”, but turned out fascinating. With full irony we started our visit with a Lamb Burger. I have to say it was delicious and much less fatty than a hamburger. They just need to find a better name since you do think of a little cuddly lamb when ordering…

After lunch, we went to the “show”. I was prepared for an overpriced, under delivered experience, but it was more fun…The farmer who owned the place turns out to be a natural showman and did a fabulous job showing us all how he manages his sheep. It started out with an awesome demonstration of his dogs herding the sheep. A Border Collie and a local NZ dog called a “Huntaway”. Incredible how they can herd the sheep and how they take commands. The show went on with demonstrations of shearing sheep that actually made the whole process fascinating. There is actually a choreography that the shearer goes through as he/she maneuvers the sheep with his legs and arms through the whole range of shearing from one side to the other. The farmer then demonstrated how to put a sheep to sleep by just using “pressure points”around the sheep’s ears. It literally fell asleep on the stage!

Amazing!

Well, that’s what we all do for entertainment here in New Zealand!

SheepWorld!! (OK, some of us are more excited than others)

Sam the New Zealand Huntaway (that's the type of dog-specially bred in New Zealand to herd sheep)

Boyd the Border Collie in action. Amazing dogs!

A live demo on sheep shearing. It was too dark for the action shots, but here's how they hold the sheep so they don't squirm. Amazing the choreography involved in shearing.