Day 1
Monday 19 November. Young Monika left us to return home to her horses in Canberra and the group of six drove through warm sunshine via two delicious cafes at Seymour and Yea, and an emergency warm clothing purchase in Mansfield because we'd read the weather forecast; to arrive at Merrijig in the late afternoon. After four days of Equitana we were all super keen to actually get on a horse.
The lovely Christian and Laura from Hidden Trails collected us and 10 other guests who ranged in age from 20-something to late 50s and came from around Australia, NZ and France. They drove us along dirt roads into the hills. The photo above is our first glimpse of the horses. We all wondered which horse would be ours for the next week.
We stayed in this rustic old farmhouse at Stockyard Flats for two nights. Beautiful location. Fabulous meals. Interesting company. Lots of great stories. Click here for the
history. Totally off-grid.
The Six, as our group became known, were installed in a bunk house room that could sleep up to 19. Pen and I opted for the experience of sleeping up in one of the lofts. Deb took the other loft. The other 3 stayed at ground level with Loretta right beside the door for her inevitable night time excursion.
Now, note the ladders. A few people said to me before I left for this holiday, "Don't fall off a horse." No one mentioned ladders. On our first night, after dinner, I went to get my water bottle from the loft and fell off the ladder on the way down. I missed the last 2 or 3 steps and landed flat on my lower back, banging the back of my head on the floor as well. It hurt! The sound was so loud it brought Christian in from the veranda to see what had happened. I was very sore that night, didn't sleep much and it was hard to walk uphill the next day. Lucky this was not a hiking trip. My greatest fear was 'would I be able to ride?' Thankfully, yes! It only hurt when we cantered. It took three days before I could sit to the canter. Ibuprofen is wonderful stuff.
Day 2
We were introduced to our horses. This is my Blackie, a little stockhorse brought down from the Kimberley. Fast and keen to go, he reminded me of my Fury.
Our first ride, through tall eucalypt forest to a view point. That is our destination later in the week, those mountains on the horizon. This is Christian on the paint horse, Deb on Prancer and Lisa on Dusty.
Fiona on Jet (Sorry, Jet, I cut your head off) and Loretta on Questro. She was given the horse she had set her heart on when we were first looking at the horses in the paddock.
Pen on Target
The Chinese Walls - old mine water race and workings from the 1800s gold mining era.
Back to the farm house for morning tea and a lesson in horsemanship from Poppy, a lovely man of grandfatherly age whose real name we never learned. Lateral work, pressure and release, traing your horse...very interesting to watch. After lunch we rode off again through the tall forests along the Howqua River. The first of many river crossings; 5 on this ride and countless more to come. I was very impressed by the horses' ability to find their way through knee deep water over quite large loose stones without stumbling.
Christian, and the other guides, told us stories of the people and huts in the area. This hut is at Fry's Flats, on the bank of the river, a little way along from the old Howqua Pub. Christian told us a story about Fry's horse bringing him home drunk from the pub one night.
We split into two groups for the return ride. Our group of six got to do some trotting and cantering which made our horsey hearts very happy.
Back at the farm, we met some friendly locals and checked out the mini-hydro electric system while waiting for dinner.
Perfect weather all day. It only rained after we had unsaddled our horses at the end of the day.
Day 3
Perhaps I should explain about the rainbow shirts all of which have "Burnlee Excursions on Horseback" embroidered on them. We all met through Loretta and riding just near Canberra at Burnlee. I joined the group on this weekend in
2015. Left to right: Loretta, Lisa, Pen, Deb, Fiona and me.
Morning ride through the forest beside the river.
The Six at the Professor's Hut. Now half collapsed, it was built by a Melbourne professor in 1949 as an weekender for fishing and enjoying the bush.
Some newer more substantial huts. The Six then went for some serious cantering across the Howqua River flats and up a big big hill. This resulted in big big smiles and stirred Blackie up so that he found it hard to settle back down to walking, He sure loves to GO!
After lunch we rode up out of the valley, around the side of Mt Timbertop and down into the open valley near Merrijig.
There is Mt Timbertop in the background as we unsaddle our horses in their paddock for the night. We had come from down on the other side of Mt Timbertop.
We were then driven to Buttercup Hut. We were supposed to be camping out under the stars in swags for two nights but the weather forced a change, hard to believe looking at this photo.
Sitting around the fire pit for dinner.
The bunkroom for The Six joined by Gabrielle, Fanny and Katrina. Much better than swags outside. It did rain overnight and the temperature dropped. 12 inches of snow on Mt Stirling and we may have been trapped at a campsite by rising rivers. Yes, this was much better, even with one of the blokes snoring loudly through the wall and a wombat digging under the floor all night.
Suzie and Kate, mother and daughter from NZ, slept in a converted horse truck. Very inventive.
The lounge room. Nothing like sitting around a roaring fire listening to the rain on the tin roof, being entertained by Swampy singing country-and-western, and Christian's stories of various practical jokes played and a local stockman who became lost overnight in bad weather and was guided back by listening to his mate up on a ridge calling out to him only to be told later that he could not possibly have been listening to his mate as he had died suddenly the day before from a heart attack.
Day 4
Quieter, almost a rest day. Everyone's seat bones were feeling sore for the first minute or so of sitting in the saddle, but after that we were fine. The half dozen trail rides I did at home with
Cradle Country Adventures toughened me up enough to cope with the 5 to 8 hours a day in the saddle. Today, we were driven to the paddock to catch our horses and ride them back along the road to Buttercup Hut. Here we are posing in front of the paddock used for the homestead in the movie of The Man From Snowy River. The only thing left are the two dead trees which are cemented in to the ground. It is for sale should you wish to buy it. Great mountain and valley views. And yes, we are wearing Drizabone coats. It was 5 degrees.
The road was dirt with river crossings.
Gwen, our guide, began to realize that she did not really need to ask if we wanted to canter. (I could not take photos while cantering especially as Blackie always wanted to race to the front of the other horses)
Riding after lunch was optional. Most of us decided to give our horses a rest in the paddock. Only Loretta and Gabrielle went for a ride. We thought they would be rained on but they only had one short shower and a fun ride.
The rest of us put our feet up, read, sketched, talked, slept and watched The Man From Snowy River. The acting may be a bit dated but the scenery and the horses - wow! The horses brought tears to my eyes. Plus it was pretty cool knowing we were riding in the same location with people who know the horsemen in the movie.
Did you know that Tim Burlinson, who played the main character, was taught to ride for the movie by one of the locals but his insurance company would not allow him to ride his horse down the incredibly steep hllside that is one of the epic riding scenes of the movie. However, after the filming was done, he returned and actually did the ride which earned him a lot of respect from the local horsemen.
I know what Loretta wants for Christmas! If she can't have her own horse, a can crusher will give her hours of fun!
After having no phone reception at Stockyard Flat we were happy to find a weak signal just up the hill from Buttercup Hut. Some of the blokes thought Pen needed rain protection while she phoned home.
Another evening of food and story telling by the fire with rain pouring on the roof.
Poor Christian. Exhausted from trying to keep us all under control. Or, is this what the boss does while his staff do all the work?
Next episode - see the real men and women from Snowy River!
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