Thursday was a long day on bikes. We finished up the final 35 km of the rail trail, arriving at Clyde, and tacked on another 26 km of paved road that took us to Cromwell for a late lunch. It was a beautiful, warm day, and the scenery was terrific. A few pictures tell part of the story:
You can see a sheep dog in the background, and it was fun to watch him keep the sheep bunched up. After a bit he got the sheep off to the left of the picture and moving behind the camera.
The Otago trail goes through many landscapes.....sometimes hilly, other times along a picturesque stream. There were two tunnels in yesterday's ride which I haven't mentioned. It changes often enough that you don't get bored with the view. As you can see, the skies were clear.
After lunch at a winery near Cromwell we shuttled a short ride in the van to our farm stay near Hawea. Rebecca, Scott, Susan and I stayed with one couple, while the girls stayed with Trixie and Pat in another farm.
Our host and hostess was a little younger than Susan and me, but not by much. Jan Anderson was a long-time school teacher that is now working as a teacher's aid. Peter, or P L as he is known locally, had been manager of a large sheep station before retiring. They have a lovely home with open beam ceilings and a gorgeous view from their family room window:
Jan and P L's view from their living room. It is hard to see in this picture, but a glacier can be seen in the highest peaks on the right.
Jan and P L's home from rabbit central.
P L loaded us in his pickup with his dogs in the back and took us a short distance to a pasture where he had 18 sheep. As we were crossing the field to get to the sheep, we were in the midst of the largest collection of rabbits we've ever seen. P L said they had originally been imported, and they are now a huge economic drain, eating the same grasses that would go to the sheep. P L had the dogs move the sheep from one place to another in the pasture, and it was amazing to see the control he had over the dogs from hundreds of feet away. (You'll hear a little more about P L and his dogs in a later post. We saw him today (Saturday) at a huge fair where there is a competition between sheep dogs.)
P L and one of his 4 dogs
After returning to the house we enjoyed a fine dinner that Jan had prepared. I am happy to say that it was not lamb! I asked P L about his ancestry and when they had come to NZ. He said his grandfather had run away from his home in Scotland and jumped ship in NZ at the age of 12! He eventually became a station manager. (Large sheep farms are called stations.) With that, I'll end this post. More later. Hope all is well with everyone back home. Thanks for the comments Renee, Dave and Kitty! Jim
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