The Year of the Sheep

Other than our Milford and Abel Tasman Great Walks, we have had a pretty open itinerary.  Once we got to the South Island, we were under the false impression that there would be nobody here – just a few million sheep biding their time until they became lamp chops or high end sweaters.  Well, we heard wrong.  There are a lot of tourists down here too.  We had trouble finding lodging in Christchurch, Queenstown, and Wanaka. The most common reason offered was that it was around Chinese New Year and it we just entered “The Year of the Sheep”.  It is true that we have seen a lot of Chinese tourists.  It is also true that we have seen a heck of a lot of little lambies in the fields all over the island, so the Chinese travelers chose well from a symbolic perspective.  Next year is “The Year of the Monkey”, so if you are going to be in Brazil next February, make your reservations in advance.