Wakatipu Lake

Queenstown New Zealand is located on the shores of Wakatipu Lake.  It is a water resort town in the summer and an alpine ski resort in the winter.  The lake is 80 km long which is about 125 miles.  It is a lake that is fed by melted snow and is therefore cold.  In the middle of the lake the water never gets above 10 degrees C which is in the high 40's so swimming is not much of an option unless you are close to the shore and properly clothed for the chill.  I did see people in canoes, kayaks, paddle boats and jetskis but they were all wearing wetsuits.  From the pictures posted on the gondola ride you saw the lake to the south of the city.  

This is just on the northern outskirts of Queenstown.

This is looking back towards Queenstown.  We had probably driven for about 40 minuts when I took this picture.

On the far side of the water is a lot of trees.  This is a sheep station.  It is one of the largest in the country.  For many years the only way to get into it and out of it was by water.  They would use large barges to move the sheep from the station to market.  It is still pretty remote as there is no town or city around.  Just sheep and millions of them!

While we were driving and talking about sheep the bus drive/guide told us about sheep.  We learned so much about them!  There are different kinds of sheep depending on what you plan to do with them and with the wool that they grow.  The best kind is the marino sheep.  We are all familiar with it because we like the clothing that is made from this wool.  He told us the story of Shreck the Sheep.

The story goes as such.  Just as we have been taught in Bible stories and in particular stories about the Savior a shepard knows his own sheep.  One sheep station knew that it had a marino sheep that had not been shorn for many years.  In fact they had not been able to find him for five years.  Finally in the sixth season a dog located him and drove him into the station with the other sheep. Hopefully if I did this correctly you should be able to see a picture of the sheep. If it did not work then you can google shreck the sheep and see what he looked like.

 < http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/cbbcnews/hi/pictures/galleries/newsid_3666000/3666903.stm >

He belonged to the Bandigo Sheep Station in Tarras New Zealand.  A news station heard about him and asked if they could televise his shearing and as they say, the rest is history.  Everyone loved him and because of his appearance they named him Shreck.  You can certainly see a resemblance.  The school children in the area adopted him and wrote a book about him and used all the proceeds to support a charity for children with cancer.  He was a true celebrity in New Zealand until he passed away in 2004.