Hermie goes to watch England in the rugby World Cup

In my last week I sampled some Gold Medal Ale in Cardrona, it wasn't too bad.

We drove for 4hours one day down to Dunedin, to watch England play Georgia in the rugby World Cup!

The lads had managed to get tickets so it was very exciting to be part of it with them! Otago Stadium was spectacular and the atmosphere was electrifying

New Zealand News from Hermie

I was soon to find out what life was like in Wanaka, South Island. The pace of life was easy and so laid back, weather was perfect for each day I was there and I was living there for a month!

Dan and Matt looked after me well and showed me round my new surroundings. I even got my passport stamped at their Post Office!

They drove up the mountain roads from Wanaka to Cardrona where the ski parks and chairlifts were. They showed me where they skied and jumped. The snow was jolly cold on my trotters especially after the hot sand in France!

Then disaster struck, my horns fell off again. Oh dear! Don't I look weird without them!

It must have been the frost getting to my bones!

Later that day, once I'd recovered from my shock, I was shown something familiar, that i hadn't seen in ages...

some more sheep... New Zealand sheep, Baaaa, I want to join them!!

Hermie arrives in New Zealand

I told you I was set to do something else exciting....

well Gill's sons were out in New Zealand for 4 months.They love skiing and were out in South Island for the winter!

I was parcelled up in my little box and sent by airmail to Wanaka.

It took just 4 days for me to arrive- I was thirsty and jet lagged,

but I was able to stretch my legs down by Lake Wanaka,

even some straw to eat and what d'you know I was feeling much better in no time.

My new surroundings looked wonderful, the sun was setting over the snow capped mountains and the reflection on the lake was just perfect.

Mmmm, I could get used to this life!

Oliver of Otterburn goes west to Steep Point

Oliver of Otterburn goes West to Steep Point

The objective of today’s trip is to reach the furthest west point of
the Australian continent. It is named Steep Point and it is quite a remote spot.

It is possible to drive there but to do so requires a well equipped tough 4-wheel-drive vehicle and the time to undertake a
return journey over 300 kms of dirt road and soft sand.

So, I am going with Ray & Margaret and we will do it the easy way, in a light plane from the small town of Denham in Western Australia.

It will be a flight of about an hour and we will fly over the beautiful blue waters of Shark Bay.

This is a World Heritage Area and the
extensive sea grass meadows of the bay shelter some of the most diverse marine life anywhere in the world.

The view of the surrounding landscape is stunning.

It is dry and remote and few people live here. The land ends with stark steep cliffs
dropping dramatically down into the Indian Ocean. Steep Point pokes itself out into the sea, there is no sign of humanity, not even the
campspot of fishermen.

Across a shallow passage from Steep Point is Dirk Hartog Island. It is long, narrow and sandy but has a special place in Australian history.

In the year 1616 the Dutch trading ship ‘Eendracht’, en route to Batavia landed here.

The captain, Dirk Hartog hammered flat a pewter plate, inscribed some details of his voyage, and nailed the plate to a tree. It was the very first European object to be placed on
the Australian continent. It remained there for many years but is now displayed in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

So, there you have it, a Northumbrian sheep at the western edge of Australia.

Lady Maairy walks on the Roman Wall

Hello!

Tis me, Lady Maairy on my most recent escapade!

Some tall adolescent lads decided to take me on their trip camping along Hadrian’s wall!

It was a very enjoyable trip (apart from sleeping in the tent, which was a bit cramped, seeing as I normally enjoy the luxury of my own field).

We set out from just outside Carlisle and walked all the way back to my home, just outside Morpeth, and let me tell you, my little legs were completely worn out by the first mile! (Low fat grass in the future I think) But at least one of the lads gave me a lift in a private compartment in their rucksack!

Along the wall, the Romans built a milecastle every Roman mile! I ponder looking at one of the ruins I found where the sheep lived? Hopefully inside the castle seeing as there is many dangerous cliffs about and I don’t think I would be able to cling on, never mind old Sheepious Maximus!

The wall stretches about 73 miles end to end, and while we only covered two-thirds of it, it was quite enough I can tell you! There is some very pretty stretches of the wall where it slinks over into the distance which looked very cool!

On our final camping night I came across a very welcome and familiar sight! It turns out that the farm we were staying at owned a small flock of Ryland sheep!! Just like back home! I went and had a little converse with these new sheep and they were very polite, although they spoke in some strange language, latan or something, and they had a big chief sheep called Baaaaaaaa-us Maximus!

Overall it was a very enjoyable trip and who knows what great length I will be walking next time!!!

Lady Maairy in the Holyland (Part2)

Fairly close to here, a small flock of sheep, fed up with being prayed on by wolves and the like, bribed a human to look after them, creating not only the World’s first true ‘Industry’ but creating the original profession – Shepherd! Yoav had kindly leant me a Bible to read in my spare moments so I was interested to read these transcripts. I’ve found a very impressive 189 references to sheep so far, mostly ‘lamb of God’ and ‘Lord is my shepherd’ type of thing but there are the odd ‘sacrificial lamb’ that I find a bit upsetting. Still Noah had the right idea, inviting 7 pairs of ‘clean’ animals such as ourselves aboard to ‘help feed the animals’. I can just imagine my hardworking ancestors filling the 2 horses’ hay-nets and washing the 2 dogs’ bowls, mind i’ve always wondered what the pair of Lions ate. Talking of food.. Haggling can make you very hungry so we went to have lunch in one of the local Arab restaurants. For some reason the meat dishes made me think of my old auntie Mildred but the Falafel balls and plate of Hummus were delicious. (Photo 4) No clover in it at all but still I could get used to it…

With no time to waste Yoav and his wife Adi took me to Nazareth. A wonderful city which is an amazing mixture of old and new, markets full of local fruit, vegetables and spices, traffic jams , oh ,and a few holy sites as well. We visited the Basilica of the Annunciation which felt quite special ….. (Photos 5)

….. and then went shopping for souvenirs. I took a fancy to these polished ram horns. Yoav said they were used as horns at Jewish prayers to part the skies to let the prayers get through. Must be a local breed, very impressive horns, wish I could meet these boys. (Photo 6)

Never ever listen to the locals, smoking is bad for you!!! If I ever wake up I’ll send another blog … on the other hand I could get used to this stuff.

(Photo 7)

Lady Maairy in the Holy Land (Part 1)

Lady Maairy visits the Holyland

This is me and Yoav, my host on this trip. ‘OK’ I hear you say, ‘I didn’t realise the ‘Holyland’ was so green’. I don’t want to mislead you but this was my last chance of grass for 2 wks and I think Yoav was pointing towards Mecca (Photo1)

So here I am in the ‘Holyland’, it’s a bit hot in my crate and I was wishing i’d asked for a No 1 all over instead of a standard shear so a dip in the sea of Galilea hit the right spot. No, I can hear you ask – I did not attempt to walk on water! (Photo2)

However I wasn’t quite prepared for

the next water encounter with a baptismal ritual in the Jordan river, I mean haven’t they read the recommendations? One minute whole body, including head, for sheep scab not just a bowl of water over my scalp! I want my money back! (Photo 3)