(This is part two of a trip report to NZ/AU. I used 125,000 AA miles and $131 to fly business class on Qantas and return on Hawaiian Air, with a stop in Honolulu, using AA miles from my Citi cards. See the previous post for more info.)

One day we drove north of Auckland to visit a working farm and see a sheep show. We stopped along the way at an Icebreaker outlet store. If you don’t know about the Icebreaker brand of clothes, they are made from 100% NZ merino wool (from merino sheep, which live high in the mountains) and they do NOT itch. I have summer and winter shirts, and they are great for traveling! I’m wearing one in these photos. My favorite place to buy them is Sierra Trading Post where they are always on discount; and I am not affiliated with any of these companies in any way!

The sheep show was much more interesting than I thought it would be. Here’s the border collie in action as he herded the sheep by staring at them. He did not bark, just ran around and occasionally stopped and stared. I have no idea how it all works!

Because I asked lots of questions, I was chosen to “sort” the sheep, after selecting another person from the audience.

Each sheep was marked with a color and we sorted by opening and closing gates…we were so careful about it all and only missed one or two. THEN we were told it didn’t really matter how they were sorted!

Sheep shearers are in great demand in countries all over the world and they can shear a sheep in seconds! They work 8-9 hours a day and make over $100,000 NZD per year.

 

This lamb had never been shorn before and did not make a sound the entire time. If a lamb is cut through the shearing process (but good shearers don’t do that) they secrete lanolin which helps it to heal within hours. We bottle fed lambs at the end of the show, as you can see from the first photo!

The New Zealand culture is quite interesting also…the country was discovered by the Polynesians between 1200 and 1300 AD, called “Maori” people. Maori descendents make up about 15% of the population these days. And people refer to New Zealanders as “Kiwis.”

We went to the Tamaki Maori Village after we arrived in Rotorua the first evening. It was like entering another world, with deep forests and painted people…

 

We visited different parts of the “village” and then went to a show about their culture.

 

 

 

A traditional Maori greeting!

Next up, Rotorua and hot springs…