One place to another

2010-03-07T08:45:00.001+01:00

2010-02-05T00:00:00.000+01:00

how can this be the right thing, when missing you hurts so much?

3rd Feb 2010

2010-02-03T09:15:00.003+01:00

What on earth inspires anyone to get on a horse (for the first time in 20 years=how long i've lived) at 75? I mean if you have been riding all your life and have stayed fit for riding etc then yeah sure, but if not; what are you thinking booking a one and a half hour trek? We offer half-hour minitreks, hour treks and ponyleads, all of which would be acceptably suitable for someone your age and ability.. But no.
Hence i have to spend over an hour and a half absolutely terrified that the horse will stumble and you fall flat on the ground and never being able to get on again. Now your a lovely lady and I'm glad you had a good time, but maybe maybe you should be a tiny bit less adventurous?

1st feb 2010

2010-02-01T05:52:00.001+01:00

A year ago today, I was bouncing with excitement, that email I had been waiting for came,

"Hi Hanna,
We could offer you the position of working with us,
What information would you like about the job and when will you be over?
Cheers
C"

It was right up there with my first uni-offer, a few lines that I knew would change my life forever. I hadn't had a very easy year, stable duties and lack of sleep was weighing me down, I was in the early stages of planning to swap accommodation and just knowing that everything would be so different a year later put a week-long lasting smile on my face.

Just over a month later I moved, and things changed, because I didn't just move, I moved home. Years and years of running (don't ask me from what) and all of a sudden I didn't have to. It was unplanned, the timing was ridiculously bad and it was destined to fail within weeks. But it didnt. Months of debate, but i had to go, and here i am.

Apparently I've been here just under five months. To simplify lets say i started debating in june, continued through July, august, september, october (during which I debated enough for two months), novemer, december and january. Thats nine months in total. And I still don't know if I'm doing the right thing or not. And I have (apparently) four months and four days left. So by the time I get home it will have been over a year of selfdoubt and arguing myself. Isn't that just a bit stupid?

CAMP IS OVER :D :D

2010-01-30T03:05:00.002+01:00

And i went shoppin :)

random early morning thoughts (and im not depressed im just fckin tired)

2010-01-22T00:44:00.000+01:00

three unidentified bruises on the right leg, no suprise really, they're not pretty but they seem to be inevidable in this line of work, was the same in aber, scratches on my hands, dirt that doesn't come off, the lovely evidence of me forgettin/losin my gloves.

wake up automatically at seven, i know its my day off but once im awake its too late, keep my eyes closed, hide under the covers, ignore the noise from downstairs, sleep. yeah right, i could try... no success... but i stay in bed on principal, i don't need to be up. i don't ever wanna get up. but then i get bored...

phonecall from roz and steve (yeah the lucky bastard is in aber), probably the biggest highlight of the day, unless you count a certain horrible camp-kid going home... i could have gone into town on the bus, but that would have meant gettin up earlier. yuck. like i dont do enough getting up 6 days a week.

20 more weeks, i've been checking ticket prices home a couple times a month since i got here, last night i chose a random date in february, just too check. prices have gone down. i could easily afford that. so tempting. unfortunately its not worth the consequences.

i dunno what i was thinking. i mean seriously. nine months+ ? STUPID, the good news is after this i prob wont leave europe for a very long while. i can't say i miss home, but i defo miss the people, and since thats where they are, well yeah... STUPID

Dee left two weeks ago this sunday, Rui two days later, Cecilie only has a week and a half left. then its just me. very motivating.

2010-01-21T08:43:00.003+01:00

and its right there, starrin right in my face, tht little number tht i could afford, that little number that will put an end to all this and bring me home.

its stupid and i know it, but its all i want right now, and clicking that button would be so easy

but then what? no job, no uni

never mind, it was just a thought...

Pics, again.... Jan 9th 2010

2010-01-09T09:39:00.004+01:00

got an email from dianne with the pics from out day out in rotorua, thnx for a great day guys!

(yeah i look like shit; who cares i got a falcon sitting on my hand)

(me and lee outside geothermal village in rotorua)

Pics, again.... Jan 5th 2010

2010-01-05T08:46:00.004+01:00

It was the day after x-mas day and we were bored, so what better way to entertain urselves thn to look stupid by the river and send pics bck home???

Cecilie

do not diss my sunglasses

but then it was back to work

And we got company; meet Cookies little grey polar-bear

And her tiger Tumble

Jack feels left out

and Cookie is hardly impressed tht i keep takin her photo

1st Jan 2010

2009-12-31T23:32:00.002+01:00

Welcome to 2010, i so gotta leanr to not press double 0 after the 2 whn im dating my posts

Happy new year all, may the first half pass fast!

26th December 2009

2009-12-25T23:18:00.001+01:00

I survived x-mas; thnx for all the pressies :) :) :)

And happy nine months babe xxx

16th Dec 2009

2009-12-16T08:03:00.004+01:00

Day out; finally! And it was great fun too :), but I must say I'm way better at photoshop than tht photographer was

Lee, Dianne and Myself with some v fake NZ-animals

13 dec 2009

2009-12-13T08:16:00.002+01:00

My dear friends, be glad that I am here to write to you today...

LOL ok its not that serious, but I got seriously freaked out last night and I'm sure you all will laugh, but take a moment and consider how you would like it if you turned the lights on after going to bed and all of a sudden found yourself face to face with this:(http://tpo.tepapa.govt.nz/print/PrintTopicExhibitDetail.asp?Type=Exhibit&ID=0x000a49af&Language=English)

Just under a decimenter the huhu-bug is FREAKY; don't try to tell me different (apparently they only average around 5 cm, this one WAS bigger, ask Pauline who had to come rescue me lol)

12 December 2009

2009-12-12T07:33:00.002+01:00

Three months and one week; and, on wednesday, finally, I get visitors :) and I get to go away for a few hours without getting bus-sick, which counts for a lot!

Had today off, long conversation with my lovely bf in the morning, then got bored after lunch and went to help out with the horses, talk about being a loser, but it was like sitting around just wasn't my thing today (it usually is lol)...

The good news is I'm cheering up; novembers gone and x-mas will be over soon (I hope), and then its almost january and then halfway through that I'll have been here half the time I'm supposed to; (yes I'm getting desperate but I cling on to what I've got)

Ah well, loads of love to all of u

The sun is shining

2009-12-10T09:32:00.004+01:00

And its HOT out there, 20-25 degrees in the shade, and its slowly working its way up (normal summer temps go up around 35 apparently), took some photos down by the river the other day, thought I'd show you what we got in our "backyard"

Maybe I can survive an x-mas without snow :P

Shopping day :D

2009-12-04T08:03:00.003+01:00

Its a loooong bus-ride to the closest shopping mall, but Cecilie (danish reqruit) and me gathered up the bravery to venture it, after all, it was raining and the only other option was shopping in Whakathane (which is hardly awsome anyway) where we'd get all wet and miserable... So we took the risk of getting bus-sick and possibly lost, I know I complain about public transport back home but seriously, drivers here are crazy, roads are planned as badly as in the UK and the buses aren't very flash, also the drivers don't have te habit of calling out what stop your at so you don't know for sure where your supposed to get off until last minute.

Anyway, we survived miraculously (though hardly felt great for it) got there and thought "ooo, this might have potential", food first, then what? Start over there and go that way? Ok, 4 shops of interest, hang on, thats a dead end!? Some more over there, some over there, but its still like tiny; I might as well be shopping in Aber or Hbg (ok viss överdrift, typ halvvägs mellan Lycksele eller Skellefte är mer passande, eller en tredjedels Marieberg) The good news is that it was better than Whakathane, but had the weather been good it really wouldn't have been worth the extra hour or so on the bus.

I did spend two weeks wages lol, so it wasn't bad, mind you I forgot to buy shorts which was like no 2 priority (no 1 was sunglasses which I did find :D ), on the other hand I found some cute tops (will add pic of the best one) and some soooo cute socks, earrings etc :) shopping solves many problems ;)

"Zombies make better boyfriends"

29 nov 2009

2009-11-29T07:04:00.005+01:00

Earthquakes; lets say they're not my kind of thing lol. Its not my first; Ronja can witness I felt the one that occurred last time I went to north Sweden, but that was tiny, no one else around seemed to notice it (epicentre was faaaaar from where we were). This week I had the dubious pleasure of experiencing the kind that you can't really miss (although apparently there were three and I only noticed two). They were quite small but very obvious, all three with the epicentre located within 6 km (or something like that) of the little town we live outside; this area is known for earthquakes but there haven't been any others since I got here.

Anyway; we had all just sat down for dinner and all of a sudden it felt like a hurricane had grabbed the house or something, except there was no evidence of wind outside; we all sort of froze in our seats, it was over so quick but it was really freaky and the aftershock which came just after I went to bed did make me kinda nervous and start wondering where would be the best place to hide if it got worse LOL theres no table to hide under in my room, maybe the bed will do :P

I'm no big fan; but as long as we don't get any worse than that I guess I can live with it...

How come its almost December yet I feel like I'm stuck here forever still? In a week I will have been here three months, you'd think I wouldn't really be suprised that 9 minus 3 equals 6; but it does, why wont time move? I miss you all and I'm lacking motivation to stay; all that keeps me here is knowing that if I go home I have to drop out, cause I wont be able to find another placement and get it approved fast enough. And also I don't like winter, maybe thats good enough to keep me?

Yeah we got summer alright; its been soooo hot, sooo sunny. I'm glad the rain has calmed down, but it almost gets too hot; and its only almost december, its supposed to get hotter and dryer, not sure how I'm gonna cope with working in it, loads of water and sunscreen and shorts are my only options lol

Picture time :D

2009-11-26T08:44:00.006+01:00

Hi again guys; slightly more cheerful today and took some pics of Tarzan yesterday (he now has a name; finally lol) our little boy is getting soooooo big! He still looks like a moose as u cn see but he's slightly less unproportionate (how the hell do u spell tht?) and the curious little bugger thought my camera bag was the best toy since lego-blocks :)

23rd November 2009

2009-11-24T21:45:00.000+01:00

Forgive me for not blogging more, I swear time has stopped. The first month came and went fast, the second seemed to last twice as long and somehow the third seems to not pass at all; never ending; and even if it does eventually pass, once month four starts, I'm sure june will move away as time starts going backwards.

I'd be lying if I said all was good; I need a break, I want to go home, I want to sleep. Six days a week is becoming tireing; I'll pull through though I'm sure. But the bloody time wont pass. I'm not questioning whether coming was a good decision or not; it was, but I am convinced I could have made a better one. But its too late to change my mind, and some how I gotta find the will and energy to work over 150 more days (170 something if we don't count my holiday)

Ah well, today was a pretty good day, they do come occasionally.

2009-11-12T08:40:00.000+01:00

Update for the swedes

2009-11-04T08:07:00.002+01:00

Jaha, engelska kan ni inte läsa? SÅ okej då, ett inlägg kan man väl kosta på, kommer dock bli mycket frustrerande för min stackars pojkvän som inte kommer fatta nåt!

Sååå var ska man börja? Ni har väl missat det mesta om ni inte orkar/kan läsa engelska; men ni är söta ändå och älskar och saknar er alla!

Jag befinner mig alltså på Nya Zealand; mer precist på norra ön typ halvvägs mellan Rotorua och Whakathane; bor på en "farm" och jobbar som tur-ridnings guide/ridläger-ledare/hästskötare/allmän hjälpreda. Bor i bostadshuset här på gården (har eget rum) tillsammans med P en glad och mkt intressant äldre dam och D som är ett par år yngre än mig. P's son T och hans sambo är mina andra två chefer; sen jobbar det en obestämd mängd folk här beroende på om de håller på och skördar hö eller inte osv.

Sååå om du fortfarande är förvirrad så är jag först och främst tur-ridnings guide, dvs leder olika grupper med ryttare ut på turer på "farmen"s mark, dels åkermark dels tallskog dels "bush" och ett helt fantastiskt vattendrag (dvs typ stor å eller minimal flod/älv)

och sen orka jag inte skriva mer, får bli mer nästa gång!
massa kramar till er alla

2009-11-01T07:34:00.001+01:00

I mean really? you gotta be kidding right? maybe i should swap courses after all, how does agriculture sound? or maybe tourism, or maybe return to the biology section? grrrr

Horse-yard drama 2

2009-10-22T09:51:00.001+02:00

I do realize that my blogging has been less than regular since kids camp, but if you where here you'd understand why; there is soooo much to do and at the end of the day the last thing I feel like doing is going down to the office through the dark and the rain (the weather is unbelievable) just to entertain you guys, but I do apologise!

Horse-yard drama; part 2

So a lot has happened since you last heard of the horses in the yard; Peckles and Quiz have since then made up again, when Quizes girlfriend was returned to her owner she gave in to Peckles' attempts to have her forgive him and things have never been better between those two. And shows have started coming frequently, so they are kept very busy and are away competing for several days in a row almost once a week.

This morning they were let out to have a graze a few hours before they were to be loaded into the truck to go away again; and looked oh so pleased running around for a while before settling down. But after a while they apparently had enough; and promptly jumped out over the gate (and its one high gate) and took of up the driveway and onto the highway and just kept going! Luckily though there were some other horses further down the road and as they stopped to talk to them T and his mate caught up in the truck and managed to grab them...

Back at the farm T asked me if the gate was ok, or had they cleared it entirely? When I told him they must have sailed over cause the gate was fine; I could almost see a hint of pride go over his face lol; Quiz and Peckles are showjumpers alright!

So as you have probably seen in my previous post; Minka finally had her foal! I came down one rainy (suprise) morning and there he was (though it took 4 days til we were sure it was a he cause his mummy didnt want us too close to him at first) and the lovely Minka chose to have her foal when Dee had a day off (hehehe!) so I got to see it first; its Dee's turn to name a horse though, (I got to name Tinuvíel so) and she's sure taking her time... But anyway, he's a cheeky little thing; we managed to get a mini-shetland headcollar on him the other day but it was slightly large so I made him another one...

Tinuvíel was put out the back with the trekers a couple of days but at one point when they were brought in she broke the fence (suprise) and landed (believe it or no) in the bitchiest and most evil mare's paddock. Those who witnessed it held their breaths as the horses went up to greet each other but amazingly Tinuvíel was not killed and the two actually get along, well, Tinuvíel gets bossed around a lot but otherwise they are fine!

20 october 2009

2009-10-22T09:50:00.000+02:00

ITS RAINING! YEY! I mean its been sunny like two days and a half in a row; who wants sunshine? Bring on the soaked coats and jumpers and shirts and jods and shoes and socks (if your lucky and have enough layers the top is usually alright)! And bring on the freezing mornings when you feel like your back in dad and sussi's basement trying to get dressed under the covers cause just stickin your hands out to grab your clothes is cold enough to make you shiver (depsite three covers)! And while we are at it; lets have some freakishly loud thunder to freak both me and the horses out!

There; I've moaned enough for one day ;D I am actually happy despite this; work is just busy enough; I've had some really fun treks, got to hack a showjumper out yesterday and go cantering up a huge hill, I'm responsible for schooling a future guidehorse for treks (he's broken and all but a jumpy and nervous little thing) and while the others are away on competitions I'm getting to lunge my two favorite horses once a day (apart from my favorite trekers of course) to keep them in shape.

So the horse I'm schooling is Dolphin (he has a star shaped like a dolphin on his forehead its really cool lol) , and I worked him for the first time yesterday. (Oh, if youre not interested in working horses you might wanna skip the next couple of paragraphs) He's a pain to catch and I knew that from before; so just to be sure I brought a feedbucket over to the gate and made sure my hands had feed-smell lol, anyway he was standing pretty close by with one of his friends, who is pretty easy to catch so i went up to them and started chatting to his mate, who emidiately picked up the smell and started licking and nibbling at my hands, needless to say Dolphin got curious and after a couple of minutes i managed to catch him without any issues and he came out of the paddock on a loose leadrope.

Since I wasn't quite sure what to expecct from him (I've only seen him lunged and ridden once) I decided to be basic, he was clearly nervous, so I didn't tie him up, I just grabbed a soft bodybrush that was lying on the ground (my bad, it should have been picked up earlier :P) and started on the neck, at first he kept backing up when I moved to reach but he soon got the point and stood still except for when I went for his legs, but the approach and retreat technique is awsome (look it up in any Natural Horsemanship book if your interested) and eventually he stood for me to go as far down as his knees.

My lack of preparation led to me suddenly standing there with a horse I needed to tack up but didn't want to tie up since he was without his mates and it was windy and he was a bit jumpy, and where was my tack? All in the stables. Genius Hanna... So I put him in a pen and brought everything out and then went to get him again (once again I rubbed some feed on my hands so I coud convince him to come faster) and I took him out and managed to tack him up on a loose leadrope without him moving about (even though I had the saddle make noise etc on purpose to see how he'd behave).

Lunging time; this farm has a lot of stuff I wish I could bring home (like the amazing river and that lol) but the roundpen is definately at the top of my list! Anyway, thats where I placed myself and Dolphin, I skipped the lungewhip cause I didnt see the point in bringing it when just flicking the rope gently made him jump to the sky. Sending him out was easy, making him keep going without turning around and bouncing or taking of like a nutcase was less easy. I don't know if it was just my lack of knowledge in "proper" lunging or if he just doesn't get it, he clearly wasn't getting me.

Lovely... So the next twenty minutes were spent trying to teach him to do things my way, to turn only when told and to turn the direction he was told without panicking etc, and taught him the basic commands that I need him to respond to. When he finally did two perfect turns in a row and trotted and slowed down on command I stopped; and I was sooo proud of him. It was probably not what I was supposed to do but if I'm gonna be riding him I need to know that he can listen to me, knowing that he listens to better riders isn't much comfort if he wont do as I say.

Anyway; horsey talk over for those who dropped out five paragraphs ago! Not that I have much else to talk about; there's the weather and the horses and thats about it! Oh the phone; I dropped my phone one day when out on an hr and a half trek and since the weather was pretty bad (suprise) I figured that was it and bought a new phone the following day.. However Dee being the hero that she is found it two days later, and the bloody phone works :D despite all the rain it was out in!

Picture time :D

2009-10-15T22:27:00.004+02:00

minka had her baby yesterday morning :D

it looks a lot like a moose but its still cute

hey maybe it is a moose?

Sazu

Sazu killing ... dunno what to be honest

Pretty Hemi after I spent hrs and hrs grooming him and untangling tht AWSOME mane tht i now gotta cut off (orders from the boss)

7th October 2009

2009-10-08T08:20:00.001+02:00

After ten days of babysitting fifteen-twenty kids (8-15 years old) 24 hours a day I finally have the time and energy to blog! Finally a day off; camp doesn't end until Sunday but today I really couldn't care less, cause the little buggers aren't my problem until bedtime lol :D To be honest they're not all too bad, I did expect worse, but it does get tireing when you are down at the camp area constantly, (me and Dee and the other camp leaders are stayin in the accommodation area spread out in the kids' rooms).

The kids have been a lovely mixture of annoying and spoilt little brats and absolutely lovely little brats ;) Some complete beginners and some talented girls who are probably past my level to be honest, so there's been a pretty big spread and work has been varied to say the least. P seems to want me to start teaching, and puts me closer and closer all the time and just keeps asking, "so are you ready to try some teaching soon?", she's had me lead Dee's lessons from horseback and help out with the vaulting (which I know like zero about), basically avoiding it will soon be impossible...

The thing is I don't really mind teaching, I have tought plenty of kids to ride on Dream back home (and if I may say so myself I've done a damn good job with most of them), but for some reason I feel that teaching in english is so not the same as teaching in swedish, and, teaching one kid on a horse you know if completely different from teaching a whole bunch of kids on horses you don't know. (And anyone who knows horses knows that it helps to know the horse if you want to teach someone how to ride it, horses are so different from each other)

And speaking of teaching I got a pretty good lesson the day before yesterday; basically, if a horse decides it doesnt wanna get caught in the paddock, don't trust it not to kick no matter how nice the horse normally is lol.. First time in ten years of handling horses I actually got hit, and it was a bloody good hit as well, but I was defo lucky. So yeah, I'll remember that one :P

I haven't quite grasped the concept of the aber girls being back and getting on with their studies whithout me, feels kinda rude lol! ;) Hope you all having a good time and miss u all!
Soo wish I could afford to come over and visit but chances of that happening are like zero...

The weather these past two weeks has been extremely welsh/swedish (both suck so have a pick), its been cold and rainy, and by rain I dont mean normal rain or even heavy rain I mean the kind of water pressure you get in a good shower except this shower seems to cover half the country and just never stop and the water is almost freezing. Over the last couple of days the south island has had its worst snowfall in 25 years, blocking two state highways and forcing the army to evacuate people from their cars, and up here in the north we had snow on a nearby mountain the other day (a mountain that apparently never gets snow even in winter). And my dear bf has informed me that south wales has had sunshine for like three weeks, WTF? Really not fair :P

Ah well, we got natural hotpools nearby, suck on that wales!

Anyways, bored with this now, love u all and take care xxx

25th september 2009

2009-09-25T11:16:00.000+02:00

Its rainy, and cold, and its my day off, so, I'm doing an indoor day, gotta do laundry but tht'll hv to wait til tonight when I go down to the office to post this. I slept til nine thirty, had breakfast, bravely attempted to sort my room out (and it does look a bit better) and then actually sat down with my mp3 while reading "Picture of Dorian Gray" (I hear the movie is coming out, but everyone should do themselves a favour and read the book, Wilde's use of language seriously gives me thrills, a true artist, and while your at it read "De Profundis" as well), and that kept me busy to lunch.

Oh, random but need to mention it; the battery on my new Mp3 is AMAZING, havent charged it since wales and its been turned on and off loads of times plus used for what im assuming is far over 24 hrs in total, and there's still more left, so if you want an mp3 that doesn't die and has averagely large memory (8 gb is enough for me atm), go for the Creative Zen Mosaique one lol!

Anyway, was going to get on an old pony called JD today cause he needs excersice (believe me; over 30 years old but serioulsy overfed and had me actually jump off and lead him half a trek the other day cause he just wanted to take off) and I should try and keep busy or I go lasy, but, the rain put me off bigtime, so here I am, blogging in the middle of the day..

I realize my blogging has been a bit off, sorry bout that, there is a lot going on I just have trouble writing it down, its been a long week and things are about to get really busy, kids camp starts on sunday, so I will be moving down into the client accommodation building to babysit 24 hrs lol, should definately be interesting, we are having 20 kids spread between four campleaders plus my boss...

Anyways, three weeks sunday, and still loving it, it can be pretty hard work, and its definately a different lifestyle to my usual one, but its good fun almost all the time, and there is enough variety to keep me happy. I've led a few treks out on my own now, and my few customers have been very pleased so far :) despite me having some issues with the horses I've been leading on; like old JD who had a little buck and canter where we were supposed to be walking (customers were total beginners and only wanted to walk), its good fun to try different horses though, and with over thirty trekhorses its not like I'm gonna get bored with them!

And happy six months babe, love uuuuuuu xxx

Horse-yard drama

2009-09-21T09:29:00.008+02:00

Showjumper Peckles is devastated, to say the very least. Supposedly he has only himself to blame, after all, had he not flirted with Minka (one of the trekking horses who happens to be pregnant and due to deliver very soon) perhaps his girlfriend Quiz (showjumper) wouldn't have decided that she has had enough of him.

And perhaps she wouldn't have fallen in love with the chestnut mare in the field next to hers and Peckles'; yes, not only did she brake things of with him, she gave up on male horses entirely and fell in love with a mare (sucks to be Peckles)...

Meanwhile Minka is totally ignoring him, she's got better things to do (like brake down the gate leading into the neighbors haypaddock where the grass is oh so green) and its not like she has any need of a cool showjumper who isn't likely to take liking to her foal.

So Peckles is having a hard time, and its affecting his mood considerably, he comes running up to the gate to say hi and hopes to be brought in, he spends his nights desperately trying to convince Quiz to take him back (she still has the stable next to him) but she keeps pushing him away. And the oh so gorgeous (but total nutcase of a breaking horse) lady Skye in the next stable doesn't want him either.

Tinuvíel (the lovely dunn breaking horse I got to name) has spent the last six days closed in in a large field with another mare (she used to drift around the yard freely) and, after eating loads of grass and not being excersised or close enough to talk to any other horse than her new mare friend (and the bitch of a horse in the next field), made sure to make life interesting today...

She was brought in to go for a hack with another green horse and a more experienced one, bit skittish while being tacked up but was taken out anyway, halfway out of the gate though she did a proper bronco buck and sent her rider (who is a total pro) flying. And then apparently again when they were trying to canter during the hack.

As if that wasn't enough she took full advantage of being released in the yard again afterwards, wandering about she had a gelding brake a fence (she's in season like about half of the mares) and they had a run around in his field, when separated from him she behaved for a while, but got bored and tried to jump the fence, crashing through and totally breaking the upper fence board (its some bloody thick and strong wood tht the bloody horse broke of without getting as much as a splint in her leg lol). Then she amused herself with trying to steal the other horses food as the quad went by.

Appi (older appaloosa gentleman who belongs with the trekkers) was to stay in over night until today as he was needed for a lesson, hence was put in a large pen with loads and loads of nice grass, and looked very pleased. But upon realizing that the other horses where going out without him he picked up canter ( he can't have fitted more than two strides into that pen) and jumped out. Got caught and was put with the yards very own escape-artist, Scooby (little pony used for lessons and treks), in the field that has noo option for gettin out except having the gate opened.

Seemed to calm down a bit while the others disapeared down the hill, but oh no, jumped out of that field as well and had to be ridden back bareback from out the back by yours truely this morning after she was given a lift out on the quad...

2009-09-20T10:48:00.004+02:00

Nalah the house cat (ancient thing and shares my breakfast)

Hitting the flats on the 1.5 hr track

Floppy eared Caz and me off on adventure :D

Climbing uphill

On the top View's not badBack down at safer heights Down by the river

Caz and me splashin through the river :D

14 september 2009

2009-09-15T09:58:00.003+02:00

14th September 2009
It's waaay too easy to get used to not working, slept so well this morning the alarm took my totally by suprise and I dragged myself downstairs to have breakfast, about 20 seconds into making breakfast the guys came rumbling in (they usually come by the time me and D are out in the yard), how anyone can be that awake and cheerful in the morning is beyond me, I can be a morning person but today was not one of my good days; anyhow chatting to them woke me up a bit lol...

So the biggest thing today was a trek with some older teenage girls who are doing some kind of equine course, several of them had plenty of experience but for a few it looked like it was the first time on horseback. Since there were like twelve of them there were three of us with them and I placed myself in the middle of the line with a little bay called Caz, who turned out to be quite a character..

Anyways it was the hr and a half trek (rather than the one hr treck i've been on before) so I got to have a look around another part of the farm, the view from the little mountain top was amazing (I swear I will remember the camera at some point) and in all fairness yes, the hills did scare me a bit, but Caz got me up and down safely (apart from running like a lunatic to catch up with the others and thereby crashing into the hindquaters of Buddy, a slow and fat palomino)---

Heading back we took the river track which, in some places, goes extremely close to the ledge and is ridiculously thin, not a problem while you stay in single file but if something goes wrong well, it gets a bit tricky.

Now by now me and Caz had one horse between ourselves and Buddy whos rider was very unexperienced and for some reason she managed to drop her right rein (the ledge is on the left) so basically we were on the skinniest part of the track, one horse between me and Buddy who's rider was trying to stop him with only the left rein meaning he was turning in the worst possible direction, and she couldnt reach the other rein..

Buddy being the fabulous trekkig horse he is, did stop, but there we were, her gettin off was not an option, I was the only guide clse enough to get to them, hence, slid off Caz very carefully (had about 20cm of ground to stand on) and managed to squeeze her and me past the horse in front and (god knows how cause Buddy is one big horse) Buddy to get his rein. Lol we all survived, I got back on and onwards we went..

Then down in the river Caz decided she wanted to have a splash, and every time we stopped she did her very best to soak me, it was good fun though :D

(And oh, Tinuviel is getting so brave you can actually get close enough to stroke her in the field and she chased the quad to get the feedbuckets lol)

12-13th sept 2009

2009-09-14T10:02:00.000+02:00

12th September 2009
Had the morning off, meaning I could have a chat with my dear bf when it was actually evening back home, it did mean i got up at the same time as usual (quater past seven) but i probably would have anyway, i keep waking up before the alarm (yes thats sad :P )... Also got a lot of important stuff done (like transfering tuition money to uni so i can actually come back) and i am sorry to all of u guys i had to turn down, thing is i get stressed if i got more thn 2 people on the chat while im doing other stuff (yeahyeah i'm slow laugh all u want ;) ), but if u wanna chatt im mostly online early morning (ur time)!

After lunch i helped out tacking up trekhorses for a family trek (6 kids under age of ten and two grownups) and got to come along on the trek itself, rode a cute little bay pony called Irish and led one of the little girls ponnies, a chatty 7 (?) year-old who was a bit nervous and had no attention span to speak of lol but she was a sweet girl and the trek was good fun :D I've stopped (almost ;) ) freaking out when the track goes right over the extremely steep edge of the valley, and going through the river is something that i might never get sick of, its such an amazing location. So far I've only been on slow treks, which I really don't mind, I've been so lazy with riding this summer that I'm just totally out of shape and need all the time i can get to get used to it again lol :P

Back from the trek horses where put back in the field and I finished the stables (poor D had more than twice the work to do in the morning cause two of the people with livery horses werent there and they usually help out a LOT in the mornings), by the time I was almost done the guys brought in one of the breakinghorses to her stable (this is a horse they have transformed from totally wild to ridable in the short time I've been here), and I was ordered to name her something cool cause apparently she's a brilliant horse. LOL, uhm ok...

13th September 2009
So basically I've been debating back and forwards, the mare is a dunn (black/bork för er som talar svenska) and she's really sweet but a bit shy and thats about all I know, hence it wasn't easy; but this morning her name went up on the feed board after mentioning it to one of the guys who laughed and had to try three times to pronounce it but approved lol; so her name is Tinuvíel. (Yes I'm a geek, I don't care its a fab name :P )

Spent all morning mucking out stables cause we were replacing the bedding entirely (sawdust is heavy when wet) and it was hard work but I now have all afternoon and evening off so I don't really care :D

After lunch I walked into town to pick up some absolute essentials (like chocolate ;) ) its about a half-hr walk and the town is tiny, but it has a really good supermarket with good opening hours so it still scores high, I'm not intending to spend a lot of money down here...

I've survived the first week, 39 (273 days) to go (sounds awfully long when I put it like that doesnt it?) But hey I'll be ok, I don't think I could have found a better job and nicer employers, even though its far away... :D

Love u all take care
xxx

(And oh, as for pics I hvnt taken cam out yet and wanna check tht its ok with my boss first so u hv to b patient)

2009-09-11T09:42:00.005+02:00

Its been a looong day and u'd think a girl would be aloud to enjoy a quick look around online before bed but no, Jack (stable cat) disagree's and does all he can to get cuddles and get in the way of my typing, he's lucky hes cute :P

Jack wants attention...

Cookie doesnt mind waitin

But yeah I'm settling in alright, Dee had the day off today so I've been all on my own, in charge of feeding etc :S bit scary and I got close to screwing it up but managed not to in the end :D
So today I mucked out a few stables, did a bit of cleaning in the accomodation block for customers, had lunch, tacked up and moved around showjumpers etc, did the feeding,

omg im so not in the mood for blogging
b bck soon i promise
luv yah all
xxx

9th of the 9th Month 2009

2009-09-09T10:33:00.000+02:00

Wednesday 9th September 2009
Soo short breif on where I am and what I've been up to...

I started working on the Monday, most of the time I'm working with another young girl, Dee, who's been working here a few months. There are 50 something horses on the farm, 4 dogs that run around permanently and a few others that show up now and then, Sazu is the house dog, crazy little jackrussel cross and cutest thing ever :D. There's 4 (?) cats, two goats, two rabbits and some calves.

The yard only has a few stables to muck out as almost all the horses are out in fields permanently, (nice change from a certain other yard (no names mentioned)) There are a few livery horses and some show jumpers but the biggest group of horses is the trekking horses and I'm guessing there are 30 odd of them (all of which we had to de-worm today, lol tht ws a lot of work) and they all go out together. Nice mix of small horses and big ponnies, a couple of little ponnies as well.. So far I've been on three different ponnies Tori, Norwinger and Destiny, all three proper little sweethearts.

The tracks I've seen so far are amazing, there is a river that runs through the farms land and it has cut out a deep valley and its all totally gorgeous :P lol

Anyway, cant be asked to write more now, but as you can here, all is good; please come visit though, miss u all! xxx

Sunday 6th September 2009

2009-09-09T10:05:00.005+02:00

Sunday 6th September 2009
And there I was, some 30 hrs after take-off from Heathrow, going out through the gate at Auckland airport to board my domestic flight, (which was to take me to Rotorua), and at seeing the plane I went “oh no....”. I've been in small planes before, but this is by far the smallest one in what, over ten years? Ever?

Anyway, did climb the pathetic stairs and ducked to get through the pathetic door and made my way through the pathetic aisle to my seat, (there was one chair on each side of the aisle and all together some 12 seats), I was so not impressed and more worried than usual to be honest (no I don't like flying much). Did magane to not freak out during take-off and after a couple of minutes I was actually ok.

And then it hit me. Anyone who's seen me this summer can tell you that I have been dreading leaving, and I will admit that the final weeks up until taking off were filled with terror and total anguish. But as that tiny little plane left the ground and I finally realized that that beautiful landscape below me was New Zealand, I finally did remember why I am doing this.

I love it, I love travelling, and I don't mean the boring 30 something hrs of flying from Heathrow to Hong Kong to Auckland, I mean those moments when you are arriving somewhere completely new, the excitement of having no idea where you are going (yes you might know the name of the destination but you dont know what to expect of it). And the view from that plane (despite partially being blocket by the planes left engine) was amazing, and so different.

Rotorua Airport actually reminded me a lot of the tiny airports I have frequently flew to in north Sweden, managed to find a taxi to get me to the town centre (awsome driver who gave me a quick tour on the way in), and then there I was. I had a couple of hours to kill before my bus was to leave and spent most of that time down by the lakeside where, (yes I am pathetic) I got to see black swans and suddenly felt at home. We left Australia like 10 years ago, but even so the little parts of Australia that you find here in New Zealand do make me feel right at home.

The bus ride was short and I was picked up at the station by my boss; Pauline, (who is absolutely amazing by the way) and we went to the farm, and I was home.

Nerves makin fun of me

2009-08-27T09:31:00.004+02:00

Today, tomorrow, and then I'm off, well, not to NZ but to Wales and then I won't see home for quite a bit over nine months. On some level I think I've come to terms with NZ, I am looking forward to it, problem lies in the leaving, I really don't feel prepared. I've packet practically everything, I'm printing off travel details today etc, visa is ready and so is passport.

But apart from the bags on my floor there is nothing in my room that indicates my soon departure. The room is a tip (its my room what you expect?), there's clothes everywhere and a ton of stuff I have no idea what to do with, two or three unfinished sewing projects are lying around hoping I'll have time tomorrow (by which time everything else should theoretically be ready ;) ) basically, I am far from coming to terms with leaving.

Nine months go so fast (that's what they all keep telling me) and I'll be back in no time, but what is gonna happen in those nine months? How much of my friends and families lives will I not miss out on? Well not miss out on, I will keep in touch, but I wont BE there. I dunno, feels strange.

Off course having nightmares doesn't help especially when one of them involves emergency landing with plane on water right after take-off. Even though I've flown a lot (I'm probably pushing 80 or so take-offs) the take-offs and the landings always scare me though I know the risks are in fact ridiculously low... My brain is so playing tricks on me... And guess what? Its extremely annoying...

Official launch of my NZ blog

2009-08-25T21:45:00.000+02:00

So, here we are; a lot of you have seen at least one similar blogpost from me cause I keep moving my blog (and I know its getting annoying). As usual the old one will be staying up but activity will be moving over here, soo, bookmark this one instead if you wanna know whats going on ;)

For those of you who are new, my name is Hanna, born in sweden, moved around a bit, these days studying at a welsh university and stupidly enough, in january this year I applied for a nine month work-placement in New Zealand. And got it. Silly girl, anyways, I'll be heading there in the beginning of september... And its gonna be great, but leaving is never easy.

Anyways, this blog is where I intend to keep all of yah updated on whats going on cause phonecalls are expensive and timezones are confusing :)