When Robyn & I woke up this morning we felt like we’d been run over by trucks thanks to yesterday’s “bush walk.” Sleeping in bunks didn’t help the situation much either. But we’re in New Zealand, so life is good!
Yesterday was filled with equal parts physical exhaustion and hilarity. The girls touched on some of it in the previous blog entry but I’d like to add one more funny story. As we headed off into the “bush” (basically a National Park) the goofier of our two guides warned us that we might encounter some possum traps. Evidently the possum is quite a problem in NZ because they eat the native birds and bird eggs- they are not indigenous to the country but were introduced and are quite a pest. (As are rats and ferrets...) Allen, our guide informed us that if we were to step on a possum trap that it “might make our eyes water a bit but wouldn’t break any bones.” What great news! He told us that the possums are trapped and their fur is plucked to be used for gloves and blankets. The blankets sell for thousands of NZ dollars. Robyn and I were horrified because we were envisioning the North American possum who is so often the punchline of jokes about the South. Evidently possum fur is a wonderful insulator, rivaled only by polar bear fur. Who knew? (Homework assignment: Google New Zealand possums... they are much cuter than their North American cousins.)
Today we went to Palmerston North, a town about 45 minutes away from the Makahika Outdoor Centre. We were all happy to get out and see some of this brilliantly green country. There are no deciduous trees indigenous to NZ- their native flora consists entirely of ferns and evergreen trees so even in the fall everything stays wonderfully emerald. We saw thousands of sheep (there are 10 for ever person in NZ) and lots of cows.
After a brief trip to a tack shop, a shopping excursion (we had to go in search of chocolate!) and lunch in a cute coffee shop, we went to Massey University and toured their vet school. We were given a demonstration of their equine treadmill (thank you Justin the Standardbred, you were a very good sport!) and then had afternoon tea with a Massey vet, Peter Jolley, who was a member of NZ’s 1981 IPE team! He told us that his exchange lasted 6 weeks! They basically started on Canada’s west coast and made their way east. He said they were having their 30 year reunion this year. This reinforces everything that I believe about this program- the friendships that are made on this trip last a lifetime and I can 't say enough good things about it.
Tomorrow we go back to Massey- we received an impromptu invitation to an Andrew Scott training theory lecture which will be followed by a two hour training school. Andrew Scott was one of NZ’s top eventers and now is one of the equestrian instructors at Massey’s High Performance equine program. We are all looking forward to it!
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