Sheep Mustering and Christchurch

Got'em where I want'em!

Kia ora!

Sheep mustering is the best thing I can say about my next wwoofing job.  The rest was not so good.  I should have been forewarned.  Glen (and Ivy) was my first host that made initial contact.  I hadn't even thought about a host doing that.  And since he was so nice to ask, I agreed to wwoof with him.

Ewes and 1 ram in upper paddock over the road

I took the 8 am bus from Queenstown on Thursday, May 28.  I arrived at 4:45 pm, 30 minutes late due to traffic (!) at the temporary Christchurch bus terminal since the regular one is in the earthquake damaged cordoned off CBD.  Glen picked me up and gave me a mini tour of some of the damage while it was still light out.  After stopping at the grocery store, Pak n Save (yes, the American chain), we started on the 1 hour drive to Little River on the Banks Peninsula.

The rams went past the gate, we need them through!

On the way, he informed me that although he's been living on his land for almost 5 years he has concentrated on the land and not his home.  He doesn't have a proper toilet.  He has a camping toilet that he empties once a week.  He's learned to take one bath a week.  I listened, gulped, and said laughingly, "What have I let myself in for?!"

Well, it wasn't that bad.  The toilet sits in the workshed next to the house.  It's about 14" high and about 12" square and it didn't stink.  Enough said.  The "bath" is a bathtub set by the creek with a shower head over it.  The shower head is attached to a gas heater to heat the water.  (But it's okay.  I didn't have to use it.)

Where do you want us to go?!

Because... Glen informed me the next morning that he and Ivy were flying to Auckland on Saturday.  Their flight leaves at 5:40 am.  With a 1 hour drive, they were leaving at 4 am.  I had 2 options, I could stay there until they got back on Monday (no way!!!) or they could drop me off somewhere.

So Glen went off to work from 9 - 3  leaving me with Ivy.  Ivy is 29, shy and uncertain about her English skills, and arrived in NZ from Taipei 8 months ago.  She wwoofed at Glen's for 2 weeks with a girlfriend when she first arrived, came back alone for a 6 week stay and after travelling a little more, she's back at Glen's.  She's spent half of her time in NZ here.

My turn! My turn!

We harvested all the tomatoes off the frost damaged vines, pulled the plants and then picked up the area to prevent copious tomato seedlings next year.   I could follow Glen's instructions and Ivy knew where things were/went so we were able to get the job done.  If either of us had been alone, it would have been much more difficult and not done properly.  I guess that's why Glen wanted me to wwoof, to be company for Ivy.  I also doctored and restaked a small lemon tree that had been knocked over by a previous wwoofer with a mower.  Greg thought it was dead/dying; I'm sure it will be fine.

Hey! What're you looking for?

I was supposed to call my next hosts, the Babes, and arrange the specifics of my stay with them from Glen's.  So after thinking about it during the day and discussing timing with Glen, I called them and asked if I could be dropped off at their place very early the next morning.  Wendy said yes.  4:45 am early?  Yes. What a good sport!

Then we went to muster the sheep.  Mustering sheep just means getting them together and moving them from one place to another.  First we had to get another person; the more people the better.  We stopped by to see if Glen's neighbor, Jerry, was home.  Ivy let me out of the back seat; she wasn't going up to Jerry's house.

Mt Cook on the way to Christchurch

I understood why very soon.  Jerry's house is at least a 5-8 minute walk from the road.  You have to cross over a creek over which a 14" (?) wide board has been laid with a rope overhead just in case you slip.  Then the track is uphill, steep and slippery in places.  Jerry's lived there for 20 years and everything has been carried up by hand.  He's laid a floor using (mostly beer) bottles neck down for a base.  Thankfully, he was home.  Glen got Jerry's mobile phone # for the future.

Lake Tekapo near Christchurch

The aim of the job was to change out the ram that was with the ewes.  Simple!  Not!!!  Sheep are herding animals and spook easily.  First we had to get 3 rams down from the pasture, across the creek, and into a corral.  We crossed the creek by precarious rock hopping, easier for the guys with longer legs.  Glen and Jerry climbed up the hills.  Ivy and I were positioned strategically to block the sheep from going back up the hill and encourage them to cross the creek.

One of the rams caught sight of us too early and bolted back up the hill.  We had to start all over again.  This time Ivy and I had to climb up one of the hills to block their way and then run through the bush (I only slipped once!) to block open areas where they could escape back uphill.  Eventually the sheep went over the creek, through the gate, along the road, and finally, into the designated corral.

Just a sample of the very widespread damage

We get them to go where we want by pincering them, slowly walking as a group toward them while their bodies are facing the right way.  If you want them to turn, someone needs to gently make themselves noticed (step out from behind a post/bush) at the right place and time.  If they are looking straight at you, you quietly move your arms slowly to dissuade them from charging your way.  It takes a lot of patience and forethought to muster sheep.



Next, we had to move about 14 ewes and the lucky ram to another corral.  Same thing, the guys go up the hills, we are near the bottom.  It took little time to get them down from the upper paddocks.  Getting the first one to go through the gates of the corral took more time; after the first one was through, the others pushed and shoved to follow.  Then Glen had to figure out which one was the ram, by looking, and release him.

The black faced ram was the new lucky one and after he joined the ewes, we moved them back to the upper paddock.  We released another small flock to a back paddock and moved the 3 rams back down and across the road to their pasture.  Done!  Finally!  It took about 2 hours to move about 25 sheep around.

The 2 front domes of the Cathedral collapsed

Ivy doesn't like mustering sheep because she's had to do it several times.  The last time, she and Glen chased the 3 rams around for an hour and couldn't get them over the creek.  I had fun; it was my first (and only) time.   I was at this wwoof job for a total of 36 hours.

Bbaaaaa!!
Cyn