Last weekend we drove (and drove and drove ... it was kind of far for an overnight trip ... ) east into Gippsland towards Bairnsdale & Alpine National Park to camp and go on a trail ride. Kid was, as a totally horse crazy almost-seven-year-old girl OVER THE MOON. Coonawarra Trail Rides is on a little road that runs past Mitchell River National Park up towards Dargo - very hilly and fairly verdant and pretty. We camped at Blue Rock Pool - a nice little campground with toilets, picnic table, fire pits and level tent sites, but no potable water. Quin woke up every time a wallaby hopped by - the "thump thump thump" of common wallaby hops sounding a lot like human footsteps ... this woke me up too since he was sleeping practically on me (he is the only one who doesn't have his own thermarest and it got cold), so it seemed like every 15 minutes. In the a.m. - after coffee, tea, cocoa, muesli - we drove to Coonawarra and saddled up. Kid rode behind Ron, our leader. She had her owns reins but he had her pony on a lead rope. She ended up trotting way more than anyone else though since her pony needed to keep up with our big horses. We went over hill and dale, so to speak - even crossed a stream in which the horses got a drink. As we rode along Ray regaled Kid with tales of the ACTUAL, REAL LIFE Saddleclub horses ... turns out he used to board them for the TV production. She was elated - naming horse after horse (Comanche? Garnett? Belle? Patch? ... ) with Ron replying "Yep, I knew him". Now, when she grows up she wants to work at Coonawarra Trail Rides. On the way home she mused that maybe she can work there in the summer when she is eight. We checkout Bairnsdale on the way home (well, it was a bit out of the way, actually). Pretty town. We stopped at an AMAZING playgorund that had a big zip line and a looooong tall tunnel slide built into the hill - these are popular playground features here in Oz (Vic, at least). Then the long drive back towards the city. We crashed hard once back home after generous doses of Advil for our sore bottoms.
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