Sheep Farming in Canterbury

"Sheep cannot be too closely watched or too much left to themselves. You must remember they are your masters and not you theirs; you exist for them, not they for you" - Samuel Butler, A First Year in Canterbury Settlement

Sheep farming in New Zealand was Samuel Butler's ticket to escape a career in the clergy that his father had planned for him in England. Last week Neville and Sue Sinclair invited us into their home in Scargill, North Canterbury where they have lived for 42 years, built their home, raised their family, created and collected art, and farmed their East Friesian rare breed sheep. Sue who grew up on a more traditional sheep farm, wanted to explore a different way of raising her sheep, which doesn't value them simply as numbers. They live almost entirely self sufficiently. While the fruits of their hard labour are easy to see, they acknowledge the huge amount of work and commitment involved in creating the lifestyle they believe in.