Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Australia
Alright- I finally have a chance to catch up. So as the lights were flashing we pulled back into the lane and everything went smoothly for the rest of our ride to the barn. When we got there we gathered our gear (I got a real Aussie riding coat known as Drizabone or Driza). Then we met our horses. I was given a Clydesdale/ Thoroughbred cross named Star. He was a really nice horse. I even got to ride in an Aussie saddle. Mine was a military saddle - it was comfortable to walk in but after two days of trotting, cantering, galloping, and jumping I was a little sore. : ) The first day we did a half day ride. It was neat going through the bush. We did a lot of jumping. It was like cross country. The log that we stopped for morning tea at was called Tom's tree. Star took it beautifullly. We also went through something called the roller coaster. It was this winding trail that went up and down a bunch of hills. I was afraid we might fall off the trail but Star knew what he was doing. We had kabobs for dinner and then spent the night out in a shed in the woods in the horse paddock. We had a campfire- no smores but we toasted chocolate covered marshmallows (called snowballs) that tasted fantastic. Our shed was heated by a fire in the inside. In the morning we woke up, went to the house for breakfast, and set out for a full day of riding. It was another day full of fun and great riding- much better than I had originally expected.
The next photo album that you'll see if from the next weekeend (April 8-9) when I went on the landcare fildtrip for my education in natural landscapes class. We spent two days visiting sheep and cattle farms. On the first farm they had 7000 marino sheep (that's a lot of sheep!) and 500 aberdeen angus beef cows. We were introduced to the farming industry and shown around. My favorite part was getting to see the Kelpies (sheep dogs) work the sheep. We then visited a farm that had 30 owners. They each own a house on the 500 acres (which is considered small) and help make decisions. It is like a community center based around farming- quite a novel idea. We spent the night in a caravan park which was fun. The next day we visited a family farm. They showed us around and gave us excellent food. It was quite lovley.
You'll also notice pictures of some sort of sporting match. It was my first footie game. For my sport and education in australian society class we went to the AFL hall of fame and a game. Aussie rules football is intense. The players are always moving. They can only kick the ball or punt it forward with their fist. There is a lot of contact and the players don't wear pads. The object is to kick the ball through the goal posts to score 1 or 6 points depending where it goes. We saw the St. Kilda saints beat the Richmond tigers. It was awesome!
- comments