Rangitata - 09/04/2013

On our way to Rangitata we stopped to get groceries and I also got see the world’s largest knitted jersey, which was weird but cool. Also I got to experience  a New Zealand traffic jam:

Rangitata is mainly a rafting kind of place, but it was too cold in September, so instead I went horseback riding. Everyone thought I was crazy because it was cold and windy, and light rain washed  through every now and then, but I really wanted to go horseback riding in the south island. I was glad I did because it was one of the coolest experiences of my trip! It was a full-blown kiwi experience, and it unfolded something like this:

The guy who runs the horseback riding was an older man, who picked me up from the local pub in his truck to go to the farm. He had just come from chopping wood so there was an axe on the back seat.  In the US that would make me nervous, but this was a kiwi experience, hop on in!  Once we got there, it was a good while before we actually went horseback riding because I was helping out with some little things around the farm. To start we rounded up some horses with the truck. Within this group of horses was a ram who legitimately thought he was a horse and part of the group. Odd?  Maybe a little...  Then we came across a mother sheep and her two 2 day old lambs, wandering about in the cold. We had to put them all in a shed so they wouldn't freeze in the night, and I got to pick up one of the baby lambs and carry him!  They were so cute! Not your everyday adventure, except maybe in New Zealand.  The adventure continued because when we went to go put the sheep and two baby lambs in the shed, the chickens got out! So then I got to test my chicken rounding up abilities. They are not very good. Once most of the chickens were put back we finally went to gather our horses. I saddled up my horse and we were off. Two jack russell terrier dogs came accompanied us the entire trek.  I was starting to think I was on an episode of Animal Adventures! Still on a working vacation, we herded some horses to a different area along the Rangitata River. After that we were walking and trotting and cantering through the trees and flowers and banks of the river.  

Then came the really cool part where I got to cross the Rangitata River on horseback. It was almost too deep and my feet got a little wet, but it was so cool.  

When we got to the other side one of the dogs started barking at a possum in a tree. More animal adventures.  I somehow always pictured a possum being bigger but it was really small. 

That side of the river bank was a nice long stretch of sand so we got gallop for a good amount of time. From there we made our way back to the farm and brushed out the horses. On the drive back to my hostel, we had beers in the truck (yes really), and I was on lookout for deer, not so we could avoid hitting one, as one would expect in the US, but instead so we could stop and he could shoot one.  Yes, there was a shotgun on the back seat right beside that axe...

Now that was definitely a true kiwi experience, and it was awesome!