On the way to our next woofing, we follow the South Coast from Fiordland to Invercargill. Among the sightseeings, the Gemstone Beach and "Monkey Island", a small mountain reachable only at low tide where Maori spotted the whales... But we spotted only seagulls...

Southland Coast
Southland Coast

Otatara is our next stop to meet the locals: Sherry and Jeff. They have 9 Jersey cows and a dog, Polly, a labradoodle (a cross between a Labrador and a poodle), keen on balls. They sell their raw milk, yogurt and cheese directly on the farm.

The 9 milking cows (from top left to bottom right) : Pinkletoe, Socks, Rosie, Monka, Rosemary, Little Red, Lucy, Poppy, Tulip
The 9 milking cows (from top left to bottom right) : Pinkletoe, Socks, Rosie, Monka, Rosemary, Little Red, Lucy, Poppy, Tulip
Funny shots
Funny shots
Polly aka Polly Pocket or Polly Rocket
Polly aka Polly Pocket or Polly Rocket

The day starts by the milking. We prepare the feed, we throw the ball for Polly, we get the cows, we throw the ball, we place the cups, we throw the ball, we fill the milk bottles, we throw the ball, we bring the cows back to their paddock, we throw you-know-what and we have a morning tea. After the milking, we have some other jobs such as painting the fence, weeding gorse, broom bush and blackberry, spreading some straw on the veggie garden, bottling the maple syrup, washing the cheeses and drenching the calves.

Milking
Milking
Cheese, maple syrup and farm life
Cheese, maple syrup and farm life

The afternoon is free. So we went by bike to Oreti Beach, to the garage and to Bluff (the last village at the end of State Highway 1, going from the North to the South of the island)

Bluff
Bluff

Our woof hosts have a specific diet. Shortly, currently, we eat a food that's too transformed, low-fat, with too much carbohydrates... That is not good for our metabolism! We should go back and eat like our ancestors: meat, eggs and raw dairy products (no pasteurisation, no homogenisation, no skimming), fruits, seeds and vegetables. Fermented products, rich in microorganisms, are good for our digestive system. So we eat a lot of yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, rye bread. You forget the sugar, replaced by honey and maple syrup; wheat replaced by potatoes as rice. Good fat is a key element of the diet :"God save the cream". More info on Sherry's website.

About a thousand ball throws later, we have to leave, with presents: cheese, yogurt (which is already finished by the time we published this article ;) ) and maple syrup, thanks a lot to Sherry and Jeff!