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Published: January 6th 2006
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Brent and I had planned on going to Noosa on Thursday for the day. On Wednesday night, Brent suggested that we go horseback riding on the beach in the morning…. and that’s what we did! We called late on Wednesday evening and there were 2 spots left, so we were lucky.
We woke up early and drove to Noosa, about 40 minutes north of Kawana Waters. The horseback ride started at 9:00 am, and it was an hour and a half through the bush and on the beach. We got there in plenty of time, got our boots and helmets (I have never worn a helmet when horseback riding before… but I guess it’s a good idea!)
We were watching the staff round up the horses to get them ready, and there was one that seemed very wild, running around the enclosure crazily… I joked with Brent that he was going to get that horse. He told me I was going to ride the small pony that was about 3 feet high.
We got our horses (neither the crazy one nor the pony) and we set off on the trail. It was awesome, the scenery was great and
Brent and his horse
Stopping for a snack along the way... it was a lot of fun. Although both Brent’s and my horses were eating every green plant that they saw along the trail, which was kind of funny. We got to the beach and it was just gorgeous…. beautiful view. We started walking along by the water, and then the guide asked if we would like to go for “a bit of a canter.” Of course everyone agreed, but what we didn’t realize is that by “canter” he meant a full out sprinting gallop!! I have gone horseback riding many times, but I have never bolted down a beach at the speed we were going. It was tons of fun though. We did about three sets of these runs and then we turned around and started walking back. At this point my horse decided it preferred galloping to walking and took off at full speed again, so I yanked the reins back to stop it… and being a well-trained horse, he immediately came to a complete halt…. however, this meant I almost got tossed off the front of the horse (think of slamming on the brakes on a bike and going flying over the handlebars). Anyway, I held on and
everything was fine. We had a relaxing walk back and it was really nice. At one point we saw people going on a camel ride on the beach… so funny! We were almost back to the stable and Brent’s horse was a little bit ahead of mine. Something must have spooked it (or else the horse didn’t like Brent kicking it) and it freaked out and bolted sideways and Brent almost fell off! But he held on too. Despite the slight mishaps, overall it was an incredibly fun ride and definitely worthwhile.
After we were back we went to the beach in Noosa for a swim. The water was so warm it almost wasn’t refreshing. The waves were also a lot smaller than Kawana Waters, and there were way more people. But we had a good swim and then we went to get some lunch. We had fish and chips for the first time since I’ve been here! It was delicious (mahi mahi). After lunch we came back to Kawana Waters, and we drove along Pacific Highway… it had the most stunning views of the ocean and all kinds of beaches along the way.
After we got home,
we relaxed a bit, and then Brent took me out for an early birthday dinner to Bella Venezia in Mooloolaba. We had some great food and wine, although the service was a little slow (we got there at 7:30 and didn’t eat until almost 9:30!) But overall it was fun.
I forgot to mention a couple of things in my last blog entry about sailing that Brent reminded me of…. we had just set out on the water and Brent pointed out a few large jellyfish in the ocean by our boat. This wasn’t very reassuring… especially because we kept seeing them constantly after that!! We also saw them while diving and snorkeling. No one got stung (maybe thanks to the stinger suits?) but I wasn’t too happy to be swimming so close to them!
The other incredible thing about the trip was the view we had each night of the stars. The sky was so clear and there were so many stars… and we learned some new constellations (one called the Christmas Tree). We looked for the Southern Cross, but we never saw it… although we saw tons of others and many shooting stars as well.
I think that’s it for now… my next blog will be from snowy Toronto, I can’t believe it! That is, if I can find my return ticket home…. 😊
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