MalahatTwo7
04-05-2004, 04:09 PM
It must have been a quiet weekend in Kiwi-Land.... :D:D:D
Small New Zealand town revels in The Running of the Sheep
Canadian Press Monday, April 05, 2004
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - A small New Zealand town reached for some of the glamor and danger of the Spanish bull-run city of Pamplona on Saturday, by running 2,000 woolly sheep through the middle of town.
No one was chased, trampled or gored by the animals in the inaugural Running of the Sheep. And instead of seeking cover, most spectators helped stop the shaggy mob from scurrying everywhere but the right direction.
As organizer John Grainger predicted, the result was pure chaos as sheep, people and dogs struggled along the planned route through North Island's Te Kuiti, a rural farming town 570 kilometres north of the capital, Wellington.
Headed initially by All Black rugby player greats Colin Meads and Sir Brian Lochore, the sheep were supposed to do a quick circuit through downtown.
But the 2,000 ewes lacked the instinct of Spanish bulls, as they split into puzzled groups and set off in all directions.
Spectators whistled, shouted and waved their arms to direct the flock.
"The sheep I think panicked . . . and we couldn't keep in front of them," Meads chuckled.
The crowd, most of the town's 4,374 population, was delighted.
The event "was extremely ambitious, sheep being sheep, and people being people," one unnamed woman told TV3 News.
"I think it's got international potential," she laughed.
No one is quite sure who actually thought up the Running of the Sheep.
"But we all live off the sheep's back here," said Grainger. "We want to emphasize that sheep are the backbone of the economy."
It might just develop a cult following, like Pamplona, he said.
© The Canadian Press 2004
Small New Zealand town revels in The Running of the Sheep
Canadian Press Monday, April 05, 2004
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - A small New Zealand town reached for some of the glamor and danger of the Spanish bull-run city of Pamplona on Saturday, by running 2,000 woolly sheep through the middle of town.
No one was chased, trampled or gored by the animals in the inaugural Running of the Sheep. And instead of seeking cover, most spectators helped stop the shaggy mob from scurrying everywhere but the right direction.
As organizer John Grainger predicted, the result was pure chaos as sheep, people and dogs struggled along the planned route through North Island's Te Kuiti, a rural farming town 570 kilometres north of the capital, Wellington.
Headed initially by All Black rugby player greats Colin Meads and Sir Brian Lochore, the sheep were supposed to do a quick circuit through downtown.
But the 2,000 ewes lacked the instinct of Spanish bulls, as they split into puzzled groups and set off in all directions.
Spectators whistled, shouted and waved their arms to direct the flock.
"The sheep I think panicked . . . and we couldn't keep in front of them," Meads chuckled.
The crowd, most of the town's 4,374 population, was delighted.
The event "was extremely ambitious, sheep being sheep, and people being people," one unnamed woman told TV3 News.
"I think it's got international potential," she laughed.
No one is quite sure who actually thought up the Running of the Sheep.
"But we all live off the sheep's back here," said Grainger. "We want to emphasize that sheep are the backbone of the economy."
It might just develop a cult following, like Pamplona, he said.
© The Canadian Press 2004