A Dream Come True

Friday morning, Billy and I walked around the corner from our motel to a cafe for breakfast then we headed to the place where we were to go horseback riding. The drive took us along the the coast where we saw surfers waiting for a good wave then wound around the hills, still along the coast, to the ranch of Wayne, Penny and their three children. We started up their dirt drive which, because of the winter rains, was actually mud. Billy slowed the car in an attempt to avoid some ginormous potholes but instead we slid in the mud until the car's rear tire rested against a rock. We were stuck. Billy tried forward and reverse but no good. So we hiked the rest of the drive to the barn where Wayne was tacking the horses for our ride. His jeep pulled us out with no problem and soon we mounted and hit the trail, Wayne as our guide. It was only the three of us- a perk of visiting in the winter.
We rode through cow fields, through wooded areas, through creeks, up and down hills and through some pretty muddy spots. Some of the muddy spots were on the downside of hills and we would just hold on while the horses slid down as if they were on skis. A little scary but quite fun.
In one wooded section of our trek, Billy's horse spooked or something and he darted off the trail, through some tree branches. Billy was able to stop him quickly but as he did he clutched his face. Wayne and I rode over to find that he had busted his lip and had what looked like a cat's claw scratch across his cheek. Thankfully he was wearing sunglasses which may well have saved his eyes from injury. With minimal blood loss and a fat lip, we continued on.
We crossed the road that ran along the coastline, entered another cow field, rode up a hill and there before us was the Tasman Sea.  We crossed over sand dunes, rode around a couple of fisherman and headed to the surf. As awesome as it was to finally be riding on the beach, I found the waves made me feel rather seasick. I guess not having my own feet on the ground made my equilibrium all off. My poor horse must have though me an idiot because when the waves rolled back toward the sea, I'd pull the reins back to halt him but he wasn't walking at all. It was like when the car next to you backs up and you press the brakes harder because it feels like you are the one moving.
We left the surf and rode up to softer sand and Wayne gave us some instructions. We were gonna take a little run. Billy handed Wayne the camcorder to capture the event.  And we were off! We tore down the beach, kicking up sand, wind in our face... It was awesome!!! A dream come true for me! I was in horse heaven!!
Wayne and Penny's place was just picture perfect. To sit at the barn with a view of the beach... it just doesn't get any better than that. 
After having to be towed out of mud for the second time, Billy dragged me away and we headed to Hamilton and our hotel. We cleaned up then headed downtown on foot in search of dinner and wifi. This was our last night in New Zealand. :-(  If we could have just sent for the kids, we may not have left.