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Published: July 28th 2008
Hello everyone it's Jason this time, sorry i have been a bit lazy when it comes to blogging, have been leaving it up to Elliott as to be honest his memory is better than mine and i have a habit of missing huge chunks of events out. But i am gonna do this one just for you folks back home :-)
I am hopefully going to add some videos we have done on the camera. Not to sure which ones yet, some may be relative to this particular blog some will link into previous ones, i am sure you can figure out where in the timeline they belong. It can be like a little puzzle game for you while you read, but it all depends how long they take to load as they are slightly bigger than photos, so we'll have to see. Right back to the point of this blog. After my unfortunate situation while attempting the diving at the Poor Knights Islands i was of course a little disheartened and what with the following days failings in Matumatu with the Hobbiton incident i was a bit miffed off. But today was a good day and i one i
will certainly remember for a long time, and now i am going to tell you why :-)
It started like any other, myself and Elliott getting up and preparing breakfast then showering (which is slightly tricky at this motorhome site as it is a little busy here and there are only 2 showers to go round) our plan for the day was to go into town and pop into a couple of shops we had seen the previous night while looking for the cinema, you know look for some little trinkets for all you at home and other things, more importantly an internet cafe for us to update this somewhat more popular than we were expecting blog of ours. The town is about a 5 minute walk from where our motorhome camp is so it doesn't take long to walk in, when we arrive at the cafe though it turns out it doesn't open til 11 on sundays so we go for a wander. I have to get cash out of the cashpoint and while doing that Elliott spots a tourist gift shop. I wander in while Elliott checks out some postcards for the various people who want one
(i am going to say now, i don't do postcards so don't expect anything from me. Sorry i am already filling in a journal everynight and updating this blog where possible, so i would just find postcards an annoying niggle.) I buy a thimble for my nan and a little New Zealand teddy thing for a customer at work who asked if i would pick one up for them, it was only about 2 quid so i didn't mind (have to write quid because there are no pound symbols on New Zealand keyboards)
We then return to the internet cafe which is now open. We find 2 empty computers and sign onto the net. Emma and co back home have set up their Skype account and this cafe has it installed on there systems. I set up my own account and search for Emma. Thats easier than expected and soon enough I have a video and audio conversation on the go. Its hard to describe how delighted Elliott and I are to be able to see and hear them as we have to admit being so far away from home is causing us a little bit of homesickness. I
am ecstatic too because Deena is there and i haven't seen her in over a week now so that cheers me up to no end. We sit and chat while Elliott updates the blog (that was the finding nemo one) and then we switch so that Elliott can talk to Emma and Rozenn for a bit while i load photos to the blog. (If you read this Emma, Rozenn and Deena we want to say thank you, that little chat online made both of our days)
Feeling massively cheered up Elliott and i head back to the motorhome to move onto the next activity for the day, horse riding in paradise valley. I know some of you may think that sounds a bit gay but we don't care. Besides its something i have never done and i always wondered what its like to go horse riding. We arrive at the farm at about half 1 in the afternoon and we meet the guides, they are super nice people :-) they run me through the safety information and other things before getting us both a helmet and more importantly a horse. My horse is a big black thing called 'Cossack',
while Elliott has a big brown one named 'the man'. I sit down on the horse and they adjust the stirrups so i am comfortable and then i do some drills to get used to moving forward, back, left and right.
Then we're off. The guide in front continuously turns on her horse to tell us about the area or something to do with the horses. To be honest the wind was so strong sometimes i couldn't hear a word of it. We get to do our first cantering as well up the hill, it goes ok except that Elliott manages to fall off his horse (amateur) He climbs back on and we continue a little further before he has to sit for a second to get his breath back after taking a bit of a shock from the fall. Poor bugger.
From that point on it is pretty simple stuff we wander along the farmland taking in the views and sites. My horse keeps stopping at a bridge because there is a farmer trying to retrieve a stuck sheep from the river and it seems to spook the horse a little. Then we came to the edge of
a forest that was looking quite eerie in the distance before and more so now that we are there and there is a dead sheep on the floor. It is after this that as we are making the descent down that something in the forest spooks both my horse and Elliotts. Elliots horse jumps a little but nothing more whereas my horse starts to slide down the hill freaks out and darts off suddenly while i hold on for dear life. Fortunately a combination of me grabbing the reigns and trying to stay balanced on the horse brings it quickly to a stop and soon control is resumed. The guide is impressed, unaware that it was all accidental that i managed to stop the horse at all. After that we make it back to the farm with no firther incident . Elliott and i have slightly sore arses and are given cups of tea and they were also kind enough to let us use their pc to check the blog and pics. We write our comments in the customer book and then say our goodbyes and return with the motorhome to the top 10 site.
Next we arrange the
final activity for the day. A Maori cultural experience. We are told to expect the bus between 5:45 and 6:10. It doesn't actually turn up til about 6:15 by which time i am frozen from the wind. We arrive at the Mitai building by half past and after a slight delay with payment and an issue with my debit card (been resolved now) we sit at our table ready for the introduction. After the introduction is complete we move down to a river to watch the tribal warriors arrive on their war canoe while shouting various chants. After that we move into a little historical village where they performed different welcoming chants, songs and dances. I thought it was brilliant although Elliott said he got bored towards the end. I couldn't believe him, i mean come on we even got to see the Hakka being performed and we even learned a little of it ourselves from the chief. Next came dinner or the Hangi, which was essentially a roast but it had been cooked in the ground for 3 hours, which i am told is an old Maori technique. It was delicious and i gobbled it down, as did Elliott,
to be fair it is probably the best meal we are going to get hold of here for the next 3 weeks. The final part was a quick walk around the area to see the trees that they use for homes and weapons and the natural spring river where they get their water from, we even got to see some glow worms, which would have been better if people would turn their frickin torches off. Soon we were back on our bus and being dropped back at the site where we quickly wound down and climbed into our sleeping bags before drifting off to the land of nod.
Well as you can see it was a busy packed day, and like i said i enjoyed every part of it, as did Elliott. Oh and thank you all for your comments and messages, they are always great to read and it makes us both happy to know that you are enjoying reading about our antics and mishaps.
Well thats it from me, i am going to load some photos then bugger off white water rafting hopefully so i shall say goodbye for now and speak to you all soon
(oh Elliott says bye too)
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
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Claire
non-member comment
I see my journal.....
Glad to see ur using ur journal, I forgot to ask if you'd taken it. Weather is fab and have changed venue this week to different park, I am in charge!! The kids are nice and I am getting used to my courtesy car *scowl*.