Despite the opinions of the ol’ mountain men, Mario – our
fearless leader – predicted a weather change overnight and he read that
mountain like a book! We woke to blustering winds and a report that instead of
Mount Hutt, today it was Mount Shut. So, with our first ‘down’ day, we headed
out for a different sort of adventure.
We bused along the highway, to a delightful rendition of ‘home
among the gum trees’ lead by Hayden. After much singing and chatting we arrived
at Alpine Jet Thrills, donned our life jackets and waterproof clothing and boarded
the jet boat. Zooming along the mighty Waimakariri River and through the majestic
gorge, we were treated to the beauty of New Zealand’s landscape, not to mention the 80km/h speeds we reached and 360 degree, water-spraying, seat sliding
spins we experienced.
After drying off, we made our way up from the river to meet
Chris, a sheep farmer, and his dogs Flynn and Dee. We were enthralled by the
dogs’ training and obedience as they rounded up the sheep and manoeuvred them
through gates and into pens with nothing but Chris’ softly spoken commands to
guide them. Looks simple enough… until the kids became the sheep dogs and
attempted to do the same thing. Big shout out to Lachlan and Lochlan who
managed to get all 6 of their sheep through the gate, commiserations to Kara
and Alyssa, who didn’t get any.
After some happy snaps with the doggos and some photo-friendly alpaca, we headed in for a sheep shearing demonstration. The kids had a go at the traditional sheep-shearing clippers, Bobo bravely taking them in hand and doing some fine cutting work.
After a quick loop around the gift shop and some
delicious scones and biscuits, we waved good-bye to the farm and headed to the world
famous Sheffield Pie store where we lounged in the sun eating our way through
the gourmet pie menu, a few even going for seconds.
The kids had a great day but are keen as mustard to get back up the mountain, fingers crossed tomorrow will be another snow day!
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