Vote For Pedro!

I’m alive. I didn’t fall out of bed! Could this day get any better? Answer: Yes! Today I went horse riding and it was so amazing! We woke up quite early and after having some delicious bread for breakfast the girls and I waited for our riding instructor. She was quite young – maybe late twenties, early thirties – she was really nice! We took a mini bus up to the stables (the lodge was at the very bottom of the valley and the stables were towards the top of the hill) and then we got kitted out in our horsey gear!

We were told to wear trousers, so I wore my Canterbury’s and a thin jumper – which, looking back, was a good choice! We were then given chaps (I think that is the word, maybe I just made that up, will need to ask H) for the bottom of our legs, so our trousers wouldn’t get wrecked. We were also given shoesie and I can’t remember the name of them for the life of me, but they were really comfortable, which surprised me! Our last item of attractive horsey attire was a helmet. Note to self: you do not look good in a helmet. Once we were all kitted out we went outside to be placed with a horse. There were five horses, one for each of us and one for the instructor. The instructor was riding a big white horse, who apparently is quite moody, so I was happy to let her work away! There was a tiny white horse which I wasn’t keen to go on – I know horses are strong, but I probably would have broken the poor animals back! A tiny girl went on her and then the two Danish girls took medium sized horses. Which left me with Pedro. Yes, that’s right. Pedro. Like in Napoleon Dynamite! He was pretty big, about 15 hands, and he was a blackish brown. The instructor told me that she hadn’t been letting anyone ride him for a while, because he has a “bit of a personality” – she didn’t tell me this until I was riding him, but it all worked out quite well, Pedro is the new love of my life!

At first it was hard to get him going. Actually all the girls were having problems with their horses. It was early and they were still a bit sleepy – I don’t really blame them. I would be pretty mad if someone jumped on my back at nine o’clock in the A.M! We were all beginners, so it took us a while to figure out how to manoeuvre the horses – unlike a car there is no steering wheel, there isn’t even a reverse gear! Can I also say, it looks so much easier when someone else is riding the horse! When we eventually got them out of the stables and surrounding fields we went down what they call the “zig zag”, which is basically a little zig zagging path that goes down from the stables to the bottom of the valley. That was interesting. At first I was quite worried about it – as great as Pedro was, we had only just met and I was putting my life in his hands (hoofs?)! One misstep and we would have fallen down a really steep hill – which looks even steeper when you’re sitting on a wild beast! Pedro was also quite fond of grass and thistles, so we made frequent snack stops. At first I didn’t have the heart to pull him away, but after about 50 thistle stops I worked how to get him moving – pull on the right reign, give him a little kick and if that doesn’t work, whip out the whip, literally. I was the only person given a whip (a crop, I think) because apparently Pedro “needs a little encouragement”. Again, I was told this after I was on the horse.

Once I figured out how to get Pedro going the ride was really nice. I was able to take pictures and ride at the same time, so that was handy – I took so many pictures! There probably all rubbish, but you should try taking pictures, over your shoulder, while trying to steer a big horse! Another thing about Pedro is that none of the other horses like him, which is pretty harsh because I was quite fond of him! Every time he got close to another horse they put their ears back and they tried to bite him a few times! That did make things a little more difficult for me – I either had to hold him back or else let him overtake all the horses so he wouldn’t annoy them, but Pedro and I were a pretty good team. Pedro liked to be in the lead or at least close to the front, so we usually led the group. If Pedro stopped to eat some thistles and lost his place at the front of the group we would do a wee bit of sneaky overtaking and get back to the front! You probably shouldn’t overtake other horses, Heather will probably shout at me for breaking the Highway Code of the horse world, but we had fun! I was also really proud of the wee horse – we had to cross a tiny bridge, just a few planks, and apparently Pedro needs to be led across by the instructor, but he went over without her help. What a dude!

When we got to the highest point of our trek we stopped to take pictures. The instructor took pictures of everyone and their horses (Pedro took this opportunity to refuel) which was really nice – it’s quite difficult to take pictures of yourself when you’re riding a horse. I would know, I tried. When everyone was done Pedro and I got some pictures taken – I think he’s eating in every picture. My kind of man. The trek was actually really beautiful. We had such a nice day – the sky was blue and cloudless and because we started in the early morning it wasn’t too hot for us or the horses! It was a really nice way to see the scenery! We also saw lots of sheep and on our way back to the stables we saw a baby deer running through the grass, which was really nice – I did get a few quick shots, probably not the best quality but I was impressed with my cat like reflexes.

When we got back to the stables we gave the horses a sponge down, which I actually really enjoyed. Pedro was so chilled about it, I was able to duck under his neck and he didn’t mind when I was cleaning his tummy – some of the other horses wouldn’t let the girls do that. Quite clearly I have a special gift. I think I could give old Robert “the horse whisperer” Redford a run for his money! We then went and took off our helmets, chaps and shoes – the instructor was taking the horses back out to the field but Pedro followed me into the person part of the stables. We have a connection; he just didn’t want to leave me! Bless.

I did actually really enjoy the horse riding – once I figured out what to do I had a really good time. The scenery was beautiful and I had the most amazing horse ever, he did have a bit of a personality, but that made him even better! It was so much fun, especially when we overtook everyone! Win. I even like the cleaning part! I’m definitely going to do it again, hopefully I will be able to do some nice treks in the South Island! I also think I might have to visit Heathers horse. I’m sure Fairy isn’t as amazing as Pedro, but she can’t be too bad! Maybe I’ve found my calling in life. Esther is always saying that I need a hobby – how mad will she be when I tell her that I’ve chosen the most expensive one around! Did you hear that dad? I want a horse too... Get saving!

I am actually kidding. I did love my horse trekking experience, but actually having a horse and looking after it is a lot harder than going for a 3 hour trek! But still, it was amazing and I would love to do it again! Watch this space!

When we came back to the lodge we were able to get a nice hot shower, which was nice, but I’m a bit of an idiot, so I put the water to full heat – which was literally boiling. Luckily I wasn’t under it, but I did have to turn the dial back to cold, which I couldn’t do because it was so hot. Thankfully I’m not just a pretty face – I wrapped a towel around my hand and was able to turn the water off. Once I got the temperature right the shower was pretty nice – apart from the massive spiders in the rafters above the showers. Nice. Then I made myself some lunch. Microwaveable tomato soup. Heaven. Once we all had lunch we just waited for the people who were doing white water rafting to come back to the lodge and then we all got back onto the bus. The bus couldn’t park down at the lodge because the road down is too steep and windey (as in winded), so we had to walk back up, which was interesting – I kept stopping to take pictures of the “lovely scenery”/I’m ridiculously unfit and had to keep stopping to avoid having a heart attack. Once we were on the bus we started the drive to Wellington. We made a few stops, to refuel and all that jazz, they weren’t anything special. But we did stop in an interesting town, I think it was called Bulls, in fact I’m sure that there was Bull in the town name, because they had given all the businesses funny names – like the centre for new parents is called “NonreturnaBULL”. So that was interesting. Oh you crazy New Zealanders!

We eventually arrived in Wellington and we made our way to the Base Hostel – no surprises there, Kiwi Experience and Base are properly in love with each other. I booked into a regular dorm and just was I was about to get into the lift I saw Hayley! For anyone that doesn’t know, Hayley and I went to school together (Nursery, Primary and Secondary) and we both live in Ballyholme! She came to New Zealand 3 months ago and she did the Kiwi Experience – which is probably the reason why I did Kiwi Experience! (Some major sucking up is about to occur) When I was getting ready to come to New Zealand I would ask Hayley about 1,000,000 questions a day! She was like a little travel agent and she was far more helpful than all the websites I was looking at! Esther and I also frequently looked at her Facebook, being nosey and checking out all her pictures – again, the reason why I probably came to New Zealand! After having a wee chat (so strange to be able to talk to someone about home) I went up to my room, which was horribly small. Like I have a really big bag, but there was NO room for it on the floor. It was horrible and there were 4 boys in my room! Which wouldn’t bother me normally, but it was just so small. So I went and changed the room! haha! I got myself moved to the Sanctuary (all girls) part of the Hostel – it’s an entire floor... Yes! When I went to my room to collect my stuff I got chatting to one of the guys who wasn’t on the Kiwi Experience, his name is Denis and he’s a really nice chap, it would have been nice to share a dorm with him, but nah. Sanctuary and its free towel calls!

I then got myself settles into my MASSIVE Sanctuary room. Well, it isn’t massive, but it’s big enough. There’s so much space and there’s only four beds in this room! I then went and had some Mac and Cheese. Which tasted so good, for the first few mouthfuls, because I was so unbelievably hungry. Once the hunger subsided I realised just how terrible this Mac and Cheese tastes. But still, it was cheap and easy to make, so I’ll probably be having it again! I met up with Hayley again and we had a nice wee goss! It was so fun talking to her, especially since I haven’t really been with anyone that I really like in quite a while! It was so good to be able to talk about our friends, because we know all the same people, so I didn’t have to explain who each person was! We could talk about anything – it really is different talking to people from home. They know near enough everything about you, where you come from, your friends, even the teachers you had at school! It was so great talking to Hayley, she really makes me laugh – she’s just one of those genuinely nice people, but she’s so funny, without even trying! I knew there was a reason why I played with her in nursery school! I would love to find that picture of me, Hayley and Jordan Cochran (totally misspelt that), we all looked so cute when we were little. Obviously nothing has changed.

Hayley and I talked for ages – I was so tired I collapsed on my bed and fell straight asleep!

xx