Visiting a friend and milking cows
Ferrari and I had a lovely time in Gore. We stayed at the Gore Holiday Park which had sufficient trees and shrubbery for Ferrari to play in. What a great opportunity to catch up with a lovely warm hearted South African lady whom I have known from when she lived in Tauranga up to about five years ago. Tannie Kotie showed me around Gore, shouted me coffee, cooked lunch and took me to visit one of her daughters who lives on a milk farm.
This was a real treat! I got to ride on the back of a quadbike and got to see how a milking rotary operates. Then the question came “Would you like to try?” Now, I have been on a milk farm many, many years ago and I studied Agriculture as a subject in school (even longer ago), and I love animals……. but New Zealand is a country with lots of water and green grass, so the cow poop is softer and more freely distributed than what I’m used to. For a moment I hesitated. Then I thought: "when will I get a chance like this again?". “Yea, sure!” The milker watched in amusement at my attempts but was patient and helpful.
No matter how I tried though, I couldn’t keep the cow poop of my hand... and arms. My host was very kind and after I applied the milking cups to the udders of two cows, she led me to a basin with water and soap.
Needless to say, I don’t think this will become my day job and I take my hat off to people who get up at 4am every morning (even in winter when it is snowing) to milk 500+ cows twice a day. Tannie Kotie's daughter, Alet, told me that Fresians must have white around all four legs, have white on the tail and white in the face. If any of those white markings are absent or not suffissient, they are not classed as Fresian, but as Kiwi Cross. You also get red Friesian cows that are a reddish brown with all the white markings. And then there are the Jerseys (brown). They have a high amount of protein in their milk while Fresians have more fat in the milk, so I was told (hope I got it right!).
Thanks a million, Tannie Kotie, I had a great time!
Tannie Kotie in front of the big trout statue at the entrance to Gore.
A beautiful park right next to the river
A view over the town.
The town theatre that is still in use.
Poor cow!
Alet, Tannie Kotie's daughter explained all about the different breeds of milk cows.