Only in New Zealand can you find drone footage like this

Cars had to slow down and even stop for the sheep. Photo / Ashley Harvey

A Christchurch man has captured drone footage of hundreds of sheep being herded in the Mackenzie Country.

The footage shows a farmer herding the sheep along the side of a road and into a paddock. Several cars have to stop or slow down for the sheep.

The birds-eye-view shots then show the sheep running in their new paddock with the picturesque Mackenzie Basin as a backdrop.

Ashley Harvey, who took the footage, was driving to his brother's wedding in Otematata when he came across the farmer herding the sheep near Twizel, three hours south west of Christchurch.

The birds-eye-view shots show the sheep running in their new paddock. Photo / Ashley Harvey

Mr Harvey's Japanese wife and children who were born in Japan had never seen a scene like it so he decided to pull over and release his drone into the sky.

"It's quite a typical scene in the South Island but it can be quite cool to see if it's not something you're used to," he said.

Mr Harvey posted the footage on the Youtube channel for his production company, YeahNah productions, after the wedding in April last year.

It was recently spotted by a UK advertising agency who have distributed the footage to various UK companies wanting to promote New Zealand.

"A lot of tourists who come to New Zealand think they're going to see sheep everywhere," Mr Harvey said.

"Obviously that's not the case but, as this footage shows, you can capture quite spectacular scenes which you can't really get elsewhere in the world."