Farm

Last week Andries and Belinda van der Zande invited me down to their dairy farm to help in preparations for the cows return. Yes, the cows go on a bovine holiday (think ClubMed for cattle) and return ready to reproduce.  The farm is a little over an hour south from Dunedin toward the town of Clinton.  The van der Zandes just moved to this area where Andries manages the farm There was much cleaning, mending, and general grunt work to do.

Cleaning the udder suckers (non-technical term)

Belinda and the dogs.

The Farm with Andries doing some mowing--in winter!

The dairy shed

Disassemble, clean, reassemble

Putting flowers in the garden.

Not pleased to see an American with November just around the corner.

Life on the farm.

Very cold here once the sun goes down at 5 PM.

Making more friends.  Four wheelers and AG bikes are the preferred modes of travel.

Another of the very positive aspects of New Zealand is variety of expatriates one meets.  Andries is a former Montessori principal and cafe owner from Amsterdam and Belinda is a former journalist from Jersey (the isle, not meadowlands!).  The world is a smaller place.