Fodor's Expert Review SheepWorld

Head for SheepWorld about an hour north of Auckland for a taste of life on a typical New Zealand sheep farm. Daily demonstrations at 11 (also at 2 Wed.--Sun. in the summer) show working farm dogs rounding up sheep before the shearers take over (shows are once a day the rest of the year). An ecotrail meanders through the bush, providing information on native trees, birds (and their calls), and weta (large, ugly—yet impressive—native insects); there are also other farm animals (goats, donkeys, chickens, alpaca, emu) that kids can hand-feed. On the weekends, the farm dogs even herd ducks. Children can bottle-feed lambs in August. During the busy summer season, it's better to call ahead or book a seat for the show online.