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Voices of ACES Blog

Lindis Crossing Station & Methven Young Farmers

Students at Blue Pub with Tom Lambie

Our wake up time was bright and early this morning. We started off with a breakfast at the hostel--toast and cereal were on the menu. After a quick breakfast, we were off to our first visit of the day.

After a quick briefing on safety precautions in the event of an earthquake, as well as health and safety measures for the farm, we proceeded to head out to the high country sheep station. We talked to the farm owners, John and Matt, for a while about consumer demand, farm practices, and how overall cattle and sheep farming works. We then proceeded to get an up close and personal look in his cattle farming techniques. This was a very interesting dynamic because we could ask and talk to them about how they farm and how closely they try to cater to the demands of their consumers.

Cows in a field         Students listening to a presentation by John and Matt

   

At around 10:00am, we headed off to lunch, but it was quickly proceeded by a brief coffee and tea stop at a very quaint coffee shop in Tarras Country Coffee in Cromwell, New Zealand. We arrived at lunch at a restaurant called the Astro Café in Lake Tekapo. It was at the top of an observatory that not only had beautiful scenery, but amazing food. From salmon on bagels to chicken and pomegranate paninis, the food was everything we could have wished for for lunch.

Coffee from Tarras Country Coffee in Cromwell, New Zealand     View of mountains from Astro Café in Lake Tekapo    View of mountains from Astro Café in Lake Tekapo  

Afterward, we proceeded to have a long car ride to Methven. We quickly made our way to the Blue Pub and had a nice interactive meeting with Tom Lambie and enjoyed conversation a conversation about dairy farming, technology, and organics. We then headed to the hotel to unwind for a spell before supper and then we went back to the Blue Pub to enjoy burgers with the local members of the New Zealand Young Farmers Club. We had great engagements and swapped stories about each respective country’s policies and ways of life. Post dinner we engaged in friendly rivalry with the Young Farmers in some games before we headed back to the hotel for a good night’s rest.