Having been brought up in the 70s/80s with only 3 TV channels, “One man and his dog” was compulsive viewing. For those uneducated here, this involved sheep dog trials hosted in beautiful British countryside where the biggest event involved a rogue sheep running off from their colleagues with the TV commentators describing the drama of it all. Hosted by the wonderfully named Phil Drabble, it was almost the highlight of the week – ah, the days before the Internet…
Therefore, next up for us in the adventure playground that is Rotorua was a visit to the Agrodome. Sounds flash, but essentially it is a working sheep farm with a couple of gift shops plus a “farm show” in a small indoor arena. The show consisted of being shown the 19 types of sheep at the farm, being given a history lesson for each breed plus a sheep shearing demonstration and a couple of short sessions showing how sheep dogs manage to direct sheep, and even ducks at one point, around the arena. A short video is available here.
It was all very touristy, but our guide/shepherd/part-time comedian was good fun and we feel suitably educated and entertained. We didn’t have any problems sleeping that night.