Day 16: May 3 Trekkers arrive in Tamworth…well almost!
Duri here I come! I am setting off at about 8am this morning I’m 7kms out of Nemingah (North of Tamworth) heading around Tamworth to Duri(roughly a 30km ride today will take me about 6 hours ) and staying with Roma Moss there Monday and Tuesday nights. Roma generously donated cattle last year to our ride4acure cattle sale in Kempsey. I am giving the horses a well deserved day off on Tuesday before setting out for Werris Creek to meet up with Tony Windsor.
The last three days riding along the New England Highway has been incredibly challenging.
There was a huge amount of traffic in particular B-Doubles and semi trailers. My horses went exceptionally well, however on Friday afternoon had a little issue with B-Doubles coming both directions at once and when the one behind me was right beside me it blasted it’s air horn at me! Wrangler (the big chestnut horse) who I was riding got very ‘elevated’ and we put on a bit of a rodeo beside the Highway! Wasn’t too pretty but all survived. I’ve been riding Wrangler for 7 years and he’s never turned it on like that! Truly goes to show given the right circumstances ‘inside every quiet horse there’s a wild one’! After that Wrangler thought every truck was going to do the same and I ended up swapping to riding young Meg (the buckskin) and putting the packsaddle on Wrangler, and they all settled down again. Of course good boy Billy (the bay clydie x) just poked along not worrying about anything. He’s having a week off packing while a ‘hot spot’ on his back heals. Meg is an absolute trooper, the only thing she had a bit of a look at was the ‘horse eating’ white arrows that ‘attack’ when the divided road merges back into single lane! But after a couple of hours she was walking all over them!
I have met so many fantastic people along the way. I have to say how much I’ve savoured meeting up with a few men who have done extensive ‘packing’ in both New England area and the Upper Macleay and who’ve given me some sound advice and much encouragement. Another big thank you to Justin and Kerry Blanche of Armidale for the horse accommodation 4 Star!
I am stoked with how things are going. 15 days on the road and going strong. I have survived some big challenges already. Riding horses along highways is definitely not for the faint hearted. The other clallenges is the different livestock that’s in paddocks right beside the New England Highway. My horses have now had to deal with Alpaca’s, mobs of sheep (coastal horses thinking they’re horse killers!), sheep in shiny white rugs wizzing around a paddock, herds of goats, and a dead deer with big antlers right beside the road just out of Uralla. (If you want some trophy antlers check out the table drain 5 or so kms out of town!) Also saw a nifty looking silver laptop someone had chucked out of their car window!
After Tamworth I’m on lesser grade roads, but do have a couple of stints out on the Newell Highway which is the ‘truck artery’ of inland NSW. But will work with that when that day arrives. On my restday on Tuesday will be borrowing a car and heading back into Tamworth for school visits and to pick up horse feed.
Friday night I stayed with a great family in Uralla Ross, Beryl and Catherine who thanks Ross for ferrying me between the Uralla showground’s and your place with all my horse smelling gear in your clean car! Ross and Beryl had moved to Uralla from Woolgoolga late last year. On Saturday I couldn’t leave Uralla until 8.30am because of a thick New England fog, was saddled up and ready to ride just after 7am. As I had 47kms to ride along the highway to Bendemeer I knew I was going to be in the dark and organised a couple of ‘pilot’ cars to go in front and behind me with their emergency lights flashing to keep me and the horse crew safe (a huge thank you to my eldest sister Yoni and her friend from UNE Catherine). The beauty of this was that for the two hours I rode in the dark I was witnessing the beautiful full moon rising in a sky so clear and full of stars and I felt so incredibly grateful to be alive. I felt so very close to Hannah as this was the eve of Hannah’s 22nd Birthday….I’d left a trail of tears along the side of the highway….the missing in my heart for Hannah is huge….it’s not until the opportunity to see, feel, touch, smell, talk with to build another memory with someone so loved is taken away that I have truly appreciated how much I love and how deeply. The glory is in knowing that Hannah knew that, she felt my love while she was alive and rested in it. The most beautiful words I’ve ever heard in my life is Hannah saying to me over and over in the days leading up to her passing, how much she loved me and saying to me with her lopsided grin, “Mum you really get me…” and I did, from the moment I carried Hannah inside to twenty years later, the moment I let her go….’I got her…’ why I’m sharing this (for those of you who are still reading!) let the ones you love know you love them every single day, care for each other, don’t waste a moment hanging onto stuff that isn’t life giving, make the most of the prescious life you have and the lives that touch yours.
Back to Bendemeer……after a massive day over ten hours in the saddle I had a very comfortable room waiting for me at Bendemeer Hotel, a big thank you to Pat and Pete for that, and Trish for organising it all. Trish had a great paddock right beside the pub with heaps of beautiful local hay and cool clean water. Horses needed no invitation to hook into it. I had, had my cheese sanger at 11am and was sitting down to a homemade pie and salad at about 9pm. When I got to bed after a long very hot shower I was asleep before I hit the pillow! Was awake early, another hot shower to warm the muscles up and thought today for Hannah I’m going to for the 5th time try and get onto Australia All Over to talk about ride4acure and the trek, and got through straight away at 6.30am! Thanks Hannah….I think a few strings were pulled! After the radio interview and feeding the horses ducked up with Trish to Phils shop in Bendemeer for a ripper bacon and egg burger and a coffee then on the road. Again waiting for fog to life.
Yesterday on Han’s 22nd Birthday I rode from Bendemeer down the Moonbi ranges 
(had to go bush along a motorbike track for the first few kms as it was to dangerous to ride along the highway with absolutely no shoulder. I had to come back out on the highway for the last four kms but there was divided road and the going was good. I arrived at Moonbi about 1.30pm and had been invited by the Pony Club to pop in and talk to the kids and parents about ride4acure and the trek. It was fantastic, met some awesome young people who hopefully will get to see again at their schools on Tuesday.
Stayed last night at Ben Coxheads Lucerne farm on the Back Kootingal road ( had my first hours ride off the New England Highway…yee haa… it felt good to be away from the constant traffic noise. I arrived here just after 4pm and the horses again treated to copious amounts off good quality hay! I rubbed them all down, rugged up, nosebags, treated backs, legs etc, rubbing them all down with RapiGel, and treating a bit of swelling on Meg’s front leg from a Wrangler kick (she did bit him on the butt!) I’ve been using the potato poultice to take out the heat and it’s working a treat. On top of all the riding spend at least two hours a day looking after the three horses! I’m nuts about making sure they’re in good form. For all you horse riders out there reading this, an interesting discovery, the old style ‘colour check’ wool saddle blankets/pads, when used directly against the horses back (I also use koda felt saddle pads) keep the horses backs cool. John Burton the saddler in Armidale has a supply of them and I bought 3 to use with each horse in addition to the Koda felt pads and it’s made a huge difference in keeping their backs cooler and dryer! I’m a very happy trekker with this discovery! We used to use colour check wool cloths over twenty years ago, but hardly any saddlers carry them anymore. And then to pick up these rippers with a combination of horse hair and pulverized jute stuffing stitched in- I’m onto a winner. A massive thank you to John for helping me out with a special fitting pad for my pack saddle to give a better ‘muli –fit’ for the pack on all three horses. Of course each of my horses have a different shaped back and I needed to make a few adjustments. Thanks heaps John and Lee from Burton’s saddler in Armidale it was a delight to spend a little time with you both.
Am off down to the horses now at 6am to feed up and get ready for another day. Blessings to all who read this.
Clip Clop over and out …remember…from little things big things grow…..Maura
