Beaumont Station - Millars Flat ride 27-28th Sept 2008

ITS SPRING!..... yes honestly! - just not in the high country. On Saturday 27th September I made Rob get up while it was still dark and we set off for the Cultha district for the Beaumont/Millers flat ride organised by my riding club.

Now it was raining solidly at home, but the riders at the hut in Millers flat had assured me the weather forcast was good and not to worry....mmmm!

We set off, but when we got passed Gore and headed towards Alexandra - as the altitude got higher the weather got worse...the picture below was as we began to hit the snow - it got thicker covering everything - even roadsigns.


The scary part was going down hill when the trailer was pushing us and began to side to one side.. We continued on very slowly down the windy hill and as we got lower it turned back to rain...Phew!


Our friend Shirley hit the same problem in her big truck- but luckily for her she hid behind a big truck and followed it - it acted as a snow plow.


We got the the Hut at Millers flat, and sat around the fire chatting, had a bite to eat (cream scones, hot cheese & ham rolls and Lollie cake) then the rain stopped and we went out riding.

YAY!This is a map of the area we rode over - the green line is the road (steep windy) which we floated the horses to the start of the trek, we then rode down the track in yellow back towards Millers Flat, we parked up at the Beaumont Millenium Track start.
does my bum look big in this?..


Here are a few of the photos I took along the way....

Rob is in front of me... The River Cultha


Rob always has to look cool... even as a cowboy! Now along this track is the cemetery where the Lonely Grave Site 'Somebodys darling lies buried here' Rather than write a whole section, read the blog link for a bit more about this (some of you will remember this from Billy Connelly's dvd) Views of the snow on the hills in front, but thankfully the day stayed dry.

When we were off the track, we headed back through Millers Flat township

(fancy a snack - Judy's horse takes a drink from a handy puddle near 'Pringle Rd')
this is the Millers Flat Bridge over the Cultha river, The 4 arch Millers Flat Bridge was built from materials imported from England. (where else!)It was officially opened by Richard John Seddon in February 1899.


The track ends at Millers Flat, we crossed over the bridge, past the pub and then up over paddocks to the hut, (we went back to the pub for dinner - excellent food, music and atmosphere) I looked back and captured this pretty picture of a rainbow over the bridge...
After a long ride, Jesterdale and Keonoa were happy to be in a lush grass filled paddock - they were not going to be happy when I took them back home on Sunday to our mud filled ones!

This is a picture of the hut, it has a small kitchen/living area, 2 bedrooms and a toilet - the shower is over at the woolshed - the shed at the back of the picture (great shower - fantastic pressure!)

Sunday turned out to be fantastic weather - so we set off on the ride over the station, passed what used to be the farm house - which was sold off - but has no land with it (shame as it had fantastic views - its up for sale at the minute)
We rode over green lush hills, down valleys, in bush and over streams, its a very beautiful area.

heading back to the hut - nice views for that house for sale....


The boys were ready for a nice cool wash down, and a good feed when we got back to the hut, oh and for us a nice cold beer, and hot pies, cakes & cream & jam pancakes!

We set off for home, refreshed from our weekend away, and I was looking forward to finding out how Rachel & Twinkle had got on at the Dressage championship....

But we didn't get the answer we were expecting, Rachel had had a very different Sunday than she had planned - no championship - just a 5am Vet call out, but thats another story...