They read horse books, both fiction and non-fiction, and love the idea of riding horses.
But we live in the city. And we're super-busy with everything else that we do. It's just not possible to squeeze in horse riding lessons during the week (unless we stop some other activity).
Our solution was to try a horse riding holiday camp over the summer holidays.
Mama did a bit of research online and found Kate's Riding Centre up near Kerikeri. It looked good (at least to us city slickers) and we booked a 5-day camp for the girls.
The timing and the place were perfect, as Laolao from China was holidaying with us in New Zealand. While Mulan and Miya were staying at the camp, Mama and I would be tour guides for Laolao, showing her around the Bay of Islands. (We were last up there when we had our campervan trip in the winter of 2016.)
We left home fairly early in the morning on Monday the 6th of January, aiming to arrive at the farm by 1pm.
On the drive up we stopped to stretch our legs at Ruakaka. No one else but me cared that it was a special back-to, where I used to go camping every year as a child.
At Kate's farm we had a very relaxed greeting. The mezzanine of the farmhouse was scattered with various mattresses and as the camp kids gradually arrived they (we) took sleeping bags, etc up and organised the beds.
During the week I got the impression that the living environment and caregiver system for the camp kids was mostly free range.
Mama, Laolao and I stayed at the farm for another couple of hours, watching the kids get settled in.
Very quickly they were over with the horses, and we immediately saw that we had chosen the right horse camp. Kate is brilliant in all horse matters and was an awesome teacher to the kids. I felt I could trust Kate completely, and the girls were in safe hands.
Kate really emphasised understanding horses, and using that understanding to be able to connect with the horses in a caring but in-control way. She was great at explaining the reasons for why they do things the way they do.
Prior to this camp the only interactions Mulan and Miya had had with horses was a couple of sit-on and led activities. But here at the camp it was hands-on all the way -- exactly what they were wanting.
No longer needed, Mama, Laolao and I left the farm, driving the short distance into Kerikeri and to our B&B we had booked online.
While the place we stayed at was lovely, the main problem was that it wasn't entirely private. I had thought that we'd booked a granny flat -- a separate unit with two bedrooms, bathroom and living area (plus limited access to the kitchen in the main house). It turned out that the living area that we had was not completely separate from the owner's area, and the owner was often in and out of "our" area. Basically, we had two private bedrooms, but then shared the living/kitchen space with the owner.
Nonetheless, the owner was very nice and the stay was pleasant. Watching wild rabbits on the back lawn was very relaxing.
We stayed here, and the girls stayed at the camp, for four nights. We picked the girls up at midday on Friday the 10th.
Each day we visited the girls briefly for a quick hello and to see the improvements in their horse-skills. But for the most part we left them to it.
Instead, each day we picked a different area and went sightseeing.
On Tuesday we drove over to see Kemp House and the Old Stone Store.
On Wednesday we drove into Paihia and caught the ferry over to Russell.
And on Thursday we went to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Actually, I sat in the carpark reading for a few hours, while Mama and Laolao went into the grounds; I had already been in the grounds enough times.
Laolao loved Kerikeri, and was full of praise for the area the entire time.
And while I completely agree that Kerikeri is amazingly beautiful, I would still not like to live there. My main complaint about Kerikeri is the roads. I hated driving around there -- to get anywhere at all you have to drive, and the roads are often high-speed one-lane-each-direction and no median barriers/islands.
On Friday we got to the farm to pick up the girls just in time to get a few photos of them with their horses.
The girls absolutely loved their stay at Kate's. I think we're decided that we'll return for more camps in future holidays.
On the way home we took the scenic route, driving through Opononi (seeing the statue of Opo the dolphin) and the Waipoua kauri forest. Of course we stopped to see Tane Mahuta.
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