When driving along the highways in NZ, it is not unusual that you would occasionally notice someone stopping beside grazing land taking photos of sheep, cows and cattle. It is said that having a photo of these animals is proof of having visited NZ.
NZ had a sheep population of 30 million compared to its human population of 4.5 million. in 1982, it peaked at 70 million. Dairy cattle population is a distant second behind the sheep at 6.7 million.
Finding alpaca required extra effort because it is still considered rare in NZ. Paqocha Alpaca, an alpaca farm in Gibbson Valley was "found" in Tripadvisor before we made our trip to NZ. It is impossible to locate this place without a GPS. The farm is very small, barely 20 number are kept in a piece of 7-acre land. Visit to the farm required prior booking. Entrance fee of NZ$50 charged per head is rather pricey. Fortunately, we were the only visitors that afternoon on 25 February and there was a mild drizzle at that time. The lady owner only charged us half price!
NZ had a sheep population of 30 million compared to its human population of 4.5 million. in 1982, it peaked at 70 million. Dairy cattle population is a distant second behind the sheep at 6.7 million.
Finding alpaca required extra effort because it is still considered rare in NZ. Paqocha Alpaca, an alpaca farm in Gibbson Valley was "found" in Tripadvisor before we made our trip to NZ. It is impossible to locate this place without a GPS. The farm is very small, barely 20 number are kept in a piece of 7-acre land. Visit to the farm required prior booking. Entrance fee of NZ$50 charged per head is rather pricey. Fortunately, we were the only visitors that afternoon on 25 February and there was a mild drizzle at that time. The lady owner only charged us half price!
The alpacas in the farm is of the Suri species. The more common one however is the Huacaya species. Their fleeces are soft and virtually free of guard hair. The alpacas in the farm are "friendly" and get along with humans well as long as their foreheads are not touched. They love to have their necks being stroked.
Besides sheep and cattle, we also saw free range pig farming.
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