happiest of birthdays to my gorgeous globetrotter
This time last year on May 9 our hearts were stolen by a precious little girl who goes by the name of Finn. Life has been far from dull since she entered the world. Here is a clip of the year gone by with our little globetrotter. Enjoy!
polo at puddle duck farm
With the start of May just around the corner the 2013 polo season is set to start and I must admit I’m getting quite excited at the thought of pelting up and down the polo field on my mares. Its going to be a interesting balancing act this year with Miss Finn in the picture. […]
for the love of alpargatas – the BEST riding and travelling shoes
Don’t be disheartened if you can’t pronounce this peculiar Spanish word – al-par-gatas – all you need to know is they are THE best travelling and riding shoes you’ll need for your next riding safari or holiday. Alpargatas are a jute-soled canvas footwear favored by Argentine’s for their comfort, durability and low cost, pretty much […]
happy shiny people – the Maasai
A lovely client of mine recently shared a moving and powerful video of a young Maasai lady by the name of Kakenya Ntaiya. Kakenya with dogged determination well beyond her teenage years had a dream of becoming a teacher. Persistent as she was to the buck the trend of becoming a child bride, she cleverly […]
patagonia and pisco sours
I first fell in love with Patagonia five years ago on a ten day horse riding holiday to Torres del Paine, Chile [sadly no longer available]. A wild, unkept region positioned at the bottom of the earth shared by Argentina and Chile where mountain peaks are craggy and treeless, rivers flow icy and translucent, the […]
Shared moments
Over summer our family of three has resembled a travelling circus, tripping to South America for six weeks. Five years ago, I fell in love with a particular Argentinean estancia and I was determined to return to show Buster and our baby girl, Finn. It’s hidden within the depths of Patagonia, shadowed by the Andes […]
Streets of Santiago
I had the best intentions to regularly blog throughout our six week Guided Group ride through Chile, Argentina and Brazil keeping you all in the loop of the highs and lows of travelling with a 7 month old and more importantly the horse riding that we were getting up too. BUT thanks to slow to […]
It’s been awhile but we’re back
Why hello blog, I’m sorry I’ve neglected you for the past month or two. It’s disgraceful to think that my last post was at the end of November. I’ve got a relatively good excuse, we’ve been globetrotting around South America for the past six weeks (more on that later). Granted we’ve been back on Australian […]
Finn’s first bike ride
So when we were in Tasmania the other week, Buster was on Daddy day care duty looking after Miss Finn while I road-tested spirited Arabian horses through the Tasmanian bush. Not a bad swap – I hear you say! On one of the days we rode along a sandy track where we spotted wombats and […]
Equitana Melbourne 2012
So we’ve packed up the family (Buster, Finn and I plus Meme – grandma) to Equitana Melbourne to cajole horse enthusiasts, equestrian lovers, camp drafters, polo players on our horse riding adventures. We arrived Wednesday morning for bump in and tarted up our stand (#308 in the Epsom Pavilion if you want to visit) by […]
Apple Isle
This time next week, I’ll be in a complete spin packing for our mini-break to the Apple Isle, (for my foreign friends, I mean – Tasmania). I’ve never visited our southern state and I simply can’t wait to explore a new part of our sunburnt country. Steven, Miss Finn and I are heading south to […]
The Simple Life in Patagonia
At the moment my nights are spent organising, planning and booking our next Globetrotting guided ride to Chile and Argentina at the end of the year. I’m brushing up on my Spanish, thanks to a wonderful collection of podcasts by Notes In Spanish. Granted it’s Spanish from Spain rather than Castellano Rioplatense, which is subtly different […]
globetrotting with a conscience – fashionABLE
Thanks to one of my favourite blogs, La La Lovely, I found out about this clever, warm-your-soul project called FashionABLE. This non-profit particularly struck a cord because of its connection with helping and supporting women in Africa. I have a love affair with the Dark Continent which we visit every year to guide our horse […]
I heart Bali
Last week we sojourned to Bali for five days to celebrate my cousin’s wedding. We stayed at Villa Laut at Padang Padang. Our driver told us Kelly Slater stays at this very same Villa. It made sense as soon as we arrived. It’s a leafy, bespoke villa (the bathroom is bigger than our bedroom at home) […]
Bula Fiji
Woot, Woot! We survived our first overseas trip with miss muppet. Granted it was only to Fiji, a hop, skip and jump away from our home land, but adventurous all the same for new parents that have ‘L’ plates stamped to their foreheads. We left the blistering winter winds behind us, packed to the eyeballs […]
Backward Glance: Trancoso, Brazil
In these bleak winter months where night overshadows day and the rain seems endless I find myself daydreaming of tobasco-hot beach rides. Memories of lazy seaside canters where the salt water licks your skin, after a day’s ride quenching your thirst with a crushingly sweet cider and sultry summer evenings where the sea breeze tickles […]
tack up – argentina
It takes any rider awhile to get acquainted to an Argentinean saddle. Simply described they are a series of sheep or goatskins that act as saddlecloths and the saddle seat (which is super comfortable). There is a wooden tree where the stirrups are attached and the girth is made out of rawhide. When I first […]
Introducing our little globetrotter – Finn
We’re bursting at the seams to share our bundle of joy to the world, who will be joining us on our globetrotting adventures. So, without further a do, here is our little girl Finn, who was born May 9, a day after her Mama’s birthday (yes, I was in labour the day before my birthday, […]
The healing power of horses
“ There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” Winston Churchill Last year I visited my local RDA (Riding Develops Abilities) on the Sunshine Coast. I was fortunate to spend a couple of hours photographing the morning lessons and get a brief glimpse into how the […]
Horse People: Chile’s Baqueano
The man’s face is worn and tanned like a well-loved leather boot. He sits deep in his rustic sheepskin saddle, his feet pushed out to the sides, his stirrups positioned near his heels. Spare spurs attached to the saddle chink in rhythm with the clip of his horse’s shoes on the rocks. A rawhide lasso […]
globetrotting with a conscience
Each year with my Globetrotting clients in tow we make our annual pilgrimage to Kenya for the Maasai Mara guided ride. Before we embark on our riding adventure through the pancake-flat plains of the Maasai Mara, we spend a day playing tourists exploring the dusty streets of Nairobi. The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust situated in the […]