Ireland competitors Graham Murphy and Richie O'Hara raise
their flag after completing the Shepherds Sprint during the
World Young Shepherds Challenge at the Oamaru Showgrounds
yesterday morning. Photo by Ben Guild.
If Graham Murphy and Richie O'Hara had their way, they
would never fly with Qantas again.
A pity, then, that the Irish contestants at the World Young
Shepherd Challenge in Oamaru have return airfares to their
homeland with the Australian carrier.
The pair's journey from Kilkenny, where they study at
Kildalton Agricultural College under accompanying tutor John
O'Connor, was to take 36 hours, but had stretched to about
100 by the time they arrived.
They had left Ireland on Friday morning local time and did
not arrive in Oamaru until 9pm New Zealand time on Tuesday .
The delays were caused by a long-running industrial dispute
that has resulted in flights grounded globally.
"We had an overnight in Singapore we shouldn't have had, and
an overnight in Bangkok we shouldn't have had," Mr Murphy
said.
Neither hesitated when asked whether they would consider
booking with Qantas in the future.
"Never again," Mr Murphy said. "We have to fly home with
them, but after that very doubtful."
The delay, though, brought them a degree of celebrity in
Oamaru yesterday.
"We're more famous for not being here," Mr Murphy said.
Despite the setback, they were "happy enough" to be given an
opportunity to complete Tuesday's events yesterday.
New Zealand representative Peter Klaassen, of Lincoln
University, praised the quality of the field after taking out
the Shepherds Sprint with Hamish Best, of Massey University,
yesterday morning at the Oamaru Showgrounds.
The duo triumphed after negotiating a course complete with
temporary fencing, kitset wheelbarrows, chainsaws, sheep,
potatoes, pavlovas and cereal.
They made up a great deal of time while consuming the
Weet-Bix, which other teams - especially the English - found
difficult to stomach.
New Zealand was known for both rugby and farming and "to take
them both out would be good", Mr Klaassen said.
Beef and Lamb New Zealand people and capability manager Diane
Falconer said the event could be run every four years in
conjunction with the Rugby World Cup, as sheep-farming
nations also tended to play rugby.
"The unity of the backgrounds, especially for the
English-speaking competitors, mean they can just sit around
and have a good yarn," she said.
It was the first time the challenge had been held and its
future would be contingent on its success. This year was the
perfect time to launch the contest as it was "absolutely" a
strong time for the sheep industry with high wool and meat
prices.
The winners will be announced on Friday, the best-performed
individual earning a $15,000 international professional
development scholarship.
ben.guild@odt.co.nz
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