Hey everyone

Today was horse riding day!

We were up early and filling up on breakfast to prepare ourselves for our horse trekking. There were just three of us going riding, along with the instructor, and we were driven a few miles from the lodge to the equally remote stables. After getting kitted out with boots, hats, gloves and huge coats, we were ready to meet our horses. Christina got to ride Chestnut, which was happy to follow right behind one of the other horses for the whole trek. Only once did Christina managed to take the lead, but after a neigh from the other horse Christina's Chestnut was relugated back to second place. Alex's horse was interesting - he was called Pedro and was rather stubborn, especially when we crossed a field covered in thistles where he couldn't resist a munch. Fortunately though, after a while horse and master were getting on well.

Our instructor decided that we were all coming along well and could attempt a trot, but neither Alex or Christina realised the height we would bounce out of our saddles. It was quite scary, but we enjoyed it.

Half way through the trek we arrived at the top of the huge valley and had amazing views across the New Zealand countryside. After some lovely photos we continued down the valley, passing cows, sheep and the occasional farmer on a quad bike, rounding his sheep up with the help of his trusty dog.

When we got back to the stable we took the saddles off our horses and gave them a brush down. After feeding them some carrots and being pestered for more after they had eaten then all, we put on their coats and took them to the paddock.

We arrived back at the lodge in time for some lunch before heading off south to Wellington, our final stop in the North Island. After some nice green curry soup to warm us up, we were on the coach and on our way to Wellington. We arrived in the early evening, and were amazed at how nice the YHA hostel was. It was very modern, spread over six floors, and had two huge clean kitchens, massive dining areas and a cinema room, complete with sofas and a projector. We wouldn't be fighting over the last bowl in the kitchen here, and we were instantly very glad we were staying a few days. There was also a list of '100 free things to do in Wellington' and '100 things to do in Wellington when it's raining', both of which would come in handy.

After making some really crispy jacket potatoes for dinner (the kitchen had ovens!), we sat in the cinema room and watched the end of Oceans Thirteen. We then got some washing done before bed. We went to sleep looking forward to our stay in Wellington, if only because of the cinema room and huge selection of DVDs on offer... Xxx