Sheep, sheep....Everywhere Sheep!!!

With apologies to Bet!!

The sheep numbers in New Zealand are apparently dropping fast. In the '80s there were around 70 million of the woolie little critters, now there is only about 34 million.

Thirty four million is still a WHOLE lots of sheep....after a week and a bit in the country I think I go into withdrawal if I go for 10 minutes without seeing one of them now.

There are white sheep (LOTS of white sheep)...

 

 Baby sheep....

 Black sheep...

 Fuzzy sheep...

 Sheep with sticks for legs...

Funky looking sheep...

Sheep with horns...

Sheep with bad hairdos...

Sheep on hillsides...

Everywhere sheep (trust me, there are sheep in this picture)

And this guy was too cute not to include twice!!!

Of the 34 million sheep in New Zealand - I think I've seen at least 20 million of them!!!

Maybe more!!!

Wanaka Sled Dog Festival

Just a few random pictures from days one and two of the Wanaka Sled Dog Festival!!1

Action starts up again at 5pm today with Race 2, heat 1 !!!

Good times!!!
Karen

The Snow Farm

(I know, how cool is a SNOW FARM!!)

On Wednesday we all moved up to The Snow Farm – headquarters for the Wanake Sled Dog Festival. Ray asked me the other day if race site is what I expected – ABSOLUTELY NOT. I have never seen anything like this facility, so I certainly could not have expected anything like it. 

The primary feature of the Snow Farm is the miles and miles of cross country ski trails that zig and zag through the mountainside. The Russian National XC ski team is here training, as well as a number of Team Canada members. 

They are also hosting a winter Triathlon (XC skiing, running and biking) this weekend, as well as a paraboarding event and the dog sled races.

And on the 'backside' of the mountain is a 'Snow Field' for snowboarding. 

Somebody with vision had their hand in the design of this place!!! I am so glad to have had the opportunity to get to experience it!!

Karen