Women shearers making records in Hawke's Bay woolshed

The gang in a Te Uri woolshed on Sunday, including the four women who took the four stands for the day. Photo / Supplied

Four women have done a possibly unprecedented day's work in a Hawke's Bay woolshed; not only did they take up all four stands in the shed, the women were all from overseas.

The four are Norwegian shearers Anne-Lise Haugdahl Humstad and Inga Lill Rossevatn, German Karolin Bu, and "Scots Maori" Emily Te Kapa, the only one with a Kiwi heritage.

The four are working for Dannevirke enterprise Paewai Mullins and were put together in one shed by boss Aria Mullins on Sunday, to shear the lambs of Te Uri farmer Bruce Williams.

It was a particularly big day for Rossevatn, who posted her first tally of more than 200, just a few days after arriving in New Zealand.

To add to the United Nations look, the gang had an Australian on the woolfloor crew - albeit a bloke.

Aria Mullins said the opportunity to get all four women making up the one gang was too good to miss.

"I never let the farmer know as he is a real good sort so wanted to give him a surprise as well," she said.

"His nightpen held between 500-600 lambs so I knew the girls would handle that no problem."

A forecast thunderstorm never happened, and Williams was able to supply the lambs all day, shearing a combined total of 821 in eight hours.

Humstad lived up to the honour of taking the ringer's stand (No 1) and shore 254, including the best two-hour run of 67. Te Kapa, who grew up in Scotland, the daughter of late well-known New Zealand shearer Joe Te Kapa, shore 231, Rossevatn shore 204 and Bu shore 132.

Te Kapa has shorn in New Zealand for several summers, at one stage winning a succession of Junior competitions, and was sixth in the 2015 Golden Shears Junior final. Humstad is in her third season in New Zealand, all based in Dannevirke where the Paewai Mullins quarters east of the town have sometimes resembled a backpacking operation with the multi-national array of staff at the peak of the season.

Around the table at Christmas time were staff from Poland, Wales, England and Australia. The local diversity included staff from Ngai Tahu, Te Arawa, Tuhoe, and Rangitane.

The next day the visitors were able to learn from one of the best female shearers in the wool industry, King Country shearer Kerri-Jo Te Huia, who at Otapawa Station, east of Eketahuna, shore a women's world record of 452 ewes in nine hours.

Shearing Sports New Zealand reports about 25 women reached junior, intermediate or senior finals in competitions throughout the country in the 2016-2017 season, including Woodville's Laura Bradley, who was the top-ranked intermediate, male or female.