Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017 – Winery Ride near Brisbane

After an incredibly peaceful night, with perfect sleeping temperatures and a long-distance view of Brisbane to die for, we woke up long before the alarm. We had apparently crossed into a different time zone, even though Sydney and Brisbane are nearly on the same longitude, and I found out later it was because one goes into daylight savings time and the other one doesn't, apparently quite a controversial topic around here! In any event, we had a leisurely breakfast, and still headed down toward the barn by just after 8:00 local time, even though the scheduled muster was 9:00. Turns out even that was optimistic... Anyway, I finally met Daryl, who gave me a big hug and bragged to everyone around that we had driven all the from Melbourne in two days to do this ride, proving once again (in his mind) that we Yanks are a crazy bunch. Frankly, 800 miles in two days is no big deal for us, but it seems to impress some people so I let Daryl go on with it. In any event, we finally got everyone signed in and paid up, a lengthy process that took a lot longer than I thought it would, and, I'm sorry to say, Daryl charged us $30 to stay out in his pasture, which surprised me because he made it sound like a friendly invitation, not a commercial offer, and for $30AU we could have stayed in a Holiday Park with water and electric, or more likely, just gone to one of the many free camping grounds in the area, but whatever. It was a beautiful view and we enjoyed ourselves with the horses mingling around so I let it go. We finally got down to the paddock where the rest of the crowd was getting basic instructions (and by now, everyone knew about our extensive experience from Daryl, and no one was worried about our experience or credentials), and after some more milling about, we were finally assigned our horses. I was on a nice little brown horse named Dan (the Man), and Hubby got a spotted paint named Pappy. Both started out a bit unresponsive on the bit and sides, but that quickly changed once we got going, and the horses discovered we knew what we were doing. At LAST we got on the trail by about 11:15, in a long line of nose to tail single file with over twenty riders and three or four trail guides. The first 20 minutes or so was agony for us, watching people who had never ridden struggling with the most basic commands, but before long, they were dividing us into amateurs vs. experienced, and that was quite the relief! Once we divided, the ride became a whole 'nother ride. We began trotting and cantering regularly, particularly up numerous hills and dales, through woods and across the occasional field. It was wonderful! It turned out Dan loved to run, so I often held him back when the group went off the trot, until we had to canter to catch up. It was heaven! He had a great little canter, and he loved to run, passing a few other horses (though we weren't really supposed to pass, but I had no choice, of course!) There were a few sections where we had to ride along a road, but for the most part it was cross country through a lot of woods and cattle country, passing quite a few cows and calves along the way. It took over two hours to reach the winery, but it was located on a beautiful spot. They had rings and tie straps on a bunch of trees just below the restaurant, and it didn't take long to get settled in. Hubby and I got a couple of scotch ales while they served us crackers and cheese, and before long the newby group joined us, and they served up some wine for tasting as well. We had also ordered lunch as part of the morning waiver ritual, and that was eventually served as well. It was a long, leisurely lunch, with great food, great conversation, great wine and beer, and a great time was had by all! After two+ hours, we paid our respective bills and headed back down into the yard to collect our patient horses. I helped Hubby climb up (they were all on a slope, so we didn't even need a mounting block) and before long we were on our way again, with a new group leader. Evidently, they switch off with the experienced group, to make it more interesting for the guides as well. This time, we took a shorter route, beginning with a fabulous couple of canters in a partially wooded field, which was a spectacular way to start the post-lunch ride. After that, it was mostly along the roadway until we reached the edge of Daryl's property, but we did finally see a live kangaroo in the wild cross the road in front of us, yippee! He was too quick to get a picture, though. Then we all snaked down to the bottom of a long and windy hill, then again, we split up. The new young leader pointed in the distance at a great long hill and asked Hubby, do you think you would enjoy cantering up that hill? Hubby, despite earlier concerns that he needed a day off before we rode again, but who had been doing swimmingly all day, replied, "Sure!" So off we went. A few short ups and downs, and then we reached the long stretch, and away we went! Sure enough, Hubby's horse Pappy was all about reaching the top before anyone else, and he didn't stop until he climbed the whole hill. Dan, who had raced and passed everyone in front of him all day, made it about two-thirds of the way before slowing to a walk for a short distance, then he kicked it up again to make it to the top. I was so proud of Hubby! He really got the feel for the canter on this trip, and his stamina was incredible today! He was pretty proud of himself, too, as with all the ups and downs, so soon after another ride where his back ached after all the ups and downs, he didn't seem to suffer a bit. Just beyond the top of the hill was our starting paddock and the end of the ride, a fabulous end, too! Many rides just kind of peter out, but this one really had a climax to it. We got the impression they don't usually go up that hill (the horses kept trying to get through another gate at the bottom), but we think they were trying to impress us a bit. After all, if we drove all the way from Melbourne, it had better be good, right? No pressure, right? Suffice to say, it was very satisfactory, and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, with the horses, the company, the other experienced riders, the whole day. Wonderful! Once we got back to the barn, though, with only an hour left before it got dark, Hubby and I had to leave quickly. Fortunately, I found a gold-mine of a free camping area in nearby Petrie. A motorhome/caravan/campervan only rest stop, with water, a dump and all free of charge, only 25 minutes away. We headed out and was there in no time. We filled up with water, used the dump and found a nice spot under the trees. The only down side is that the park is sandwiched between a commuter rail track and a little road, though the train seems to be electric so it's pretty quiet, and the road doesn't seem too bad either. I didn't care by this point, it had gotten hot during the day and all I wanted was a cold beer, a hot shower, and few minutes and writing and reading, then off the bed. So that's exactly what I'm doing! Good night!

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