It's raining (sadly not men)

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So that afternoon... I had to go into the next town, Otorunga or similar, in order to get some cash out as there was no ATM in Waitomo. Mild panic when the ATM rejected bith my cards. Barb at the ANZ helped me get some cash out from my card though, so I was saved! Found a second hand store and bought some more novels, as I've gone through the four that I bought with me (Mike, you are gonna love one of them, I'll bring it back for you). Then I headed back to Waitomo and ended up going on a quad bike again. I know, I only did it the other day, but I loved it. I went with Waitomo Big Red. They didn't have anyone else booked on so Bill, the owner, took me out on my own. Must have been my lucky day. We chatted about what I'd done before, he kitted me out in waterproof trousers, wellies and an overcoat. It was raining and very overcast, so well needed. After a safety briefing, when set out across Bill's land, in the same gorgeous scenery as the night before and the horse trek. It's all very hilly, stoney and, especially in the wet, very eerie and mystical. I can well see why Narnia and Lord of the Rings was filmed here. The first big hill we get to I had a slight mishap... bearing in mind it's been raining for days and we're going up a muddy slope... I made a bit of a beginner mistake: whilst about two thirds of the way on the slippy mud I needed to change down gear. This I did, but without putting the brakes on first, so the bike just started sliding backwards. All the way down the hill. Not at all scary. Really. Well. Maybe just a tiny bit. It eventually stopped, in lots of bush, I put it in neutral, hung on to the brakes (I was at quite an angle) and waited for Bill to come and rescue me! Aparently, he told me later, at this point he was thinking "Have I made a mistake, bringing her up here?". This wasn't the normal route he took people on you see. Well he got my to try going up, even though I was at a steep angle and it was climbing to a higher angle and scaring the shit out of me that it would roll over backwards. He assured me it wouldn't, but the bike wouldn't go. We twisted it round a little and tried a different way and still it wouldn't. He stopped me and said, "The bike will not roll over. You can do this". Such faith! So, with his instruction, a lot of buttock clenching and a new belief in the Lord above, I made it all the way up. When he got back to the top with me he said, "Now you didn't get the seat wet did you?". No wetter than it was already....

After some deep breathing we trailed off again, me a little bit gingerly! We weren't in a rutted track, like I was in Taupo. This was across hilly fields, round the property, up rocky tracks, down mud slides... We were out for about two hours and the first 30 minutes or so I was getting a feel for the bike I think. We went up some nasty inclines (and I didn't slide down backwards again) and down some very slippery, muddy hills. It's amazing how the bike will just climb and climb through the wet slippery mud and up steep inclines, then on the way down when you think you are just gonna slide straight down to Hell, you put on the breaks and you stop. Your lunch might not, but the bike does! It's great over big rocks and branches and stuff too. Eats pieces of shit like that for breakfast ("you eat pieces of shit for breakfast?"). After all, it does have "All Terrain Vehicle" stamped proudly on the front. I got a bit more confidence as we kept going round, as I didn't have any more mishaps, though some close calls and somne lovely skids rounds wet corners. I was completely drenched as it was raining so hard. The sky was murky, thought it wasn't cold, and the landscape looked gorgeous. Lots of those lovely tree ferns I like (Bill took a pic of me on the bike under some of them), lots of sheep and cows too (Bill rents the land out and doesn't really do any farming himself now). I didn't care that I was drenched, I was having too much fun. It wasn't until we stopped at a gate and I looked around that I had actually realised that it had stopped raining. That's how much fun I was having. It was a hugely challenging ride and the terrain was testy but enjoyable. I kept asking for more muddy hills. Bill said, "do you want to go up or down them?" to which I answered, "both" :-D

Bill kept telling me that I was spoiled as he was taking me off the tracks he normally uses for beginners (after the reverse hill incident I was proving him wrong, thank God!). It turned out he hadn't taken any one on this track for two years, even then it was usually only the guys that have been quite a few times and wanted something a bit more challenging. So that was not only an privelege, but also a compliment to my quad biking skill. He knew I appreciated being spoiled though, he only had to look at my face, either when I was going up hill (determination and holding on for dear life), sliding down hill (shitting myself but loving it) or looking at his land with longing and wonderment.

He was also a great and very willing photographer, having me going up and down muddy slopes a couple of times in order to get some good action shots. We went through some great big huge puddles, which I accelorated through and therefore sent water spuing everywhere. As we were going up and down hill I could feel the water in my wellies sloshing from front to back. I could feel the water streaming down my face and dripping off my nose and was splattered all over with mud. But I didn't care. At one point, after a particularily muddy and twisting climb, Bill commented, "What would your family say if they could see what I was doing with you?" I laughed. I replied, "My mum would say 'you're brave!' and my brothers would be insanely jealous".

Oh, and, aparently, in NZ, even when it's overcast, raining and no hint of sunshine what so ever, you can still get sun burnt...

And then, once again, it was all over. Bill asked whether it was better than the horse trekking and I thought about it for a moment, where he said, "Ok, you aren't saying". But having thought about it, by the next gate, my answer was that they were both phenomenal, but different. I loved the petrol driven revving quad bikes, skidding round the corners if I had been going a bit too fast (yeah, like I ever do that), knowing that the bike will climb the muddy slope if I have it in the right gear and that it would stop if I wanted it to. I loved the control I had over it, that it was all down to me and my skill and confidence. But, equally, I also loved trusting the horse, of learning to work with the animal and how to ride it, the thrill of the trot and also the gorgeousness of sauntering along and surveying all that was around. Both exhilerating in their own way and not at all mutually exclusive.

So, my birthday list for June is;
1) Horse and western saddle (I already have the boots and hat, as most of you know!)
2) A quad bike and big illy muddy field to play in

So this was Tuesday, and, I think, my best day so far. Rob and Kirstin (the horses) and Bill had all been absolutely magnificent and I wanted to hug them all (thank God for the British stiff upper lip thing or who knows we're we'd be!) as I had such a fabulous time. And, somewhat ironically I believe, after doing all that potentially dangerous stuff and not having a scratch on me (well, ok, actually one tiny scratch I didn't even notice until someone pointed it out to me)... I went and stubbed my little toe that night on the bathroom door and thought I had broken it. I now have a fantastically purple toe!

And I finished the evening off nicely by meeting up wiht my friend Jim Beam 😊

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Comments

[Linette]

Glad to hear you are having fun!! :)