The Lowdown on Sheep

Ever wonder the difference between a lamb and a sheep? And do you really believe there's such a thing as a black sheep? Ever wonder how a dog herds sheep? Or if it's painful for sheep to be sheared?  Well, hold your breath no more as we went to a sheep farm and have the low-down on everything sheepish!

The answer to the first question:

These are lambs, I kid you not! And when they are lambs, they are sheared twice the first year. After that, they become 'adult' sheep (we all knew that right?, that these little lambs turn into sheep after their 1st birthday?) and are sheared once a year. The shearing is done in New Zealand November through January.

The answer to the next question:

This fella is the real deal. It's a genetic thing and it happens in about 1 out of 1,000 (I think the odds are way more than that). In reality, even two 'white' sheep can produce a black one and in the old days, black wool was pretty worthless- hence the phrase 'black sheep in the family' as in no good for nothing.

Next, sheep dogs love their job:

 

Leo, the sheep dog here, can herd the sheep at his master's command by looking at the lead sheep and barking loudly or nipping- it scares the hell out of them! We watched him do this several times, down the hill and then back up. Sheep dogs apparently love doing this work.

As for getting fleeced (so to speak), how are they sheared? They use machine shears and they operate like barber haircutters. We watched and it doesn't hurt them at all:

They put the sheep on their rump which makes them almost immobile during the process: 

The above pic shows a comparison of the sheep sheared (he's the scared looking one in the back) versus ones not sheared so you get a sense of the amount of wool they produce. And once sheared, they need to be protected for a few days from sunburn, then they go back into the flock. 

Shearers can make good bucks. They are paid on a per sheep basis at $2- $3 each and more for merino sheep and they can average 300 sheep per day. 

Next up- our last country on our world journey- Japan

Driving Down to Queenstown New Zealand

We continue to be astounded by the scenery on the South Island of New Zealand as it is renowned for its mountains, lakes and glaciers. About two hours from Fox Glacier, you drive by Lake Wanaka nestled by majestic mountains:

There's a small parcel of land called 'the neck' separating this from another major lake, Hawea:

Years ago, these lakes were together and this 1 km stretch of land was built up over time. Driving down, you quickly realize that as there are only 1 million people on the South Island, there are not a lot of towns or villages interrupting the landscape. You also have to be careful with gas as they have signs saying 'no gas for 190 km'. Where we stopped overnight, there was only one store, one gas station and one hotel. But look at our view!

Travelling down to Queenstown, you drive through the mountains until it opens up to a plateau of farms:

Queenstown is small with only 14,000 people. It's a resort town but more than doubles in size with lodges and motels:

We took a day trip to Milford Sound, New Zealand's famous fiord. When we left Queenstown it was brilliant sunshine but the guide cautioned that it would be raining in Milford as it rains 190 days a year there. This fiord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides and cliffs. The deep sided rock faces go up to 2,200 metres (over 6,000 feet). When we got there, we couldn't see the tops of the higher rocks with the overcast but it was still surprisingly beautiful (the white dots at the base of the rocks are ferries): 

It started to rain hard when we were passing Copper Point where there are gale force, sometimes hurricane force winds (the Tasman Sea meets up with the Pacific). The captain said it would be a great experience to 'feel' the power of the wind and all on board were eager to do this until walking out:

I'm the idiot in the picture hanging on for dear life with winds of 75 km per hour (hurricane is 85 km). I got soaked- and to be honest- I'm surprised they even let anyone out on the deck with those winds.

Going back, we drove into gorgeous weather again:

This island is really quite remarkable in its grandeur and natural beauty.

Driving Down the South Island of New Zealand

People say that the south island of new Zealand is prettier than the north and so far, we must agree. Right from the time the ferry enters Cook Strait, you are in for a panoramic surprise:

As we started our journey down on the west side, we visited the Marlborough Region, home to dozens of major wineries:

Although this area is renowned for their white wine, Cathy tried the Pinot Noir and said it was the best she's ever had (which is quite interesting as she said that again the next vineyard too).

We drove to Punakaiki, best known for its Pancake Rocks and Blowholes: 

These lime rocks have been around for 35 million years and scientists still do not understand how the rocks formed into layers. Also, with the ocean waves crashing to shore, there are 'holes' in the rocks that create 'mist blowholes' and you hear a huge swooshing sound when the spray bursts out:

Another major difference from the north island is the mountain scenery versus the hills of northern New Zealand. We took a trek on Fox Glacier (I can't tell you how thrilled I am that I kept my hiking shoes) and the views are spectacular:

This part of New Zealand has the feeling of Whistler in B.C. Here though, the weather can change every 5 minutes from cloudless skies and brilliant sunshine to low lying clouds cutting off visibility of the mountain-tops. Here's a pic of Mount Cook at the start of our hike around Lake Matheson:

And here's a pic about an hour later:

In case you're wondering how much trekking we did today, it was around 16 km and I'm happier than a pig in shit being back in my room!

Wellington, New Zealand

The scenery is fantastic driving form Auckland to Wellington and the bottom part of the north island of New Zealand. There are miles of rolling hillside:

And of course, New Zealand is famous for their sheep and lamb:

Did you know there's about 8 sheep for every person living here? Yikes! Up until 30 years ago, sheep farming was the most important industry. But since then, dairy farming has earned more money and sheep numbers have fallen. The reason? You make more milking cows than selling lamb chops and wool. So now there's over 1 cow for every Kiwi living here! That's right, 5 million cows.

In Wellington there is a lookout on Mount Victoria that offers a spectacular view of the city:

This mountain was actually used in the first film of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Ring movies where the hobbits hide from the ring wraiths.

We also took in the museum exhibit of the Kiwis contribution during the First World War at Gallipoli. When we were in Turkey, we actually visited the site where so many died when the Allies tried to take over the Dardanelles Straits from the Turks who were fighting with Germany:

In WWI, ten percent of the population of 1.1 million served overseas, of which more than 18,000 died. That's almost one in five that enlisted and quite high percentage wise compared to the British, French and Canadians.

Tomorrow, we're taking the ferry across to the southern island of New Zealand. The terminal was damaged by Monday's earthquake but lucky for us it has been fixed.

Auckland, New Zealand

New Zealand is a country of 2 main islands (north and south), both marked by volcanoes and yes, privy to earthquakes! We were very fortunate to be on the north island, just outside Auckland when the two hit New Zealand today. Apart from curtains flapping, up here there was no damage.

The whole country has a population of only 4.5 million with Auckland having 1.5 million. It has a quaint feel, laid back compared to Australia:

One example can be seen with one of their 'major department' stores sprucing up for Christmas:

New Zealand is actually an island nation and made up of a lot of islands. We went over to Waiheke Island to do some wine-tasting and passed several islands along the way:

The wine- according to Cathy- is excellent as we visited 3 vineyards. I can say that the water is also excellent, although I really couldn't tell the difference from one vineyard to another!

Please ignore the sign she is holding especially the wording- she told me if I took this picture I'd get a real nice Christmas present under the tree and this is the ONLY reason it's in this blog!

There isn't a lot happening here except tourism and vineyards of which I'm sure we're going to explore a lot. What we have picked up is a general feeling of Kiwis (New Zealanders) feeling almost like a second cousin to Aussies- they explained it to us like the way America treats Canada! Quite interesting conversation and we'll see if this is felt in other parts of the country.

Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne has a population of 4.5 million and is the second largest city in Australia. You can't help but notice the incredible amount of cranes across the city landscape: 

Apparently, high-rise developments are being built at a rate four times that of some of the world’s highest density cities. And staying here, Melbourne certainly has the vibe of a young, vibrant city.

We were particularly surprised by the number of Asians. So much so that we even looked it up. They say there are a little over 300,000 from Asia residing here but it looks like much more- like maybe 50%:

We couldn't get over the number of Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese and Korean restaurants. Good for us that food in these restaurants are cheap compared to Australia as a whole (we've found Australia the most expensive for food of all the cities visited in our journey).

A big attraction is the "Penguin Parade" on Phillip Island (about a 90 minute drive outside of Melbourne):

About 2,000 of these penguins arrive each night at sunset after swimming for food during the day and come onshore to get into their burrows. They are called 'little penguins' due to their small size (only 13 inches tall). They are the smallest of all penguin species and have blue and white feathers instead of black and white: 

Unlike the larger penguins we saw in Argentina that mate for life, these little guys do not- if breeding success is low, they may look for a new mate. Also, they have a shorter lifespan of only 7 years vs the 25 years of their South American counterparts.

We're beginning to realize that our world journey is nearing the end with just two more countries before we fly back Dec. 16th. It's been terrific so far and just feels like we're on a bullet train coming to a close (literally, that will happen in Japan, our last stop).

Next up- New Zealand

Tasmania, Australia

We came over to this island for two main reasons- to see the scenery, obviously, but also to see some animals we hadn't seen yet. Did you know that Hobart, the capital, is 600 km from Melbourne? We flew over as the alternative- boat, then bus- would be too long a journey.

First, the animals. We went to the Hobart Wildlife Sanctuary that helps animals in need (lost their mother, in distress, sick, etc). We wanted to see the Tasmanian devil which is only found in Tasmania (there are only 10- 20k in existence):

These are by no means cuddly or cute. They are the size of a small dog and have powerful jaws and long, sharp teeth: 

A sanctuary staff was feeding this 'devil' a part of a wallaby leg; the tug of war is always won by the devil as they never let go. They eat everything including bones and fur.

Another type of animal found primarily in Tasmania and parts of southern Australia is the wombat, somewhat related to the koala but larger in size and weight:

Although they are cuddly for the first two to three years (this female is 20 months old), afterwards their natural instincts kick in and they become vicious to humans and have to be placed in their natural habitat.

What we really wanted to see was a 'joey' kangaroo (baby) in their mom's pouch. What a treat to see:

This baby kangaroo will stay with its mom for about 18 months. When we were there, it jumped in and out of the sac for nibbling food.

Next, we ventured out to see the Tasmanian countryside. We found a lot of rolling hillsides with houses dotting the landscape, really beautiful:

The downside of living here is the weather as it is closer to the Antarctic. Today it's 16 degrees whereas up in Sydney it's 29 degrees and up in Cairns it's 32 degrees. But it's quite beautiful here as can be seen outside our hotel room:

You've got to weigh everything before saying the weather's too cold. I'll take Sydney though!!

Melbourne's Great Ocean Road

We ventured out to the 'Great Ocean Road' to see some of Australia's beautiful southern coastline. It's a 250 km 'ocean' road that nears the ocean for only about 50 km but when it does, it can take your breath away:

Ever hear of Australia's Twelve Apostles? They are huge rocks jutting out of the ocean that are limestone stack formations from millions of years ago:

If you can only count 8 in the two pictures, that's because there are only 8 still standing (apparently there were 12 some time ago). 

Going further along, there is what the Aussies call the 'London Bridge' formation. This stack was formed by a gradual process of erosion- again over million of years- and until 1990 formed a complete double-span natural bridge:

But the middle collapsed and here's a great trivia question and answer to store in your brain. In case you're ever asked this question "why do they call it a bridge, I don't see a bridge", the arch closest to the shoreline collapsed unexpectedly in 1990 leaving 2 tourists on the outer span (true story and they were successfully rescued).

Finally, there is another grouping of limestone formations called the Bay of Islands:

Because this rock grouping is in a bay, it got that naming. This area is also known for its fierce wind at times and when we were there, it was pretty bad yet back in Melbourne a few hours later it was perfect, calm weather. Amazing.