Today we had a choice of three different visits: the National Arboretum, a tour of some local wineries, or the Waipura Station, a working sheep and cattle farm located just outside of town. All three choices were well worth the effort, but my time was spent at Waipura Station, and it offered such wonderful insight into a lifeblood of New Zealand.
Our first stop was the shearing barn, where we were treated to a shearing demonstration and an orientation about a typical sheep farm. We headed off to the main house for a cupper (some tea and coffee) and some treats and finished off with a muster of the sheep by the dogs of the station. The MacLaurin family owns the station, and they could not have been more welcoming. It was hard to get everyone onto the buses for our trip back to the ship.
