Heading over to Westport on the west coast wasn't too nice really, the weather wasn't on our side; it was very wet and windy! However, that didn't stop us going on a short walk in the Nelson Lakes national park on the way (luckily the weather had brightened up a bit on the way!) and some of the boys were even brave enough to jump in! I would have.... but it was soooooooooo cold outside, and they all swam like lightening to get out afterwards! It was a fun stop though, pretty funny to watch, especially as they were jumping into eel-infested water!! We then carried on over to Westport.

I took the opportunity to go on a 2 hour horse trek as I had been told that this was the most scenic and best value for money horse trekking you can do on the South Island. It was really beautiful, despite a bit of drizzle here and there (it just made the mountains look even more majestic!). I was on a horse called Locky who liked to kick out at horses if they got too close behind him, which made for an interesting ride! It was really really good to get back on a horse after so long; I went in Honduras aswell but there I was on a tiny little skinny thing, here I was on a 16.2hh well-built bay who was a pleasure to ride, especially since I got a good old gallop along the way! I actually switched to my guide's horse for the gallop where I went into a gallop paddock and she stayed at the gate with the beginners. She told me to swap as they don't let any customers gallop the Locky as he is too strong and gets too excited when he gallops. Red, the guide's horse was a bit prancy when he stands still, but that's fine I can handle that, and when he goes he really goes. It was great fun, I love the thrill of galloping, it is so gast and there is nothing quite like it! Unfortunately for me, and also partly my fault as I should have known to check myself being an experienced rider, the guide forgot to check the girth (for those non-horsey people reading this, that is the strap that goes under the horse to hold the saddle on) before galloping. Red likes to breathe in loads when he gallops, and that combined with me being a tad heavier than the guide meant that the saddle was not securely in place, and by the time I realised as I was going around the second corner at full-throttle, the saddle had already begun to slip around and was moving too fast for me to be able to stop Red in time to move it back around and tighten the girth. Also, he would not have stood still for me to do it, so I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to be coming off, and slipped off at gallop! I bruised my hip a little, but I have fallen off a million times before so I just got straight back on again after checking the saddle properly and continued on galloping! We then headed back as it was turning to dusk, went through a river on the way, and I would have to have the horse who liked water wouldn't I! All the others were trying to go as shallow as they could, where as mine steam-rollered straight through the deepest part of the river; I had my feet up over his neck and he still managed to get all my legs wet, and for the remainder of the ride I had loads of water in my boots swishing around! It was all good fun though.

Westport is a pretty quiet town with not much going on, so Kane, out bus driver, decided a good way to get all the different groups on our bus to mingle would be to so a three-legged pub crawl! It was an ingenious idea, so after getting roped up together, we headed out to the 3 bars the town had to offer! (very backward place that it is!). I have to say, and I'm not trying to big myself up, that my friend Mark (my partner) and I, were by FAR the best walkers out there! We overtook 5 other couples on the way to the first bar. We proceeded to play killer pool whilst still attached, which was quite a sight to behold! It was a great idea and it did really get the group bonded together and having a laugh.

That's about it for Westport I think! Good times

Joelle

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