Mike, the shepherd

I SHORE A SHEEP! Somehow I was lucky again. I managed to tick off another thing on my todo list while travelling. After arriving in Christchurch I had some days and nights in the very nice and busy city to get used to the western way of living again. This was not as easy as I thought. I am quite sure, that I had a reverse cultural shock. I felt the need to reflect on my travels so far and to calm down somewhere far away from everything. I called Walter, a dear friend from home, who lives in New Zealand now, to ask him if I could stay at his place for some days. When we met he told me that he works on a sheep farm and I could stay as long as I want. Furthermore he offered me to work on the farm as a woofer, which means I work on the farm for food and accommodation. Perfect! That was exactly what I was looking for. So here I am since two weeks I work as a shepherd at Marama Farm near Gore ( www.maramaorganics.co.nz ( the best lamb meat ever!!!!)) Shearing sheep is an incredibly exhausting job. You grab the sheep on the front legs and lift it up- it looks a little like dancing. Then you push it between your legs so that it sits tightly as you start to shear the belly.
After shearing I had the opportunity to slaughter a sheep. I hope that nobody feels offended by me, telling this story. As I eat meat and I very much enjoy doing so I thought it is only natural if I at least once in my life see and feel how it is to kill my food before I eat it. First you have to push the sheep down on the ground so that it can’t move. With the left hand you grab its head and pull it backwards. With the other hand you cut its throat. Then you pull the head further backwards until its neck breaks to give the sheep a fast and painless as possible death. The sheep here live a very good life and they have the probably most beautiful and widest landscapes for themselves.