My boys arrive next week!

Well on the 5th September my two boys start their journey over to New Zealand, so I haven't been getting much sleep, worrying about it all.

The family in the UK are going to be upset to see them go, and I feel guilty for feeling happy that they are going to be arriving at last!
roll on the 7th when they land in Christchurch.

My first NZ Show Jumping Lesson!

well I had my first show jumping lesson in ....&%years! not telling how many, but its in the double figures!

I was a little nervous, as you'd expect but Gonzo Jumped everything, but got a bit excitable as I was apparently sending vibes for him to "go for it" but was holding him back...to solve the problem the Instructor - Fergus, made me jump with my eyes closed!...well it worked, Gonzo jumped perfectly.

On the second day, I had hopefully left my "electric bum" at home and we did do better, a couple of times he got excited but I relaxed and we both settled into the lesson.

I did bounces, trebles, spreads and uprights, it was fun, I really enjoyed it, and hopefully the next lessons I can take my own horse!

No photos....as the resident photographer was riding the horse!

Rob had a good time sunday too, he went off with the boys....riding the trials bikes on Oreti beaches sand dunes, and having a blast.....apparently the next item on the shopping list is a bike of his own, and Rob and Roger are on a mission to get him sorted out with one before we go to Cromwell in October.....Yes I can see it now... oh they said I needed to get 3 extra jobs to pay for the toys they are planning to buy!

I Want One.....

I have come to the conclusion that I want one of theses.....I would also like some horses to go with it! Ha Ha






I would like Rob to make me one of these, he has said he will, but when I will get it may be another
matter, but we will see, it would be good if we got one sooner rather than later....as you can use it to go away, for more than horse events - you can put bikes in the back as well!

Oh well back to dreaming...........

The Hunt Ball

Well Guys, were home from our night out in Winton at the Annual Hunt Ball.


We had a great time, we were guests at the home of a lady from the riding club, and we were made very welcome.

Here is a picture of us all before going to the Ball,

I really had a great time, we had cocktails and nibbles before we went, we drove in style.....in the horse box (hay bales and duvets for seats) and we partied till 2ish?



The Southlanders know how to party, they were up on the dance floor from about 8.30pm, none of the UK's sit at the tables not wanting to get up because they'll be the first and then doing a mad dash onto the dance floor before the last 10mins of the band! The food was excellent, drink was cheap - £20 for a Jug of Rum & coke...heavy on the rum!

The Singer was great, he could sing Elvis/Johnny Cash etc, to new hits (the advert for the AUS tourism theme tune is one that he did real well-I dont know who sings it but I was dancing to it thinking where have I heard this before?? then it clicked)

Then we went back to the farm and carried on the party, luckily the weather men got it wrong again, although it did start to rain as we were getting out the tub....can you see what time it says!

oooppps....I think the water level was too high....it poured over the side when I got in....luckily the camera ran out of batteries

We are all off to Cromwell in October....I just need to buy a few essential items first.....a Horse, a Trials Bike - or two!

Riverton to Tuatapere Sunday 6th August

Hello again, well the weather held fast for Sunday, it was a gorgeous day and we decided to get out early and travel route 99 towards Riverton and beyond. Basically to see what is there, hunt out good beaches to visit in the summer and generally get out of the house and into the sunshine.
We didn't stop in Riverton, we just wanted to do a quick tour, as we want to go when we have family over, we stopped at each Beach though and had a walk around, I love beaches -
heres a link to some information on the route Riverton - Aparima Heritage trail
This Picture is of Riverton Harbour

I have been told that you can get to Riverton from Oreti Beach at low tide, a favorite trip for Bikers is to ride on the beach there. stop at the pub for lunch and ride home via the road.


We stopped at each Beach though and had a walk around, I love beaches -

heres a link to some information on the route Riverton - Aparima Heritage trail

We stopped at a beach near Riverton, and I saw these trees...I thought they looked a bit like wild witches.....

















The Shells were all over the place and I collected a few treasures for my craft projects....Yeah as if I have the time!






We stopped at Colac Bay, we sat outside on the deck of the Pavillion Resturant and had lunch I had Seafood Platter and Rob had fresh Fish & Chips! oh and a beer to wash itdown, BUT Just the one! It was packed, and everyone was out enjoying the sun, in fact kitchen was flat out.
It was funny to see the they had to turn down customers as thegumboots at the door....you don't get strange looks if your walking around in socks....its preferable to dirtying the floor with your muddy boots!


My favourite beach was Gemstone Beach, the sand has tiny tiny stones in it that glisten like gems, a creek flows into the sea and there is a cute bach in the cliff side! as well as a few caves
dug out of the sandstone cliffs. Monkey Island beach is near it, I recon you could travel from one to the other at low tide.

















We drove home at about 4pm via the inland route, through Otautau to Wallacetown and back into Invercargill at sunset. A very nice day, followed with an early night...as both Rob and I were Shattered!

I have linked the Southland website, so that you can see more of what is to offer around here, I will be checking out some other spots soon!

PS....we woke up to Monday morning frosts and rain! funny this weather stuff, but we didn't mind as we were back to work.............I will up load the pictures later...I took 200!!!

What a difference 2 weeks makes!

Well I haven't posted for 2 weeks, as I have been busy, with work - the picture below is the Smoko room (Canteen) and on my first friday night, its beers before hometime!, well this was actually a Shout - which was to send off Jan to her new Job, and the boss paid for the beers...(you can see a few emptys) we went onto the pub after, collecting Rob on route! I woke Saturday and at the finally the sun decided to come out for the weekend!Here are 3 of the gardeners....they'd never seen a camera phone as snazzy as mine!

Yes after getting 2 weeks of rain first thing, the sun appeared for 2 weekends in a row (fingers crossed for more!) So I have managed to finally get riding, both last saturday and again today.

I rode Gonzo which is Nicloa's (my new friend who I met at the Invercargill MAF office) Horse, and she rode her youngster, who she affectionately calls bucky nickers, as he has a tendancy to buck when he gets excited. But he was a good boy when we were riding out together.









We had a great ride, and Nicolas 2 dogs joined us too, and I couldn't wait for next Saturday, as it was one of the girls in the riding clubs, birthday so we were all meeting up for a picnic ride.


This friday (last night) I invited Nicola and her partner Rob over for dinner, cooked Chicken Cashew (thanks for my recipe book Rachel its the best chinese cook book - so simple to follow)

We all had a great evening, the two Robs got on ~(Always a bonus!) and me and Nic, discussed horses, houses and land...oh and sheep!

So this morning Igot up early, 10 degrees, BLUE BLUE skies, went riding at Sandy point reserve, Bush, Forest and Beach....ACE! had birthday picnic, sat on the horse box ramp then got back home at 1.30pm the temp said ....27 degrees!!!!!

http://www.southlandnz.com/sections...ngillbluff/1432

this is a link to a trek centre, the picture of the beach is where I was riding!

So we have just got back from a nice tour around Anderson Park ...see link, as I have run out of broadband and I am on SLOW speed till the 13th..wahhhh!

http://www.southlandnz.com/sections...ngillbluff/1414

still sunny outside, just come home and stuck some more washing out to dry.

and its forcast sunny tomorrow too....Yes!......Now where can we go visit.......Bye, I am off to google Southland and find somewhere to go explore tomorrow.

till next time....Kat