New Zealand  

When Counting Sheep causes Sleep Loss


white sheep, black sheep
Sheep on a pasture on the Walter Peak Homestead.
on the shore of the lake
Visitors from Walter Peak Estate await the TSS Earnslaw boat back to Queenstown, on the shores of Lake Wakatipu.
An Exemplary Example
Homeowner Walter Peak displays a ram stalk.
Merino
Merino sheep, one of the most popular types in New Zealand.
part of the landscape
Small herd grazes on a slope of the Banks Peninsula, near Christchurch.
Walter
Sheep from Queenstown's Walter Peak Homestead await shearing.
Pastor dog
Sheepdog Border-collie chases and herds sheep, its main contribution to the life of sheep farmers.
Sheep immensity
Hundreds of sheep completely occupy a verdant slope of the southern island of New Zealand.
Herd in a pasture between Wanaka and the base of Mount Aspiring.
ready
Foreman of the sheep farm of Walter Peak prepares to inaugurate a demonstrative shearing.
Falling wool
Homestead employee Walter Peak exemplifies a shearing.
eminent shearing
Homestead employee Walter Peak holds a sheep that he is going to shear.
A Smoothness of Shearing
Walter Peak farm worker holds one of the many sheep on the farm that removed the wool.
New Zealand queue
Line of sheep on a high bank of a river near Mount Aspiring.
Herd at the foot of a slope outside Arrowtown.
Back to the Homestead
Sheep leave a lost homestead in a deep cove of Banks Cove in an orderly manner
20 years ago, New Zealand had 18 sheep per inhabitant. For political and economic reasons, the average was halved. In the antipodes, many breeders are worried about their future.

the eccentric Banks Peninsula it seems like the result of a geological fun moment.

A high central massif filled with small undulating hills gives way, at the lower ends, to countless indentations in the landscape, inlets and bays that the Pacific Ocean has long taken over.

Two volcanoes Lyttelton and Akaroa reached 1500 m of altitude there, but a strong erosion, led by the same seismic activity that recently shook Christchurch and the surrounding region, broke and smoothed them over time.

But, strangely enough, there is little volcanic in the scene. There is almost no solidified lava or basaltic rock, covered by a perfect mat of grass that extends along the slopes and even invades the dusty sands.

The Fascinating Sheep Domain of Banks Peninsula

Rustic fences broken, here and there, by wooden gates, follow the narrow roads that introduce us to one of the truly bucolic environments on the face of the Earth. And, curve after curve, pasture after pasture, reveals more and more specimens of the New Zealand sheep fauna.

Banks Peninsula, Canterbury, New ZealandSmall herd grazes on a slope of the Banks Peninsula, near Christchurch.

The estate maps of the province of Canterbury prove the predominance of the original sheep farms. If the spectrum is extended to the rainy kiwi nation, little changes.

James Cook pioneered bringing sheep to New Zealand lands during the maritime expeditions he led between 1773 and 1777. The species did not establish itself at that time, but history changed when four enterprising colonists imported 1600 specimens from the Australia to Wellington and distributed more than half across the south of the North Island.

It continued to correct itself after William and John Deans introduced the first merinos (original Aragon sheep) to the plains of Canterbury, long before the species gave way to lighter and more adaptable ones to soaked soils or simply more profitable, such as English Leicester, Lincoln, Romney Marsh, Cheviot and Border Leicester, later crossed.

And Johny Jones achieved, in Otago, in the south-east of the South Island, the first unmistakable success. This investor enriched his Waikouaiti whaling station with 2000 sheep installed on land leased to Maori tribes.

In this way, it ensured a more diversified diet for men of the sea and began to export wool that would heat up the local economy.

Shearing, Walter Peak, Queenstown, New ZealandHomestead employee Walter Peak exemplifies a shearing.

The Expansion of Sheep Breeding across New Zealand

The expansion of sheep farming in the North Island was initially held back by the fact that the Maori indigenous peoples own most of the land and because these are subsumed in a dense forest.

The south came forward, but as settlers managed to obtain more grass from the natives above the Cook Strait, the North Island aligned with the south and New Zealand entered the twentieth century in full prosperity.

From 1882 onwards, the frozen meat industry developed and provided homestead owners with new opportunities. In the recovery period of the 2nd World War, Britain absorbed all of New Zealand's wool and meat production.

And, before and during the Korean War, the US sought quantities of the product never imagined by kiwifruit growers. Until 1961, wool represented a third of the country's exports and its shipments combined with those of frozen meat made sheep farming the most important rural activity until 1987.

From then on, different alternatives enticed the owners of sheep farms that we are finding throughout the country.

In Queenstown, in the sublime region of the southern lakes, as in every corner of the nation, the advent of tourism helped to blur the rules of the game and, in certain privileged places, inspired less laborious but highly profitable solutions.

Lamb Shank, Walter Peak-Queenstown, New ZealandHomeowner Walter Peak displays a ram stalk.

Queenstown: the TSS Earnslaw, towards the Walter Peak Estate

For years on end, the TSS Earnslaw steamship was the only reliable and practical means of transport operating on vast Lake Wakatipu. At the time, it carried eight hundred passengers while clouds of smoke from its chimney painted the sky black.

The Walter Peak homestead, located on the edge of the lake opposite the Queenstown, depended in part on the vessel. Today, its livestock activities are just enough to attract tourists, but the relationship with the boat remains.

Walter Peak Estancia, Queenstown, New ZealandVisitors from Walter Peak Estate await the TSS Earnslaw boat back to Queenstown, on the shores of Lake Wakatipu.

Rain or shine, the “Lady of the Lake” (as it was also called) sets sail from Queenstown loaded with urban curious people who admire the lake and surrounding snowy mountains and tread the grounds of the property eager for rural discovery.

You are welcomed in an elegant central mansion and pampered with tea and scones. A resident humorist foreman then introduces them to Walter Peak Farm and the virtues of local sheepdogs. Finally, he demonstrates the secrets of shearing an unlucky sheep: "The lord with the metal hair back there wouldn't laugh at the creature I'm treating you next!"

Walter Peak, Queenstown, New Zealand

Foreman of the sheep farm of Walter Peak prepares to inaugurate a demonstrative shearing.

New Zealand's Constant Sheep Up and Down

But it was much more influential political and economic variables that made and oscillate the number of New Zealand sheep.

In 1973, Great Britain joined the EU and submitted to the protectionism of the Old World, starting to absorb less production from the antipodes. Also in the 70s, there was the first oil price shock that inflated the cost of transport.

Sheep, Walter Peak-Queenstown, New ZealandSheep from Queenstown's Walter Peak Homestead await shearing.

Meanwhile, a myriad of new natural and synthetic materials have replaced wool in the making of clothing and other props.

Forced government subsidies kept the industry afloat, and despite the market's difficulties, the number of animals peaked at 70.301.461 head in 1982. Three years later, the government inaugurated a free market policy and abruptly withdrew all animals. support for producers who began to mislead.

Merina sheep, Walter Peak-Queenstown, New ZealandMerino sheep, one of the most popular types in New Zealand.

Already in the 2000s, some wool that was still purchased by Australia, Europe and United States started to be sent raw to the China, to be wound into a ball at low cost. Even so, in two decades, New Zealand sheep have halved.

“It won't be long, buddy…” lies the modern kiwi cowboy from the top of his yellow quad. Like any native, we think it's normal to be stuck for fifteen minutes on a road waiting for the cattle to cross, but now, as it hardly happened, there are also herds of cows, not just herds, those responsible.

The response of the farms to the crisis implied a drastic shift to the production of dairy products (from cows) that quickly surpassed the sheep income, driven by the action of the country's largest company, Fonterra, which controls almost a third of the sector's international trade.

Flock of sheep, New ZealandHundreds of sheep completely occupy a verdant slope of the southern island of New Zealand.

New Zealand is still the largest exporter of sheepmeat and strong wool in the world. And only the eighth milk producer in the world. But the sheep count continues to fall.

Nelson to Wharariki, Abel Tasman NP, New Zealand

The Maori coastline on which Europeans landed

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Mykines, Faroe Islands

In the Faeroes FarWest

Mykines establishes the western threshold of the Faroe archipelago. It housed 179 people but the harshness of the retreat got the better of it. Today, only nine souls survive there. When we visit it, we find the island given over to its thousand sheep and the restless colonies of puffins.
El Calafate, Argentina

The New Gauchos of Patagonia

Around El Calafate, instead of the usual shepherds on horseback, we come across gauchos equestrian breeders and others who exhibit, to the delight of visitors, the traditional life of the golden pampas.
Wanaka, New Zealand

The Antipodes Great Outdoors

If New Zealand is known for its tranquility and intimacy with Nature, Wanaka exceeds any imagination. Located in an idyllic setting between the homonymous lake and the mystic Mount Aspiring, it became a place of worship. Many kiwis aspire to change their lives there.
North Island, New Zealand

Journey along the Path of Maority

New Zealand is one of the countries where the descendants of settlers and natives most respect each other. As we explored its northern island, we became aware of the interethnic maturation of this very old nation. Commonwealth as Maori and Polynesia.
Colónia Pellegrini, Argentina

When the Meat is Weak

The unmistakable flavor of Argentine beef is well known. But this wealth is more vulnerable than you think. The threat of foot-and-mouth disease, in particular, keeps authorities and growers afloat.
Banks Peninsula, New Zealand

The Divine Earth Shard of the Banks Peninsula

Seen from the air, the most obvious bulge on the South Island's east coast appears to have imploded again and again. Volcanic but verdant and bucolic, the Banks Peninsula confines in its almost cogwheel geomorphology the essence of the ever enviable New Zealand life.
Tokyo, Japan

Disposable Purrs

Tokyo is the largest of the metropolises but, in its tiny apartments, there is no place for pets. Japanese entrepreneurs detected the gap and launched "catteries" in which the feline affections are paid by the hour.
Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya, Masai Convivial
Safari
Masai Mara, Kenya

A Journey Through the Masai Lands

The Mara savannah became famous for the confrontation between millions of herbivores and their predators. But, in a reckless communion with wildlife, it is the Masai humans who stand out there.
Faithful light candles, Milarepa Grotto temple, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 9th Manang to Milarepa Cave, Nepal

A Walk between Acclimatization and Pilgrimage

In full Annapurna Circuit, we finally arrived in Manang (3519m). we still need acclimatize to the higher stretches that followed, we inaugurated an equally spiritual journey to a Nepalese cave of Milarepa (4000m), the refuge of a siddha (sage) and Buddhist saint.
coast, fjord, Seydisfjordur, Iceland
Architecture & Design
Seydisfjordur, Iceland

From the Art of Fishing to the Fishing of Art

When shipowners from Reykjavik bought the Seydisfjordur fishing fleet, the village had to adapt. Today, it captures Dieter Roth's art disciples and other bohemian and creative souls.
Passengers, scenic flights-Southern Alps, New Zealand
Adventure
Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand

The Aeronautical Conquest of the Southern Alps

In 1955, pilot Harry Wigley created a system for taking off and landing on asphalt or snow. Since then, his company has unveiled, from the air, some of the greatest scenery in Oceania.
Ice cream, Moriones Festival, Marinduque, Philippines
Ceremonies and Festivities
Marinduque, Philippines

When the Romans Invade the Philippines

Even the Eastern Empire didn't get that far. In Holy Week, thousands of centurions seize Marinduque. There, the last days of Longinus, a legionary converted to Christianity, are re-enacted.
Cable car connecting Puerto Plata to the top of PN Isabel de Torres
Cities
Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

The Dominican Home Silver

Puerto Plata resulted from the abandonment of La Isabela, the second attempt at a Hispanic colony in the Americas. Almost half a millennium after Columbus's landing, it inaugurated the nation's inexorable tourist phenomenon. In a lightning passage through the province, we see how the sea, the mountains, the people and the Caribbean sun keep it shining.
Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo, Japan
Meal
Tokyo, Japan

The Fish Market That Lost its Freshness

In a year, each Japanese eats more than their weight in fish and shellfish. Since 1935, a considerable part was processed and sold in the largest fish market in the world. Tsukiji was terminated in October 2018, and replaced by Toyosu's.
Newar celebration, Bhaktapur, Nepal
Culture
Bhaktapur, Nepal

The Nepalese Masks of Life

The Newar Indigenous People of the Kathmandu Valley attach great importance to the Hindu and Buddhist religiosity that unites them with each other and with the Earth. Accordingly, he blesses their rites of passage with newar dances of men masked as deities. Even if repeated long ago from birth to reincarnation, these ancestral dances do not elude modernity and begin to see an end.
Swimming, Western Australia, Aussie Style, Sun rising in the eyes
Sport
Busselton, Australia

2000 meters in Aussie Style

In 1853, Busselton was equipped with one of the longest pontoons in the world. World. When the structure collapsed, the residents decided to turn the problem around. Since 1996 they have been doing it every year. Swimming.
Erika Mother
Traveling
Philippines

The Philippine Road Lords

With the end of World War II, the Filipinos transformed thousands of abandoned American jeeps and created the national transportation system. Today, the exuberant jeepneys are for the curves.
Basotho Cowboys, Malealea, Lesotho
Ethnic
Malealea, Lesotho

Life in the African Kingdom of Heaven

Lesotho is the only independent state located entirely above XNUMX meters. It is also one of the countries at the bottom of the world ranking of human development. Its haughty people resist modernity and all the adversities on the magnificent but inhospitable top of the Earth that befell them.
Rainbow in the Grand Canyon, an example of prodigious photographic light
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Natural Light (Part 1)

And Light was made on Earth. Know how to use it.

The theme of light in photography is inexhaustible. In this article, we give you some basic notions about your behavior, to start with, just and only in terms of geolocation, the time of day and the time of year.
, Mexico, city of silver and gold, homes over tunnels
History
Guanajuato, Mexico

The City that Shines in All Colors

During the XNUMXth century, it was the city that produced the most silver in the world and one of the most opulent in Mexico and colonial Spain. Several of its mines are still active, but the impressive wealth of Guanuajuato lies in the multicolored eccentricity of its history and secular heritage.
Mirador de La Peña, El Hierro, Canary Islands, Spain
Islands
El Hierro, Canary Islands

The Volcanic Rim of the Canaries and the Old World

Until Columbus arrived in the Americas, El Hierro was seen as the threshold of the known world and, for a time, the Meridian that delimited it. Half a millennium later, the last western island of the Canaries is teeming with exuberant volcanism.
Reindeer Racing, Kings Cup, Inari, Finland
Winter White
Inari, Finland

The Wackiest Race on the Top of the World

Finland's Lapps have been competing in the tow of their reindeer for centuries. In the final of the Kings Cup - Porokuninkuusajot - , they face each other at great speed, well above the Arctic Circle and well below zero.
shadow vs light
Literature
Kyoto, Japan

The Kyoto Temple Reborn from the Ashes

The Golden Pavilion has been spared destruction several times throughout history, including that of US-dropped bombs, but it did not withstand the mental disturbance of Hayashi Yoken. When we admired him, he looked like never before.
Enriquillo, Great Lake of the Antilles, Dominican Republic, view from Cueva das Caritas de Taínos
Nature
Lake Enriquillo, Dominican Republic

Enriquillo: the Great Lake of the Antilles

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Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
very coarse salt
Natural Parks
Salta and Jujuy, Argentina

Through the Highlands of Deep Argentina

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Praslin Island, Cocos from the Sea, Seychelles, Eden Cove
UNESCO World Heritage
Praslin, Seychelles

The Eden of the Enigmatic Coco-de-Mer

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In elevator kimono, Osaka, Japan
Characters
Osaka, Japan

In the Company of Mayu

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Plane landing, Maho beach, Sint Maarten
Beaches
Maho Beach, Sint Maarten

The Jet-powered Caribbean Beach

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Gangtok House, Sikkim, India
Religion
Gangtok, India

An Hillside Life

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Chepe Express, Chihuahua Al Pacifico Railway
On Rails
Creel to Los Mochis, Mexico

The Barrancas del Cobre & the CHEPE Iron Horse

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View of Fa Island, Tonga, Last Polynesian Monarchy
Society
Tongatapu, Tonga

The Last Polynesian Monarchy

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Coin return
Daily life
Dawki, India

Dawki, Dawki, Bangladesh on sight

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Rhinoceros, PN Kaziranga, Assam, India
Wildlife
PN Kaziranga, India

The Indian Monoceros Stronghold

Situated in the state of Assam, south of the great Brahmaputra river, PN Kaziranga occupies a vast area of ​​alluvial swamp. Two-thirds of the rhinocerus unicornis around the world, there are around 100 tigers, 1200 elephants and many other animals. Pressured by human proximity and the inevitable poaching, this precious park has not been able to protect itself from the hyperbolic floods of the monsoons and from some controversies.
The Sounds, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Fiordland, New Zealand

The Fjords of the Antipodes

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