WEEK TWO

17^th October
Woodstock to Tapawera (21.6km)
I left Woodstock and travelled south towards Tapawera, the road was wider today and there was not much traffic early in the day which was great.  We passed lots of hop vines growing and Stanley Brook Hill.  I walked Chief down this hill and noticed he has nearly worn his front shoes across the toe and the toe cleats had worn off.  We called in at the Café for coffee in Tapawera and then stayed in the
Settle Camping ground.  

I tethered the horses next to my cabin and there was a horse in the paddock next to us which was calling out and only later that night I found out it was a stallion.

I reshod Chiefs front shoes and think his hind shoes will last another day or so.

18^th October
Rest day for the horses

A very busy week.

19^th October
Tapawera to Goldent Downs Forrest (32.68km)

I left Tapawera headed on down south.  We called in for coffee at Kikiwa to find out they did not open until 10 but their coffee machine was on so they made me a coffee to go.  We carried on and came to a lovely back road called Valley road and this had great grass roadsides and so peaceful with hardly any cars.  When we left this we were back on the main road and went up Kerr Hill road.  There were lots of

logging trucks on this road and it was very busy.  I camped out in the Golden Downs forest for the night and tethered the horses.


20^th October
Golden Downs Forest to St Aurand (12.6km)
This was a day on busy roads and the traffic seemed to get busier and the truck faster with even more logging trucks going passed.  We were going to go to Top

House to stay but as I left the road to go up there I was talking with a lady who lived on the road and she told me that they had recently closed which saved me a trip up there.

21^st October
Rest day for the horses


22^nd October
St Aurnad to Rainbow trail horse paddock (36.5km)
I left St Aurnad and headed down the busy road towards the Rainbow trail.  I called in at the station and let them know I was there checked about the locked gates which are on the road.  A little further down the road I met two army guys and they said to call in at Dip Flat for a cup of tea.  They went passed again a few hours later and said to call for lunch and I said it would be a late lunch by the time I got there.  I eventually arrived and rode in passed the checkpoint and stockades and left the horses under a tree.  I knew they would not get passed the checkpoint as there was lots of army people doing various activities.  Some army people kept an eye on the horses while I had my lunch and a cup of tea and a chat with a few of the people there.  I gave one of them a ride a little way along the road on Chief as I left.

 We carried on and one of Chief’s hind shoes become loose so we stopped and reshod this foot in the shade of some trees as it was very hot. We camped out for the night next to the homestead as this has a lovely horse paddock and I pitched my tent.  The sandflies were bad and Maddy was so annoyed with kicking them that she kicked her belly straps on her cover and ripped it so I had to sew this up and cut the belly straps off her cover.


23rd October
Rainbow road horse paddock to St James turn off by Lake Tennyson(40.8km)
It rained in the early morning and I packed up the tent and saddled the horses in the rain.  The sandflies were bad and annoyed the horses all night and as I saddled them so they were happy to get moving.  We followed along the Wairau River for most of the day and this came to a gorge and an impassable locked gate called Hells gate.  Appropriately named and this was very solid with solid rock on the top side and very step bank on the river side.  The station manager had said to me” I hope your horses can swim” when I left and now I knew why.   When I asked him about the locked gates he said horses should be able to get round them so I went back down the road and down a steep bank into the river and crossed this twice to get round this gate. 

We continued on along the road and up and over Island Pass were we left the Wairau River behind and started to follow the Clarence River.  Once we were passed the turn off to Lake Tennyson we looked for somewhere to camp.  I tried to get closer to the river to camp as there was some nice grass down there but it was too boggy where I tried so I stayed on the road until I found the St James turn off and the signs about all the horse tracks you can ride.   I thought this must be a good place to camp as it was horse friendly.

24^th October
St James turn off by Lake Tennyson to Hammer Springs (41.5km)
It was very cold all night and I was not surprised to find my tent and the ground frozen when I got up  It was really cold and I had to wear gloves as I saddled the horses and the packed up my frozen tent.  The poles would not come apart easily as they were still frozen. 

Once we left I walked for a long time to warm up my frozen toes and then the sun came over the hills and it all warmed up.  We rode past the only St James homestead and on up to Jacks Pass.  There is a bridle track down the other side into Hammer Springs and we took this, I was a bit worried at the top of this as it was only just wide enough for Maddys boxes and very steep and nowhere for her to turn around but she handled this well. She did bang them against a tree and caught her rope and a little later her bags started to fall off so we stopped on the steep hill and the stood still while I untied everything and tied it all up again.  The track widened out and become easier and I was greeted at the bottom of the hill with a lovely cold drink and paddock full of grass for the horses.

This was step one of my journey completed and I can’t believe I have made it this far.