Saturday, October 9th in Oz, the weather was clear and crisp, the sun was shining and it was a perfect day to be on a horse. Josh and I drove out to the Newton’s to meet Kaylie for a ride. Kaylie and her brother Cyle breed and train outstanding Australian Stock Horses to use for Polo Cross, which are all ideally mares. It was so good to be on a horse, although I’ve become complacent in my riding, in my Western saddle, atop my Quarter Horse gelding who knows better than to think on his own and who I have taught to move in soft collected Pleasure Horse strides on a loose reign, the complete opposite of what makes a good Polo Cross horse. While nothing was familiar, everything was the same. However, the saddles may take a little getting used to. On the way back, we rode past gorgeous fields of yellow canola flowers and grain, when suddenly our horses saw something we did not. Josh was the first to see him, a Brown Snake. Australia’s native Brown Snake is the world’s second most venomous snake, and is considered to be the most deadly due to its highly aggressive nature.
If you know me, you know I am not a fan of snakes, okay, I kind of have a huge phobia, but this day, I was calm. The Brown Snake, which is not so brown at all, passed on the road in front of us and continued on his way.
Sunday Mette and I made the two hour drive over to Melbourne in order to do a little shopping and get out of Shepparton when the opportunity presented its self. Mette came by the house to pick me up but when we were ready to leave, Herby, Mette’s car wouldn’t start. Herby is a pale blue four door sedan, with mismatch paint which has faded in the sun from years of misuse. We sat in the driveway while Mette begged and pleated with Herby in her pleasant Danish accent, calling him by name and asking him please not to do this each time she turned the key, to no avail. Herby is sick, she proclaimed.
In an unsuccessful attempt not to laugh, I suggested we take Ruby. Ruby, while also a piece of shit car, was a luxury sedan compared to Herby. Mette named the 16 year old, maroon, four-door Commodore Holden we paid 38 hundred bucks for; Ruby, it was a perfect name for a ruby red grandma car in mint condition.
When we were finally on our way to Melbourne, Little Roo settled into his place on Ruby’s center console and took a nap in the Sunday sunshine. Mette had directions to the Rip Cirl surf shop, where she wanted to buy sunglasses. She navigated and I drove, we successfully navigated through street trolleys, roundabouts, hook turns, one illegal u-turn and a backwards parking garage. Unfortunately Mette is no help when it comes to driving on the left side of the road because she too is out of her element; Denmark has the same ‘keep right’ driving policy as America. Two blond foreign girls and one small white dog finally arrived safely in downtown Melbourne without incident and also without a dog leash.
The shopping in Melbourne reminded me of shopping in LA, posh outdoor shopping and also dog friendly. Roo was welcome in every store, some of which even had dog water bowls by the door. Mette found sunglasses and luckily, I found a dog leash in an unlikely store, similar to Victoria Secret, hot pink leather or not, it was better than carrying him.
We were then in search of a place along the busy sidewalk to sit in the afternoon sun, enjoy a beverage and people watch, when we came to an open air pub with sidewalk seating and good music. All of the seating on the sidewalk was taken, but little Roo pulled through for us. Two nice guys sitting at a large empty table stopped us to pet Roo and ask what kind of dog he was. I asked if they minded sharing the table with us, they agreed and even offered to mind Roo while we went in to order drinks from the bar. I handed one of them the hot pink leash with the small white dog on the end with a smile, and went to fetch drinks.
James and Michael were from Melbourne and were also out to enjoy the Sunday sun, have a beer and people watch, they were waiting on their friend Justine to join them. We could not have met three nicer people. We had a great time talking about culture, Australia, Melbourne, The US, Denmark, dogs, babies, advertising, surfing, and beaches to name a few. When it was time to head home, we exchanged contact information with our new friends and were once again, on our way.
Josh called earlier in the day, when Mette and I were half way to Melbourne, to let me know he had received an invite to ride in the mountains where Angus McKinnon lives. Angus is the renowned Equine Reproduction veterinarian at Goulburn Valley, he is good friends with Dave Frisbie DVM, who’s high recommendation got Josh the internship there. He lives on several thousand acres in the mountains where Man From Snowy River was filmed. I’ve seen the movie, it’s gorgeous.
It was dark when Josh came through the door, and I could tell he had had a great day. In an attempt to hold back his enthusiasm, trying not to rub it in too much, he told me the ride in the mountains today had made the entire trip worthwhile, that he even got to ride in a Western saddle. They rode along side kangaroos while they were jumping, saw a wallaby, “The wallaby was dead, but still cool”, he added.
“The only thing that would have made the ride complete is if I would have been able to pop a whip, like Jim, on Man From Snowy River, but Angus said my horse didn’t like whips. Oh yeah, and if you would have been there, of course.”
They are going on another ride this Sunday, but I had already planned to go surfing with Mette, decisions, decisions.
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