I'm a Yardie

After a tearful goodbye to the folks on Wednesday morning (and them nearly missing their flight... making a habit of it!) I ventured into town and sorted out my visa and bank account etc. and searched for some IT jobs on the net. I updated my CV and applied to a few jobs to gauge the response, and about 6 (incoming!) phonecalls later I had 2 meetings set up at IT recruitment agencies.
I also spotted a horse riding ad in the yellow pages which strongly winked at me, so I phoned them to find out about their rides, prices... and cheekily asked if they were looking to hire anybody soon. The answer was perfect: no they don't hire permanent people, but they have a group of staff who are on call for the weekends, so would I like to sign up? YES please!
I spent Saturday there, learning the ropes - literally, cos they have these funny hook things to which you tie the horses in a special way. They also use Australian stock saddles which are kinda like a hybrid between English and Western, and they fasten totally differently to what I'm used to, so it was quite interesting learning these new ways! I got to lead a 1 1/2 hour beginner trail ride in the afternoon and acquaint myself with the 2500 acres of farmland. One of the guys on the ride was an Aussie Olympic diver who was worried about falling off in case his coach killed him. His mate was born in Durbs but emigrated to SA when he was young. He was supporting the Aussies in the rugby - traitor! And unlucky for him - he backed the wrong side :)
If you want to see pictures, check out: Slickers Horse Riding and if you know anybody in Brisbane who wants to go riding, tell them to come in 2 weeks time when I've graduated from being a Yardie (cleaning, grooming, tacking up etc) to a proper Guide and I'll take them for the ride of their lives! They also do an experienced winery ride - the ride there takes 3 hours and the same route back takes 1. Gee, I wonder why?!! Sounds just up my street!