Day 54 - And now there are none

Friday was a very sad day.  The baby magpie died during the night and one of the turkey babies died early in the morning.  In the evening, Heather and Mike found the last baby turkey had also died.  We do have the prospect of another clutch of eggs, Bexley's, hatching on Sunday and we are making plans to make sure these survive.  Heather had been told that turkeys are not usually good mothers, but we thought Bromley was doing a good job since she was leading her little ones around the yard and keeping them close to her, but apparently they were not eating enough or being kept warm enough, we're just not sure.


Friday afternoon we went to the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association Show which is similar to a state fair with lots of live stock, rides for the kids, food tent, competitions, and exhibitions.  The first competition we watched was sheep herding.  It was amazing to see the handlers and their dogs herd sheep around the ring, through gates, and into pens. 

One handler had a dog that actually herded ducks - no barking, just eye contact.  You can see how the dog lowered his body down to the ground to be on the same level as the ducks!

Livestock competitions were over when we got there but alot of the animals were still in their pens so we were able to take pictures

These are alpacas.  They make a sound that seems to be a cross between a bleat and a meow.  Their coats are thick and warm like sheep's wool, but so much softer!

There were enormous cows and their calves.

This is a Scottish Highlander calf.

And this is its mother!  They all have long hair and horns.

A prize-winning billy goat.

A white leghorn rooster, this is what Roo is, but he doesn't have the black feathers..

And a brown leghorn rooster.

This is also a chicken, but I don't know what kind it is!

These are the winners of the Clydesdale competition.  These horses are not nearly as big as the ones we see in the Budweiser commercials.

After the show, we drove over to Sumner to meet Mike's brother, Richard, for dinner at The Thirsty Mariner. 

Tim and Andrew - This is the restaurant we went to last year for the yummy lamb shanks.

Sumner and Redcliffs are two Christchurch suburbs that also suffered massive damage from the earthquakes, from falling stones, and rock slides.  The main road runs along the coast at the base of the hills and to stop the rock slides from covering the road again, huge shipping containers have been lined up along the side of the road.

Mike stopped the car long enough for me to take a picture in between the containers.

You can see the fallen rocks in the foreground and the debris that has fallen from a house at the top of the cliff.

These houses have been undermined by the rock slides.

And this car was hit by the boulder on the right.

On the way to Sumner we had driven through Christchurch  and walked along one part of the barrier that cordons off the red zone.  The Grand Chancellor Hotel is being taken down.   

and I think Heather and Mike wanted to get one last look.

I have more pictures of Christchurch and a great story about the Cashel Mall, but I have to organize some photos before I post it.