1/22 - Horseback Riding

Mileage:  86

LOTR Part I: The Fellowship of the Ring

Since New Zealand was where they filmed LOTR, I thought it fitting that I watch all three while I was here.  The timeshare had all three and the extended versions no less.  Tonight was Part I.

I had to meet the riding group in Queenstown at 8:15am.  I hopped on the bike at 7am since the ride from Wanaka to Queenstown would take about an hour. 

I arrived a bit early, found a parking structure for $5 a day and grabbed a chicken, cranberry, brie sandwich on fresh whole grain bread dotted with sunflower seeds and a latte to go from Big-Wich.  I was to meet the bus at The Station, which was also where they pick up for bungy jumping.  I hopped on the bus and was driven to Glenorchy.  The road from Queenstown to Glenorchy was gorgeous.  The road wound around a lake and the driver was nice enough to stop so we could take some photos.

The driver also pointed out where they filmed the Battle of Helm's Deep in LOTR.  These guys are REALLY proud of the movie!

The little ledge was where Helm's Deep was filmed.

We continued to the stables where I check in and hopped back on the bus to a Paradise.  Paradise was privately owned land where the stable leases land for a stable of horses and where they go for the LOTR ride.  We were assigned horses based on our riding experience and headed out.

The day was beautiful, perfect for a horseback ride.  My only setback was allergies.  Everything was in full bloom and I couldn’t stop sneezing, but the experience was worth every sneeze.  The trail took us to some pretty fantastic overlooks.

This was where Boromir died.

They also pointed out where Galadriel met with Frodo and various other filming locations of the movie.  

The location where they filmed the White Tower of Isengard.

My horse literally bit off more than he could chew.  There was an entire branching hanging out of his mouth.

The second ride was 2 hrs after the LOTR ride ended so I walked to downtown Glenorchy (which consisted all of two blocks) and had lunch at Foxy’s Café.  They had a wonderful seafood chowder chased with a latte of course.  That yummy looking pastry was a homemade apricot shortcake. 

There was a Bandit parked by the café so I chatted up the couple that was touring.  The gentleman (Richard) and his wife (Cheryl) lived in Christchurch and were taking a week off to tour their homeland.  Richard offered to show me the Akaroa peninsula by Christchurch when I head that way again.  I promised to ring him up.

I headed back to the stable for my second ride.  My horse’s name was Doobie.  He didn’t like horses behind him and tried to kick any that dared brave his rump.

I got to canter a bit and Doobie was exceptionally smooth.  I learned that he was a retired barrel racing ribbon winner!  We crossed a few rivers, some were pretty deep.  The water came all the way up to my boot and I had to pull them back to avoid dunking them.

Being with these amazing creatures has rekindled my love of horses.  I wanted to drop everything, move to New Zealand and buy a small ranch so I could ride whenever I wanted.  The guide at the stable told me if I did move, to look them up.  I could totally picture myself as a guide for this stable.

The ride ended in another valley so we all hopped on a small bus and was returned to the stable where the original bus that brought us waited to take us back to Queenstown.  I was starving so stopped at PJ’s Fish and Chips for the best fish and chips I’ve ever had.  The fish was Hoki and the batter was light, flaky and crisp, perfect.  Most of the fish and chips places put too much batter on their fish.  This place made them perfectly.

I rode back to Wanaka after my delightful dinner and was happy to note that my legs weren’t too sore to ride.  I’ve returned from rides where my thighs felt like jello and could barely keep me up. 

Tomorrow is the ride from Wanaka to Glenorchy.  I couldn’t wait to take the bike on that spectacular road from Queenstown to Glenorchy.