Canterbury sheep farm!

What a fun day. We got to sleep in. Then, we took a bus into the area of Canterbury to a sheep farm. We were able to learn about the types of dogs used and trained for sheep herding. Then we got to watch them work. We then got to play with a few alpacas and take a few photos....the white one is a real ham!. We watched the farmer shear a sheep and even got to help a bit!. Brian was the sheep sorting worker of the day. He managed the right sort. Then they served us an amazing herders' lunch and let us wander around and meet the rest of the animals. We then headed back to Christchurch.

We had time to take a punt on the Avon River. A punt is the pole used to push a flat bottom boat on a shallow river that has a slow current. This is the only place besides England that has this ability, per our punt pushing captain. It was so peaceful and beautiful. The river is full of eels that are like well trained fish that are used to being fed.

We were on our own for dinner so 8 of us took an Uber to eat at Smoke 'n' Barrel, a restaurant owned and operated by Cory Blackburn, the nephew of our Noblesville friend Dave Purcell. He took great care of us at the restaurant and even delivered our food personally! A big board of smoked ribs, brisket, lamb, beef cheeks, and veggies. Sooooo good! Really fun day. Long bus ride tomorrow heading to Dunedin.Read more