Horse riding

We've just got back from our final summer holiday travels.

For the past five days we've been up in Kerikeri, as the girls were on a horse riding camp.  It was the same as we did last year, at Kate's Riding Centre.

We dropped Mulan and Miya off at the camp midday Monday, and picked them up midday Friday.

From all reports it was again very good.  Mulan and Miya continue to improve in their riding, and both are still loving it!  The main downside this year was that there was about twice as many kids at the camp, and some of them were quite young (maybe too young?), so the girls didn't get as much time with the horses as they did last year.

Meanwhile, Mama and I stayed at a very comfortable airbnb flat, about 15 minutes drive from the farm.

We could lie in bed listening to the birds and watch the sun rise, and then it was a few minutes walk down through the bush to the private beach.

Mama did a couple of walks, and tried out the kayaks.  I read two books.

On Thursday we checked out the site of New Zealand's first Christian mission settlement, which was set up in 1814.  We had a sunny day, and it was a pleasant two-hour walk-and-sign-read, learning the history of the area.  But according to the NZ History link, it is pretty bleak at other times.

On Friday we wandered around Aroha Island.  If we decide to have another summer at Kate's, we may bring our tent and camp there.

Normal life is starting again tomorrow, with most of our scheduled activities starting in the next few days.