Queenstown

We were carried into town by bus this morning, ready to hitch a ride on the TSS Earnshaw, the largest vintage steamship ever built in NZ. It is also the last of the coal powered passenger vessels, it certainly smelt coaly as we chugged across Lake Wakatipu, which we learned is 400 metres deep and therefore always cold and also, round the corner, beyond our destination, the location shoot for the latest movie, the Waterhorse.


The TSS Earnshaw dropped us off at Walter Peak High Country Farm, a working sheep farm that stretches across 300 acres of rocky terrain. We left behind three separate tourist groups, who were there to watch the sheep shearing or enjoying a morning BBQ and as FIT's (Free Independent Travellers) - or so our guide nicely referred to us - we joined Lloyd, one of the farm hands for a horse-riding trek around some of the land. Just the three of us, our horses and Toot's (the Collie-Labrador cross). We both had tall horses, mine called Cooper, who loved to stop to chomp grass and Laura was on Pedro, a feisty and frisky bay.

The trek should have only been 40 mins, but with just the two of us there, and both picking up the riding tips immediately Lloyd's tour and talk on the farm and how it works went on for a good 1 hour and 30 mins. NZ is quickly following the rest of the world in increased land prices, more dairy farming and a need for more irrigation - water is fast becoming the number 1 economy - liquid gold.

Lloyd showed us a line across all the mountains of farm land, where they fence the sheep off from going any further during the winter - it takes the farm 2 - 3 weeks to herd them all back together and bring the sheep back to the farm over winter, 2 - 3 weeks of camping out on the land.

In that time the horses are put out to pasture, allowing them time off for 3-4 months of tourist trekking. The land is often too steep to use the horses in gathering the sheep and as we saw in a documentary at Te Papa (Wellington's Museum) the only way to bring the sheep back is with the dogs and a pair of sturdy boots.

After the trek we wandered around the grounds, deciding against watching the remainder of the sheep-shearing show and watched the deer before taking the steamship back to Queenstown.

To be continued....