Sometimes a template and repetition are best for getting a page done
Anna Aspnes:
WaterColor Template Album
ArtPlay Palette Moorlands
ArtPlay Palette Lush
Adventure Word Art
APP Home (birdhouse)
Journaling:
As I look back on these photos and select them for the preservation of the memories, I am not sure they can truly reflect the beauty of this farm. Of course it helped that it was a sunny and warm day, somewhat of a rarity on this leg of the trip. There just arent enough superlatives - it was so green and lush (the result of much rain), the very essence of a New Zealand sheep farm, so native, yet with so much
variety on the property. Those amazing rock formations (80-meter tall limestone bluffs), which gave pause to the current owners ancestors, for you cant graze sheep on those rocks, were just mesmerizing. At first there wasnt grass, so Warricks grandfather hired goats to clear the scrub, then planted the grass. Imagine the work!
This was, and still is, a working farm, the current owners being the third generation, with the anticipation that their sons would continue. Only a few of the 4-5,000 sheep were visible, and these were apparently escapees. I forget how many acres (looked it up - 690 hectares, whatever that means). While they do sheer the sheep for wool, this is primarily about the export of meat, which Suzie explained after tactfully asking if we were vegetarian. I think about how incredible it would be to wander these paths, learning all the ins and outs of the property. But no mistake about it, this is hard work, and not necessarily all that profitable, thus, as in Matamata, the expansion of tourism brought to the area by a trio of movies was quite welcome.