going to share rooms, bathrooms, meals and 4 days together.
Yup, I hear your thoughts.
I’ll tell you what happens…….
MAGIC
That’s what happens.
Simple.
Horses are involved.
And they work
their magic.
EVERY time.
They become teenagers, chasing childhood memories….
They start to dress alike…. Smile alike, Laugh a lot.
They pretend they are cowgirls…….
…..mustering cattle…….…. that seemed to know the game…..They eat. Food so plentiful and delicious they cannot resist, even when their bellies try to…….
They laugh until they can’t ….. and then laugh some more……
They make friendsWin prizes for ….games that only they understandThey drinkAnd play silly ….They shareThey belongThey have funMarkdale Station, near Crookwell – our home for the 4 daysThe Ashton home.The Ashtons built this home in 1929. It became the family residence for 3 generations until sold in 2017.
In the 1950’s designers
Leslie Wilkinson and Edna Walling
were commissioned to create an amazing garden.
Resembling, yes, that’s correct.
A Horse’s head.
The house is the centre, the eye…. – amazing stuff
Every corner of the garden is breath-taking…..
Although thankfully, the water in the pool was not breath -taking. It was pleasantly refreshing.
Today the property, approx 6 300 acres is a fully operational sheep station with around 8,500 merino sheep. .
It also operates as a farm stay.
And stay, we did, in the refurbished
original stone cottages built in the 1850’s for the shearers.
A shearer’s cottage
The light – could be a water- colour.
The Sky……
The gold at the end….. we found it. Or we felt like did…
When in fact,
what we Really found
were horses.
Fabulous horses.
And riding country.
Fabulous riding country.
Whichever way you looked……
….. you had to smile…..…or the beauty would take your breath away.Even the sky was beautiful….. whatever it chose to do.we shrieked for joywe rode up and we rode downand up again and sometimes we waded
We talked to them….We leant on them….We guarded them….We watched them….We shared our food with them…..
We played…..silly games. Or some of us did!!!There were the short stumpy ….legs….and the long slim onesOften caught…..at odd angles…..fooling around…..
having fun
And above all,
falling in love with our horses
My enchanting….moody…….aloof……Melba.Who never gets helmet hairno matter how much we both sweatdoing barrel racing & playing at camp drafting. Evelyn and LouiePenny and EddieCaroline and FeathersLynne and GoldieJan and her lovely …..… Georgie And the team that made it all possible. Brooke, Jacqueline, Leanne
It was a wonderful trip
And anyone who knows me, knows that I could go on and on and on.
But that may be at the risk of boring you, my dear non horsey friends.
In the Otway National Park between Torquay and Anglesea.
And so I did .
Go with her.
It was a VERY early Start
with a Very rocky ferry trip
And it was. 🙃😍
Fun that is
Who? Me?
The Yeeha Cowgals
There was great weather, most of the time.
Always an interesting beginning – meeting our ‘transport’. So much trust involved from both partners in this ‘gig’ and not much time to develop it.
Before you know it, you are up and waiting, me on Misty this time – and Yes, you guessed it – a flea bitten grey – must have something to do with someone’s age I am beginning to think!!!!!!
There was also rain,wind and cold some of the time. 😉
Rain, wind and cold arrived on our way home – no one was in any mood to take photos and this one doesn’t really show how wet and miserable we both were!!!! Trust me…..
There was laughter, most of the time. 😉.
Not Actually squashed against the tree!
Besties now and forever
Smiles before the rain
still smiling…. and hanging on!!
There was also a grumble or too some of the time. 😉.
There were great views, all of the time😍
Views…
whichever …….
way we ……
looked
The Otway
National Park
And a welcome stop for a pub lunch😉
Well, I don’t know about the Camel, but I do know there was a thirsty Horse and an even more thirsty Rider!
Well, there Really was food as well, but cowgals like their horses had to have a drink!!!!
Well after all …..
we had eaten…..
so it was only fair…..
we (seriously) let them eat too!
There was a horse stuck in water, for some of the time.
And a great sense of relief when she finally stood up again 😍
A planned human pit stop….. and an anxious wait for a horse swim stop to stop
Great relief when both were confirmed safe. And we could continue.
There were canters to die for and some who thought they would! 😉
Long lovely stretches to canter
Bikes one way…..
Horses the other way…..
as we ambled in to Anglesea ( Pete what did you do with Jacqui? I hope she is at the end of that rein!)
There was exhilaration and exhaustion.
For some it was hard to tell which was which !
There was tooth ache; bum ache, leg ache and ‘unmentionable’ ache. 😉
There were hot showers, Uber eats and ‘Thirsty Camel’ to lift our spirits
so that we could drop our bodies into warm beds. 😊
There were crack of dawn starts and lazy long lie ins. 😴
There were beach walks, energetic runs, coffees and breakfast. 😊
Salty Dog early morning
ah, such a treat
and such beauty as
we used two legs instead of four!!
There were ferry and car rides and hugs goodbye.😘
There were new friends made, old histories shared, bold futures imagined and
joint memories made. 😊
And just like that the Yeeah cowgals weekend was over.
And we went back to our different worlds.
Thanks to a group of Yeeha Cowgirls
who despite a 40 year age difference made me feel young again !!! 😝