Day 73: Wild West day! Gold panning and horse riding

Tuesday 16th February 

Gold mining (found a tiny flake), horse riding on a psychopath, then pub chat with the local farmers.

Distance: Bus, 200km

Total Distance: 11305km

Another early start so we could get to a small gold mine run by an old Australian and a few backpackers. A few bits for our barbecue lunch were bought, including some kangaroo meat. Kangaroo tastes like beef but has to be medium rare at most. Cooked for any longer it becomes too tough. It's also cheaper than beef so a lot of people use it as a substitute in meals such as stir fries.

At the mine we had a practice using pans whilst looking for crystals from some local dirt. After lunch we moved on to gold dirt. We cleaned out the soil, swirled the pans, and I found a tiny flake! It's not much, but it was a start. Others found small nuggets and flecks, but my luck was out. I can sheep shear, I can't pan gold. We kept what we each found. The mine owner showed us some of his finds, from flecks to some big chunks. There's 3 million dollars under his house, about 1000 ounces. It'll take a while to get through but he's in no rush enjoying the outdoor lifestyle.

We went on to Bangara, a small township of farmers. Here there's a stables which helps breed and train horses for the New South Wales police, apparently. The horses weren't as big as the ones I've seen the British police use.

The girls each got given a horse first. With one guy not doing it there were only two guys left to place.

"Who's feeling adventurous?", of course my hand went up, "ooh, me!"- I am such a child at times.

"You can have Meg then, she's a bit feisty, likes to be at the front.

The next two hours were spent trying to control my mount, stopping her getting ahead of the group leaders and preventing her getting so close to the horse in front that she might receive a kick or not see one of the holes or branches on the tracks. We steadily got the hang of one another and towards the end I let her out for a wee canter. She seemed happy enough at the end, hanging around for a scratch and pat.

On the trek we followed the river down, crossing it twice. Half way along we were invited in by some locals. They'd rescued 3 young koalas and kept them in a small enclosure in the backyard. One was under the umbrella eating as we arrived, looking very confused as 14 horses arrived to stare at it. The koala's mates were both at the top of one of the enclosures trees, barely visible. They were quite big for youngsters, maybe the size of a large cat.

That evening we all hung out with the locals in the pub, where we were staying.  Our guide and I paired up to take on the whole pub at pool. He's much better than me, but I kept up at times so came out winning. Afterwards I taught some of the girls to play and set them up playing against the locals-which was fine until someone potted the black instead of her last ball. Good fun. We had a few more drinks, took it outside, and I chatted life and farming with a few farm hands and managers as others tried to chat up the girls. This went on for so long that the pub doors were locked behind us! Thankfully as I rattled a door in drunken optimism my room mate was passing to let me in. I could have gone back to get the last two girls in, but they seemed to be happily getting on exceedingly well with the locals. I left them to it. They'd find a way in if they needed to.

Day 49: Ride of the Rings!

Saturday 23rd January

Let's go ride horses! Had to do it at some point and a Lord of the Rings (and many othe films) tour seemed the best opportunity. The Dart Stables have many horses used in various films, the local area being used for a significant amount of filming.

Distance: Bus, 50km, Land Rover Discovery, 20km, Clydesdale McLeod, 8km

Total Distance:  5519km

The weather isn't predictable here, but it is plentiful. Today's weather was occasional downpours, with the odd flash of sun. There was some uncertainty as to whether we would ride for a while before there was enough of a break to give it a try.

Thankfully my sister and various stables have given me some training in horsemanship so I wasn't a total novice. Still, I want going to go on the 3 hour gallop though. Instead I went for the 1 hour ride, which would be followed by an hour in the shiny Disco down the valley to see where Boromir died and Wolverine's wife was found unconscious, as well as Saruman's vale and Beorn's home.

McLeod, an 8 year old Clydesdale was mine for the morning. He's the youngest of their herd of 60, not very big for a Clydesdale, bottom of the pecking order, whilst also being the greedy guts of the outfit. Hence the need for me to yank his head away from the foliage we passed so as to tell him who's boss. He wasn't best pleased at first, but we got to know each other over the hour.

We were taken around part of the valley by an English girl leading us through ice cold streams and across the pastoral lands. About us were the grand mountains and forests of Middle-Earth, Narnia, and Wolverine's Canadian life. W passed by a few older horses used in Lord of the Rings and Narnia. 

It was depressing to be told that the Lord of the Rings was filmed here 17 years ago and most of the horses in it are either dead or well into retirement. It's logical, but still sad. Also, I'm only 25, and that fact make me feel old. 17 years. Blimey.

Just as I figured McLeod out (and had a tiny trot to catch up the group) we were back at the stables. 

From here I was the only one on the part of the tour involving the 4x4 trip through the rivers and streams down into more of movie land, including the region known as "Paradise"- there's even a sign. Thankfully my driver was a great guy who I'd been chatting with as he drove the bus all the way from Queenstown. 

As we drove he told stories of both the filming here. 

Sean Bean hates helicopters, he walked for hours to the top of a mountain dressed as Boromir whilst everyone else flew for the scene when he picks up the ring as Frodo drops it.

Liv Tyler hates horses, so she sat for 10 minutes on a horse someone was holding and the rest was done with stunt riders or close ups of her on a barrel decorated to look like a horses trunk. 

When Prince Caspian was filmed here the big black horses brought from Australia wouldn't cross the ice cold rivers, so for those scenes they were swooped out for some of the stables horses. In the film you can see it as the horses are smaller and one suddenly develops a white star. 

Much of Wolverine was filmed here, mixed in with Canada. At times they are driving on NZ roads but as if they were in Canada. However, at filming and post production they didn't remember NZ drives on the left, and there are a lot of signs to remind the tourists. Scenes such as when the old couple who lake in Logan drive over a long bridge still retain the Kiwi signs and arrows on the road.

The weather still wasn't improving, and the rain came in with the clouds that blanketed the tops of the mountains, so the views weren't perfect. Has to be said though the reality never looks like the film-  a huge amount gets changed at the time of filming and postproduction, such as different horizons, or moving rocks and plants. Plus it's been 17 years since LotR was filmed- between storms, floods, landslides, earthquakes, and time things have changed.

I got back into Queenstown and visited The Fat Badger- the best pizza place in the area. Afterwards I investigated the few art galleries I'd been told to explore, before sitting on a wall in the afternoon sun to watch some street magic. 

Everyone had left when I woke up. Apparently I'd missed most of the show due to the comfortable spot I'd found. Sleepily, I headed back to the hostel, finding someone I'd met on Stewart Island there for a good catch up and tea.