We arrived in Estancia which is a gaucho ranch where we were staying for nights. We met the owner Kevin who showed us around and to our dorm. We settled in before going to his house in the evening for some wine tasting. He had 4 wines for us to taste and some locally mad cheese and crackers. He was a very funny man and kept telling us stories about the wine and the area. He was very generous with his wine as normaly you only get a tiny bit to taste but he half filled our glasses. After that group 1 were cooking us sausage and mash for our dinner. We ate our dinner in the games room before going to bed.

The next day we were horse riding so we got dressed in our warmest clothes as it was quite cold. We went outside to meet our horses, mine was called Te'amo. It looked quite old as it had a grey face and it was also one of the tallest horses. When everyone had been paired up to horse we began our walk. The owners wife came with us and two gauchos. My horse liked o be at the back of the line and walked quite slow, I didnt mind this though. We walked through their land which was very pretty hills and fields. We crossed little streams and went through gates. We arrived near a cliff in the hill and dismounted our horses. The owner then took us on a short walk down the cliff to a waterfall. In the summer people swim in the pool but it was too cold for that. We walked back up the cliff and got back on our horses and made our way back to the house. Claire and Tony had some hot chocolate ready for us which was really nice. It was also mine turn to cook lunch and dinner with Matt and Neil. We had also thought about how cold it was and had bought soup for lunch. We had chcken noodle soup and pumpkin soup with crispy french bread. The boys made the noodle soup and I made the pumpkin soup. Everyone prefered the pumpkin soup but I cant take too much credit as it was 12 sachets of cuppa soup!!

After lunch I had a nice warm shower whilst some others were napping. After that it was time to start preparing dinner. We were making chicken wraps. We chopped onions, peppers and the salad before cooking the chicken and warming the wraps. We carried the food to the games room where a musician was coming to entertain us whilst we ate. Everyone liked our food and the musician was a singer with a guitar. He sang in Spanish but it still was very entertaining as he was quite funny. After the music we sat aroun for a while chatting, playing cards and drinking the crate of wine Kevin had given us.

The next day after pancakes for breafast we were riding again. On the same horses we set off. They took us to the highest point on their land which they called "The top of the World". It was an excellent view of the land all around and in the distance you could see the town. We rode on further until we came to the cattle station where we had a picnic lunch. I fed my horse some apple which it seemed very pleased at as it kept putting its head down to eat on the walk and at one point dragged a whole branch along to munch on as he walked! After lunch we started our walk back to the ouse where we said goodbye to our horses. We then had an hour before the lasso competition.

We went into an enclosure where there were 5 black calfs and a tree trunk in the middle. Then 3 at a time we were shown how to throw a lasso. We practised on the tree trunk several times before having ago at catching a proper calf. In the first group Jake managed to get the rope over a calfs ears and took an early lead. In the second group of 3 Nicky also got the rope around the top of a calves head. It was then mine and Sarahs turn to lasso. I managed to hook the tree on my first go but missed it on the next two. Then we stood in a line waiting for the cows to run past us being chased by a man and a dog. I was first in the line as they came past. We had had 3 goes and none of us had even come close to catching a cow BUT on our last go I somehow managed to get the rope over a cows head and it to step through the rope with one of its legs. I had properly lassoed a cow. I couldnt believe it! The gaucho then had to rein it in and let it go again. In the final group no one caught anything which mant I had won the competition. Wow!

In the evening Kevin was giving us a BBQ around the campfire. We had empanadas for starters and then we had four different cuts of meat to try. They were all from a cow that had been on his farm. First we had some ribs, then sausage followed by two different cuts of steak. It was very filling and of course Kevin had given us more wine to drink! It was Lucy's birthday the next day so we also had birthday cake for dessert. Kevin then gave out the gaucho awards which were a bottle of champagne. I got one for the best lasso. Sarah got one for being the best rider and Dee for being the most improved rider. There were also a couple of awards without prizes, Tom got the wannabe gaucho award and I also got the award for the most interesting mounting technique. We all thought Dee was going to get that as she always struggled to get on the horse but I got it for the one time I missed the saddle completely and ended up sitting on the horses bum behind the saddle. It was because I was counting to 3 but the man lifted me on 2 and so I didnt give it enough umph and didnt make it onto the saddle!! Everyone found it very funny!

After the BBQ we went to the games room but most of us had an early night as we were leaving at 5am to go to the next campsite. I really enjoyed my gaucho experience.