Day 16 Cruise Day 5 Lyttleton Port

Today we are going to a sheepdog and sheep-shearing demonstration. It's cold outside. The high is going to be 59°.


I got up and went to the gym briefly, but I only found one machine unoccupied, and it was semi-broken. So, I rode the bike for about 20 minutes listening to my book because the screen wasn't working. Then I went down to the International Cafe for breakfast and Paul joined me. We meet in the dining room with a thousand of our closest friends to get on buses to go to tours.

Today's departure from the ship was very chaotic. Apparently, this is the first time they have done it this way. It's a mess. Our meeting time was 10:15, however, we were not called to leave until 10:45. It's chilly outside today! Now we see the port from the water versus seeing it from the gondola last week.

Was about an hour and a half drive to the farm. We learned there are two different kinds of herding dogs, one that's quiet and one that barks.


They were amazing to watch. There are Merino and Romney sheep. Romney were transplanted here from England in the mid 1800's. They said merino wool is finer and higher quality than the Romney.





Each dog has separate commands so they can work up to 3 dogs at a time. The herding dogs can work 2-300 sheep. But the barking dog can herd up to 2000 sheep. Then we watch a sheep shearing. The sheep stayed still, but owner, Ross, had a good hand on it. It was so docile.


Then they invited us into their home for tea, a sausage roll, and a shortbread cookie.


They had a few things we could buy. I got a beanie which is made from 50% alpaca and 50% merino wool.


It is brown with a rosette. Sort of looks like a chemo cap and is so soft. My ears were cold by this time, and it is a practical thing. Kind of pricy $40 US, but I'm ok with that. Helps to support him. After all, he was kind enough to allow a group of two tour busloads of people onto his 700-acre ranch, and demonstrate dog's skill, as well as how a shearing happens.

Next stop Christchurch. Only 2 families wanted off in town. The rest of us went back to the ship.

Our show tonight was a hypnotist.


He was pretty good. Then we went to a game show called 'survey it', which was basically a knock-off of the show Family Feud.

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