The unusual situation unfolded during the annual lamb sale in Omarama last Thursday. The huge number of animals, people, and vehicles at the saleyards next to State Highway 83 and the Alps 2 Ocean cycle trail aroused the curiosity of passing cyclists.
Dressed in lycra shorts, fluoro vests, and bike helmets, the cyclists stood out from the rest of the crowd.
Colombian Ania Camargo, who now lives in Boston, was smitten with New Zealand and had visited many times. She encouraged her brother Andres Cortes and husband-and-wife friends Allison Watson and Jon Barwick, from Seattle, to accompany her on the Alps 2 Ocean ride.
Ms Camargo photographed some of the merinos in the pens and sent the photo back to friends in Boston, asking if they would like to her to bid on them.
They dissuaded her.
