An entry in the TFS Travel Journal
We love those electric blankets (and thought of you, JD!), but not this mattress, which feels like a squishy waterbed. A lovely breakfast, then we waited a bit for Alister to come by in his pickup and pick us up. The three of us squeezed into the cab, with his five dogs (four sheep dogs and Lesley’s playful golden retriever) and three rams in different compartments on the truck bed. We spent a few hours moving rams into the different paddocks where the ewes were as they were all beginning to come into heat. The ratio was about 3 rams for each 200 or so ewes, so those rams will have a busy next few weeks. We mostly drove around their expansive station, but once we herded a group of rams along with the help of Jan, the herd-dog used for close-in herding. [among sheepdogs, there are “herd” dogs - which herd sheep toward their master and don’t bark (though we did see her take a bite out of the backside of one of the sheep when they weren’t moving to her liking), and there are “hunt-away” dogs - which herd the animals away from their master and do bark; Alister has two of each. Donald, his brother and partner, has five dogs of his own. He and his family live on the other side of the station]
At one point, we were atop a high hill on their property and were afforded a breathtaking, sweeping view of the Canterbury Valley, the many small mountain ranges, and the imposing and snow capped Southern Alps (including, finally, a clear view of the elusive Mt. Cook, at 13,000+ feet the highest in New Zealand). Alister just couldn’t have been nicer as he went about his business with us in tow, patiently answering all our questions, showing us the workings and explaining all the nuances. Both he and Lesley are quite interesting people, as she’s also a social worker specializing in relationship counseling (when married couples separate here, the government pays for 6 sessions of counseling to assist in settling everything and best avoid the courts) , and he’s the head of a local co-op for their electrical power as well as being quite involved with country-wide efforts to increase the brand awareness of New Zealand Merino Wool. All in all, it was a fascinating glimpse into daily life here on the farm. We were fortunate, too, with the weather which today had completely cleared (after a gloomy foggy morning) and was cool but with a warm sun.
We were brought back to our cottage in the early afternoon. As we’d been eating so well, we passed on lunch, but Lesley had said that she’d leave some muffins for us. When we went inside, they were waiting for us on the kitchen counter, freshly baked, in a basket with a kitchen towel covering them, right out of Norman Rockwell (or his New Zealand equivalent). There were four warm banana-chocolate muffins, and we couldn’t help but to consume three in short order. We then sat and read (and took a quick cat nap!), then headed out to drive around the area.
We parked at Lake Tekapo, and started up the Mt. John Observatory trail. It was a bit steep, but we were tramping (as they say here) through a wonderfully fragrant pine forest with intermittent views of the large, magically colored lake. We got to the top and walked around the loop that circled the observatory buildings. (as the sign told us, this observatory is not world-class, but at 44 degrees south, it is the southernmost on the planet and so can offer a unique vantage point) We were able to take in most of the Southern Alps and to marvel at the milky-turquoise-light-blue color of the lake, set amongst large pine forests.
We came back down, and Wendy did a masterful job of driving us safely back (staying on the left side all the way!) home. We relaxed for a bit, ate the last muffin, then went up to have dinner. Again, a good, home-cooked meal! A green salad, some chicken-divan type casserole with pasta, steamed broccoli and a perfectly crisp and light local Savignon Blanc. Dessert was a delicious homemade creme brulee with fresh fruit salad. We sat around chatting for a while, welcomed in the big fluffy cats Silver and Monty, (perfectly capping Wendy’s day after playing with the 5 dogs earlier) then walked back to the cottage under another unreally clear and star-studded sky.