Saddle up!

13th august

We had breakfast on the terrace overlooking the Fraser River (the best salmon river in the world, allegedly!) in glorious sunshine, which was just perfect. 

Then spotted a pile of fresh bear poo right by our bathroom window 😱

Packed up our things and headed south towards Vavenby where we went for an hour or so trail ride. Yes, us, riding horses!

Our guides, Darcy and Nora were in incredibly lovely, patient and friendly. As with the orecious one time I’ve been on a horse, they put me on the biggest horse there… this time I had Tilly, and Darcy warned me that she thinks she’s a giraffe and eats every leaf she sees! Alana’s mount was Frosty, who smiled when they met, and Kathy was riding Frankie whose hair was the exact same colour as Kathy’s t-shirt and jeans!

Our ride took us down through some leafy lanes along the banks of the Thompson Rover, and back up to the ranch. It was just perfect. My horse did indeed eat everything despite me hauling on her reins each time. Alana’s horse did a little canter to get up a hill, which although scary was very exciting, and Kathy’s horse was laid back and chilled. Just perfect.

After our ride Kathy sat down for a while to recover, then we got ice creams at the village store and headed south towards Little Fort. Dodgy sat nav connectivity and an interesting route choice meant that we took the back roads for an hour along very bumpy dirt roads… not great in the back of a Corolla. But the best part was that we finished listening to HP and the Deathly Hallows (we started listening on the drive from Halifax to Louisbourg half a lifetime ago!)

Bones truly shaken we arrived in what can only be described as a little patch of heaven. A small family ranch way off the beaten track, and we were staying in the hayloft: I mean, not really a hayloft, but a purpose-built space on the end of the hayloft overlooking meadows and woodland. Superbly crafted with beautiful touches (timber cladding inside made to look like a mountain range, for example), incredibly comfortable and with an outdoor kitchen space on the very large deck. Just perfect.

I don’t even think Alana noticed that there was no tv. She certainly didn’t mention it once!

Cooked halloumi on the grill and ate while the sun set. Then after A had gone to sleep I looked out for the perseids. Managed to see a couple and took some fairly nice stars photos…

Another great day.

Adventure score: 8/10

Tiredness rating: 4/10