| Here's
me saddled up (the horse I mean) and ready to put my
51 year old backside
through its paces - or so I rather foolishly thought!
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Below
is my riding mate, Lauren Trenkner, who appears a little
skeptical about having
me as a riding companion. You see - Lauren actually
IS an endurance rider!
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This
is Jack - our trusty guide. Why is it that the guide
always gets the best horse?
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Here's
the three of us "heading out" at a blistering
pace for the jungle ahead!
Below
is a local community living in the jungle. We stopped
and asked permission to
take a few photos. I don't think the little pikininies
had ever seen a digital camera as
when we showed them their picture, they all squealed
with delight and excitement.
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Often
as we were riding through thick jungle (where we never
expected to find any other
human life) we would come across locals like this mother
and child below, going about
their normal, everyday business of gathering nuts, fruit
or attending to their bush gardens. |
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| Here's
Jack taking a break and laughing at me........as I'm too
sore to dismount! |
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As
we were riding through a dense thicket, this little fellow
was high up a tree. I think
he was just playing and honing his climbing skills (no
ropes or anything). As you can
see, he gave us a great big smile and a "thumbs up"
- marvellous! |
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| Here's
a local lad with his bush knife, bow and arrows. He kindly
posed for us. |
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| Thank
God the snakes are not poisonous - it's hard to tell the
hut from the grass! |
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Even
when you eventually emerge from the jungle onto the ash
plains of Mt. Yasur,
you've still got a bit of riding to do. Jack and Lauren
have taken off at full gallop
and I'm trying to decide if I'm stupid enough to do the
same! |
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Finally,
we reach the base of the rear side of Mount Yasur - time
to head off to find
our accommodation for the night (and a cold Vanuatu Tusker
beer). |
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Below
is our Tanna Resort-style accommodation and I thought
the horse ride was
dangerous! Oh, and as there was no fridge - alas, so there
went my cold Tucker!! |
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