30th November
St Bathans to Lauder (24.6km)
We woke up to a lovely clear morning with a touch of overnight
frost. Chief and Maddy had worn the toes of their front shoes off
and Chiefs had cracked though so I reshod them and we headed off about 10
am. Stan and Kelly were heading home. We stopped at the White Horse
Hotel in Becks for an ice cream and met an 80 year old lady who is still riding
and has done all the Cavalcades so far, she was very inspiring.
We stayed at the old Lauder School which is now set up as
accommodation and we had a shipping container as a cabin and this was really
cute and welcoming. The horses stayed in a paddock across the road
at the Tavern with lots of grass.
Maree brought her horse Tussock up to join our trek and Blakie
came as back up for a few days.
1st December
Lauder to Galloway (34.1km)
We all left our lovely container cabin and headed
across the rail trail to the Station house café for coffee which was already
open and while there learnt about many more areas where we could ride in the
future.
We headed of down the trail and met many cyclists. We
spotted and talked to quite a few of them including a group of boys from a
school in Dunedin. Chief enjoyed being hand fed grass from them.
The scenery was fantastic and enjoyed crossing some railway bridges. We
called in for an ice cream in Omakau. We stopped for lunch at
Chatto Creek and Cracka had trouble coping with a couple of donkeys which were
hanging over the fence trying to be social.
A friend caught up with us
and directed us the shortest route via the rail trail, on his push bike
(over 70 years old and very fit). We unsaddled the horses and put them in
one of his paddocks, and then were treated to great hospitality - a lovely meal
for three riders plus back up, help with planning our route, comfy
beds, shower and breakfast. Such a treat which we were very grateful for.
2nd December
Galloway to Sheephead Station (17.5km)
It was a beautiful clear day in the morning and got hotter as the
day progressed. Cracka had worn out her front shoes so I replaced one
before I left with her spare and we planned to buy more shoes in Alexander on
the way, but first we had to call in at DOC to check the tracks for the next
few days. While we were there they gave us buckets of water for the
horses as it was already getting very hot.
We headed to PGG for some more
horse shoes and then had lunch in the park.
We had not seen many shops so
far so it was difficult to go past all the shops and we had to stop for ice cream
and coffee before we headed of under the Alex bridge to find more water for the
horses.
We then crossed the bridge and went up Earnscleugh road and
headed to Sheephead Station for the night. It was so hot this day and it
was great to stop and find a cool breeze in the new woolshed.
3rd December
Sheephead Station to Shingle Creek (21.8 km) It was hot all night and we got up early
to replace Crackas shoes and headed off on a lovely calm morning.
The scenery
was great and as we rode we could see lots of irrigation creeks and really
interesting rocks.
The weather changed from very hot to warm rain and then as we
rounded a corner a very cold southerly wind blasted us and it all turned cold
and we were thankful for our wet weather gear.
We had lunch in the rain
at Gorge Creek station before heading of on part of the old road and then
paddocks towards Shingle Creek, where we stayed in the shearing shed and we
grateful not to be putting up our tents in the pouring rain.
4th December
Shingle Creek to Glenaray Station (45.1 km)
We left Shingle Creek and headed out across paddocks and then on
down the main road to Waikaia Bush road from here we climbed up steadily
all morning.
When we looked back we had great views of Alexander, Roxburgh
and the Clutha River. We passed snow drifts on the side of the road and
continued to climb until we came to the top and crossed over into
Southland. 
We passed the shelter shed and snow poles that are used in the
winter to mark the track as the snow is so high in the winter you cannot see
the road.
The road was really rough on the way down and full of water in
the wheel ruts that was so deep on the horses, it was up passed their chests
and very slippery.
There are also lots of flat rock on the track which
they had to walk carefully on.
Once down the other side there was so much
green grass and we stopped and let the horses have a good feed. We
continued down the road which had beech forest on either side until we came to
Piano Flat. We were looking for a campsite there, but were offered a
paddock at Glenaray station so we opted to ride a little longer and stay
there. This had been the longest day of the ride and we were all tired
when we put up our tents.
5th December
Glenaray Station to Waikaia (23.1 km)
We had a sleep in and then packed up our tents. The wind was
getting very strong and as Delwyne was packing up her tent it lifted it up and
over and fence. We were waiting for Bob (Delwynes husdand), Stan and Kelly to
arrive as Bob was bringing up Lockney for Delynwe and Toby for Kelly to
ride. Once they all arrived we set off and rode past Glenaray station and
on down the road towards Block Road and then into Waikaia,
It started to rain
and by the time we arrived we were all very wet. We stayed in a cottage
called the Hitching Post and this had a real hitching post outside which we
took photos with the horses before leaving.
6th December
Rest day for the horses
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