A Billeting We Shall Go

Janna: I was billeted at Sandy Matthew's house along with Hong Kong's coach Tara Delaney, Canada's coach Margot Vilvang, and the NZ's team reserve member Emma, about 40 minutes out of Rotarua. When Sandy picked us up it was pouring rain (big surprise in NZ!) so we piled ourselves and our luggage into her car and off we went. She lives on a beautiful farm in the foothills and raises Friesian bulls for export to North American McDonalds. According to Sandy their meat is then mixed in with steer and heifer meat (which is fattier) to create the "ideal" hamburger. Her daughter used to event at the four star level (completed Adelaide in Australia twice!) but isn't riding much anymore, so Sandy now has a few racehorses. Sandy made an excellent meal for us, I then enjoyed a nice warm soak in her bathtub (three cheers for not having to do the community shower thing!) and then went to bed (queen sized in my own room... no bunks and no roomies!). The next morning I was able to appreciate how beautiful Sandy's place was- she has a panoramic view of the surronding green hills and mountains and it is stereotypical beautiful NZ countryside- sheeps and cows dotted the neighboring hillsides. After a lovely breakfast we piled back into her car and she returned us to the rest of our IPE buddies back at Lake Rotarua. I enjoyed my night of "billeting," getting to meet Sandy and enjoying her generosity and hospitality.

Robyn: I was billeted out (after I figured out what it was) to a wonderful couple-Max and Nharni Pryce, the parents of Sandy, above. The rain was CRAZY on the way to their home but upon arrival, Nharni had a wonderful dinner ready for us and we actually watched TV! My fellow "billetees", were three of the other managers, Peta Duncalf, from Hong Kong, Carol Paterson, from Australia, Sheila Taylor, from Canada, and Merindah Thomson, the coach from Australia. We listened to wonderful stories from Max and heard how they have had 11,000 visitors in their house over the last 11 or 12 years!! They are in a program for homestays and have hosted about 1,000 people a year in this program. Nharni is an artist as well and her wonderful paintings are tucked around their house. They have been avid supporters of Pony Club and we were fortunate to see them again at the Nations Cup as well as the final dinner. We had actual showers, and real beds. Min and I were roomies and as usual we all went to bed very early. Great experience with great, interesting people!

Kelsey & Alexa: We were lucky enough to stay with Debbie and Nigel Heron and their two children. Nigel picked us up at Lake Rotarua and (quickly) drove us out to their small farm in the country. By small farm I mean they had two horses, one mini pony, three dogs, two cats, goats, ducks, and chickens! When we arrived Nigel went out to do chores, and we started to chat with Debbie. After a few glasses of wine, it was time for dinner. Debbie had been told that we were vegetarian, and didn't eat dairy. So she decided to get Chinese take out instead of try to worry about cooking, which was fine with us!! The food was delicious, and the conversation even more enjoyable! Debbie and Nigel really were the nicest they could be! Nigel grew up with horses and even showed us a video of one of his Standardbred's winning a race! Eventually we retired to our room, (huge queen bed!) and enjoyed the free wifi (the only time in the country we had actually free wifi I do believe). In the morning we had a quick breakfast, played a little with Scotty (their 4 year old son), and then were on our way back to Lake Rotarua to get ready for our Mauri experience! Debbie and Nigel were great, and we can honestly say it was one of the best nights of the trip!

Kiersti:

Susan and Kaleigh:
We were billeted with the Pearce family. Mrs. Pearce, the family's German Exchange Student, and the youngest daughter picked us up from the bus to bring us back to the family's small farm outside of Rotorua. Oliver, a boy from the NZ team, was also billeted with us. When we arrived at the farm, we were dropped off at the guest house to get settled while dinner was cooking up at the main house. The younger of the two daughters gave us a quick tour and then left us to get our overnight bags put up before heading up to the house for dinner. We were pleased to see that the had queen sized beds- one for Oliver and one for us to share! One of the beds had a playboy bunny comforter...we let Oliver take that one! When we arrived up at the house, we were able to meet Mr. Pearce who was extremely nice and fun to chat with. We had some snacks and a few drinks as dinner was finishing up. This was the first time that we were able to just sit and watch TV since coming to New Zealand. It was fun to see their television programs and have a family-style experience. When we sat down for dinner, we were so happy to see something other that potatoes! We had been eating so many potatoes that we were almost beginning to dislike them- even though they are normally one of our favorite foods! After our dinner, we had Hokey Pokey ice cream and a delicious homemade apple crisp. We may have even finished off the entire carton of ice cream because we were so excited to see dessert! We stayed up at the main house talking with the entire family until nearly 11:00PM. It was refreshing to have an evening with a family and it was one of our better meals on the trip. When we got back to the guest house, we got ready for bed and set our alarms for the morning. We were so excited to get into a nice queen sized bed; however, right after we turned off the light, Kaleigh was stung by a wasp who had decided to join us for the evening! After the wasp was removed, we went straight to sleep and woke up feeling more than prepared for our Mauri experience in Rotorua!