We had a comfortable 5 hour day today, stopping in beautiful Hermanus for a delicious lunch. The weather was a glorious mid 20’s with blue skies and the views along the bay spectacular. It was a little difficult to capture the beauty as we travelled along, so use your imagination as you gaze at the photographs.
We arrived here safe and sound and in fact I felt so strong I went for a two and a half hour walk in this stunning reserve! No sign of stiffness or discomfort at all.
Did I mention that my very kind cousins drove me here?🚗
I have not yet seen a horse, let alone mounted one 😂🐎
Hermanus Lunch ❤️
I walked for almost 3 hours, silently absorbing the world, there were no birds, no people, no insects; no sounds except the breeze, my breathing and my feet on the path.
Life suspended between being present in the now and in another place – heaven? Not sure what the other place is/was except that it was marked by a sense of total isolation. Lovely in it’s silent vistas.
As the light began to change I knew I had to turn back.
A solitary sunbird flashed by and there was life again
The call of baboons across the valley, invisible but very present got my adrenalin going and my feet moving briskly towards the luxury of my temporary home, Farm 215.
Deck with a view ‘My’ pool ‘My home’ : Farm 215 Dinner is served 😃
Such a perfect day, I could turn back now; avoid the pain in the you know what, that is inevitable if I ride tomorrow; and still feel like I had seen heaven for a moment
I have been taking advantage of Melbourne’s glorious weather, my free time and the parks that are local to our home.
It all started when I started to measure the distance of our walks, our jalks (something between a walk and a jog) and on occasion, our jogs. This meant I had to carry my phone (on which is the MapMyWalk app). It also meant I had a camera on hand, albeit an iphone point and press type of camera.
From those beginnings, some meanderings emerged. I hope you enjoy the indulgence of sky, fields, my ‘friend’ and the privilege of time. Join me either through these ‘roamings’ or by creating your own.
Today, we, that is my ‘friend’, one of my two ‘babies’ ♥ and I drove 20 minutes from our home to Sassafras and found a garden of Eden.
We found the startAlthough there appeared to be some doubt about the routeBut trusting always,they set offA little cool and misty in the early morningWe had the ‘world’ to ourselves
It is a long time since I rode a horse, and even then it could be debated whether I rode the horse, or the horse carried me around. I have done a few trails, in Lesotho, when the weather changed everything and the Mountain Club had to rescue us 🙂 a trail in a private game reserve in the Low veld where one rider fell and broke her arm; one short (very short) trail round this sphinx and pyramids in Cairo, on Arab stallions (so they so much smaller than I anticipated – thankfully) which was thrilling, frightening and left me black and blue for several long painful days 😦
These were some forty years ago –
which as I said, makes it a long time since I rode a horse 🙂
It is also a long time since I wanted to ride a horse!!!
One of the benefits of getting to the age of maturity (others use the word old) is that the short term memory fails one; so I cannot remember whether I decided faint hearted (see blog: ‘me, faint hearted?Me – Faint Hearted?) was a term I applied to myself, or in fact one I did not use to describe myself.
Which is probably just as well, because I had a glorious day today; even if I find myself ready for bed before the sun is!!!!
You see I received a very generous birthday present a year or so ago – a gift voucher for a horse trail ride with Hepburn Lagoon Trails. This sat in a drawer waiting for me until, it would appear the stars aligned, and I received through the ether – sometimes I have no idea how things ‘find me’ – an email about a horse trail in Mongolia. Now wouldn’t you, too, be tempted? Well, one thing led to another and I found myself driving across Melbourne, roadworks notwithstanding, to finally arrive at a little bit of paradise.
Keiran is just the kindest, may I say sweetest person – patient, encouraging, friendly, confident and clearly competent with great horses. With, minimal formality (ready paperwork) we were helmeted, booted and allocated ponies. Some instructions and we were off.
I will not pretend, I was apprehensive, and wondered again why I hadn’t put ‘novice’ down on the form instead of beginner – the alternatives; intermediate or advanced were easy to decide on. Keiran had us all trotting after a few minutes; reminding me that I should not double bounce on the saddle (did he really believe that banging my nether regions around like that was by choice 😂😜) and it didn’t take long for me to find a more comfortable rhythm.
It is almost impossible to describe the feeling of riding through bush, the breeze through the grass, the light playing patterns with the trees, the sound of the horses, the views offered by the extra height of being on horseback. I love walking, but this is different; this huge animal and me; for those few hours joined, trotting, cantering, walking, just ‘being’ – there is conversation between ourselves, and there is silence as we absorb a silence – that of the bush. The bell birds, kookaburra, wedge tailed eagles being swooped by magpies, rosellas. Fields of oats, cattle looking at us, horses calling from far off paddocks.
And then it was over; and we had to ‘get down’ and feel our legs again. !
Always a post mortem; sharing, eating, drinking – ‘all’s well with the world’ kinda feeling
I shall let you know in the morning how these old bones feel, but for tonight, I shall sleep well with memories of a glorious day – Mongolia still calls, but reality may leave a stronger calling card tomorrow.
Hermanus
Lunch ❤️
Deck with a view
‘My’ pool
‘My home’ : Farm 215
Dinner is served 😃
Brave New World of Blogging 