The Inter Pacific Exchange!!!

Picture and video montage of our trip

Goodbye Australia!

To our ever dedicated fans, first off, thank you so much for your continued support throughout our trip! It was a trip of a lifetime for all of us and we have so many people to thank for making it possible. This will be our last blog for the team, and we’ll walk you all through the Nations Cup weekend.

        Saturday morning we awoke and joined the other countries for an outdoor hot breakfast prepared by Australia! It was a great way to kick off an exciting weekend, and a good opportunity to remember that no matter the outcome of the Nations Cup, we are united as Pony Clubbers. So after a large sum of bacon and egg sandwiches, toast and vegemite, hot tea, and OJ, we were on our way to Vakarra Park, owned and operated by the Ansell family and location of the Owners’ Round and Nations Cup. The Owners’ Round gave us a great opportunity to watch Nations Cup picks jump around with his/her owner before we had a team schooling ride in the afternoon.

        Our afternoon schooling went beautifully and we all came home extremely happy with our horses and very excited about the next day. We spend the evening having a nice pizza dinner with the other countries, cleaning tack, and packing for the Nations Cup. Around 10:30pm us four riders hopped in bed together for one last team huddle cuddle. Finally, after team mom Amber tucked us in tight, sleepiness fought off our excitement and we passed out in a deep sleep.

        Sunday dawned warm, sunny, and full of energy. Alexa and Ann braided manes while Reesie and Amanda bathed horses and cleaned tack. By 11:30am the horses were shining from head to toe and nearly as excited as we were. Coach Janna lead us on a step-by-step course walk and helped each of us decide the best plan for our horses. Being on a more green horse, Ann walked some outside turns and straight approaches while Alexa, who drew an excited jumper, walked the inside short turns.

After a good lunch we got on our horses for the first round. USA drew the 5th position which meant our first rider, Reesie, got to watch 4 horses go ahead before she went in the ring. Reesie and Flair jumped a beautiful clear round to start us off. Next in the ring was Ann and Echo, who had a beautiful round going until they had an unfortunate elimination at the first element of a one stride. Amanda and Tommy kept the team strong by jumping a solid clear round. Alexa and Rosie were the final pair to go in the first round; Alexa piloted Rosie around beautifully but tapped 2 rails in just the right way that they unfortunately dropped to the ground. The second rounds yielded 2 more rails for the team and a 3rd place overall finish. We would like to extend a congratulations to Australia for winning the 2013 Nations Cup in their home country after a very exciting jump-off between them and the Kiwis.

We had a very nice formal dinner back at the Ivory Palm and then enjoyed a video courtesy of Michelle, the Australian chaperone. The next few hours were spent swapping team gear and accessories until each of us ended up with at least one thing from every country represented on the exchange. While it was hard to say goodbye to the amazing friends we made during the 2013 Inter-Pacific Exchange, we know that they are lifelong friends and that we’ll always have a home in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Canada. The flights back home were bittersweet, full of jokes and memories but some hard goodbyes. We look forward to hopefully reunioning in Aiken 2014!

We would like to take a moment to thank all of the owners who volunteered their horses and personal time for both the Nations Cup and the Kangaroo Cup. People drove from up to 1,500km away to bring their horses for the Nations Cup! This competition would not have been possibility without all of the generosity extended to the Inter-Pacific Exchange. Lastly, a big thank you to Carol Paterson for organizing the trip of a lifetime for us. Here’s to the best Inter-Pacific Exchange (not that we’re biased)!

Our Experience of a Lifetime on Fraser Island

Hey y’all, Reesie from the team here! Today, we were in for a real treat on our last “free day” in Australia before the competition prep begins. We had the privilege of touring the beautiful and unique Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world! No kidding, it is a giant 75-mile-long by 16-mile-wide slice of The Land that Time Forgot, composed entirely of sand.

We set off at 6:30am (ouch!!) in the tour bus and enjoyed an about 1 1/2 hour ride through the pastoral countryside. We were enlightened by our wonderful tour driver’s commentary on the history and botanical life in the area. Casey was very knowledgeable and always had something interesting to tell us about what we were seeing. We had our eyes peeled for the wild Brumbies in the area, but sadly they were hiding today.

We arrived at Rainbow Beach and proceeded to drive onto the deep sand in order to get to the ferry which would carry us to the island. We were off to an inauspicious start when our bus got bogged down in the sand only a few feet into the trip, but things only went up from there! After a fellow tour bus pulled our ride out, we loaded onto the ferry and made our way onto the island. Casey mentioned to us, “This is unlike any offroading you’ve ever done.”

Yeah, no kidding.

We were literally driving in the surf!! It was a little harrowing in the morning tide conditions, since the sand was very soft, thus making it difficult for the vehicle to navigate, but Casey kept it all under control with his driving prowess – continuing to narrate to us all the way!

We stopped by a beautiful fresh water stream right on the beach for our morning tea. We learned that the island basically acts as a giant filter, and whatever water falls on the island is absorbed into the mass of sand, then perspires out into the ocean when the water table is full. We all took a sip of the water. It was crisp (which is one of Amanda’s favorite words, by the way,) cool, and clean!

After our tea, we ventured into the middle of the island, discovering a resort town built right off the beach. We then began our travel toward Lake McKenzie, one of the purest freshwater lakes on the planet. We learned that there are virtually no fish making their home in the lake; the water is actually too pure for marine life, thanks to the filtration of the sand taking out all nutrients! Our team had a blast frolicking in the crystal clear water.

The USA team and friends from New Zealand and Canada enjoying the clear, cool water of Lake McKenzie.

After a delicious lunch grilled up and served by the Adventure Tour staff, we made our way further into the forest and stopped off to walk in the native rainforest. Here we found several plants unique to the island, and breathtaking scenery. Drifting silently through the middle of the forest was a beautiful river. It was so clear, you could see every detail of the sand beneath the water, but you couldn’t hear it as it snaked through, since there are no rocks. Totally wild!!

The silent river in the rainforest. No, it’s not murky, it’s perfectly clear!

By the time we had to leave the island in the afternoon, the tide had receded a bit and made the beach much firmer. Therefore, Casey picked up the speed in the magic tour bus and we flew down the coastline at about 50-60 miles per hour. That was definitely an experience in and of itself!

Next stop was the remarkable multi-colored sand dunes of Rainbow Beach. They weren’t lying when they named it Rainbow Beach. The pinks, oranges, reds, and tans in the sand (caused by varying levels of iron oxide) looked like swirls of sherbet. If it were possible, the experience became even more unforgettable when the sun began to sink, silhouetting the sandy cliffs along the beach. Making it even better, we got to enjoy afternoon tea with delicious Lambington pastries! Mm-mm!

Team USA with the colorful sands which give Rainbow Beach its name.

Sadly, as the sun began to set, we had to make our journey back home. I wasn’t looking forward to having to leave the beautiful Australian coastline behind. Well, believe it or not, we didn’t have to part ways just yet. Yep, we DROVE back on the beach, almost all the way back to Noosa! Along the way, we spied a lot of people camping out on the shoreline. If we get the chance, we are definitely coming back to this place to watch the sun and moon rise over the ocean!

Although I have said it before on this trip, I will say it again, this time with finality. This has been THE most fantastic, amazing, astonishing, incredible, unbelievable experience of my life, and I think my teammates share my feelings about this day. Australia is the most beautiful, unique place I have ever seen. The things we saw today were pages right out of National Geographic. Except, we were actually living it!

I can’t think of a better way to spend our last free day in this country. We are all in great spirits, loving life, and our team, and our chaperone/coach JAMBER!! We can’t wait to get started with the Nation’s Cup competition this weekend. Tomorrow, we are test riding the horses assigned to us, and Sunday, the competition kicks off.

Wish us luck!

Til next time,
Reesie & Team USA!

Skirmish

Hello again!  It’s me, Alexa, checking in after another fantastic past couple of days here in Noosaville, Queensland.  On Wednesday, all of the US riders enjoyed a “friendly” game of “skirmish” more commonly known by those of us from the States as a game of paintball.  We enjoyed our morning breakfast in the Australian house before catching the charter bus to the Skirmish Sunshine Coast center.  We were only able to play one round, but I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we had an absolute blast in that short span of twenty minutes.

With barrels full of eighty paintballs, the US team with help from a few other country members, stormed down the hill toward the yellow team in hopes of getting the flag that they were holding captive on an old army truck.  Ann and Reesie took the lead, as Amanda and I stayed back to gather our surroundings.  By the end, we were all gathered in the bottom corner ducking behind trees, tires and boards while attempting to scare off many of the other team’s players.  Ann will forever be remembered for her edgy style of play that included ducking while shooting furiously in the direction of any yellow team player.  Those moves kept her safe, and eventually earned her the Kamikaze award by the “skirmish” director.  She sadly ran out of paintballs and had to make her way to the top of the hill, but Ann, Reesie and I cornered the yellow teams final player and forced him to walk to the top of the hill with his gun in the air.  Everyone but Ann was hit at least once, and it was fun to examine each other’s “wounds”.  My “hits” included a headshot, and two shots to my facemask among a few on my body… darn being too tall for the barriers.  I’m glad to say that we all made it out alive (and I think Jamber is too)!

After our skirmish, we had a few hours of free time to walk around the shops and grab a bite to eat at the local pub.  On our way home we stopped at a flea market that was closing up.  Everyone had a blast looking around at all of the neat items, and when we loaded back onto the bus everyone was talking about how they could have easily spent the day there.  It was really neat to see how flea markets worked here in Australia.   We finished the night up with dinner, and were looking forward to the Thriller Boat Ride that was on the agenda for Thursday.

Ann and I were on the early boat ride, so we arrived at the Noosa Thriller Boat rides dock at 9:45.  We were all dressed with funny life vests and put on a boat with bouncy balls as seats.  It sounds quite goofy, but they really helped absorb any shock from the boat landing hard off of a wave.  We made our way out of the Noosa River to the ocean, and were given a tour of Noosa’s coast while being exhilarated by fast turns and leaps over big waves.  Several of the people from other groups saw dolphins and whales, but I think that they were still sleeping when Ann and I were out.  It was an amazing time!  After the boat ride, we walked around Noosa, and finished up by hanging out at the pool.

We’ve been having great team relaxing and bonding over the past few days, and we have one final day of fun before the Nations Cup this weekend.  Tomorrow is our trip to the biggest sand island in the world.  I know we are all pretty excited, and truly can’t wait to find out what the day has to bring.  Talk to you all again soon.  Thanks for keeping up with our journeys!

Love always,

Alexa & Team USA

Farewell Warwick and Hello Sunshine Coast

Ann again…updating you all on the past few days! Yesterday we were out to see a working draft horse farm. There were about 15 horses on the property ranging from about 4 months to 22 years old. We started off with a quick wagon ride courtesy of two beautiful full drafts. Hands down the best part of the wagon ride was the 4 month old baby running in front of the wagon! We then got to watch the stallion turn a wheel that ground vegetables. The property had at least 30 different draft horse operated machines on it, how cool!

For lunch we headed up to a beautiful waterfall in the mountains. America went on a little excursion up and down the mountain and found the falls. I think we made JAMBER nervous when we wanted to look over the edge… We wrapped up lunch by feeding the wild birds straight out of our hands. Annalise even had a bird land in her hair! The whole adventure took us well into the afternoon so we only had about 2 hours of free time when we got home before dinner at the Horse & Jockey across the street from out hotel. By far my favorite part of the day was the evening of line dancing. Despite developing a shin splint in a right shin, I got really into the dancing. Apparently if my career in Computer Science fails and I can’t ride professionally, I do have a future in line dancing.

This morning we got up early for a 9am departure from Warwick bound for Noosa. On the way we stopped at Horseland tack shop. I found myself a nice pair of spurs since I broke mine during the Kangaroo Cup. Apparently Pony Club is correct when they say that you can’t see metal breaking! For lunch we stopped at Esk Bakery for pies. Amanda enjoyed a delicious curry pie 🙂 We finally pulled into The Ivory Palms Resort around 5pm. Team America has our own 3 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom, and small kitchen house! We are looking forward to a few evenings of team bonding before the Nations Cup!

Tomorrow = PAINTBALLIN’

 

Thank you Warwick Pony Club!!!

Amanda here! We had an excellent time yesterday with the fantastic Warwick Pony Club. We woke up around 7 and hopped on the bus around 8:15. We were expecting another long bus ride, but about 10 minutes later we pulled into the Morgan Park complex. This place is not just your average show grounds. It is home to dirt biking, drag racing, driving, pollocrosse, sporting cars, and the Queensland International 3* event.

We drove into the riding grounds to find about 30 horses and ponies waiting for us. Tammy Bondfield, who was an Australian rider on the last Inter-Pacific Exchange, went above and beyond to round up these horses. We are so grateful for all the generosity that has been demonstrated by Australian Pony Clubbers on our trip! Many owners were off at shows or had other plans, but they were kind enough to lend out their horses anyway. 

We had picked horses names out of a hat the night before. There was some under the table swapping involved (one of our tallest riders drew a 13.2 hand pony… Probably not the best fit) but we eventually ended up with suitable mounts. I was supposed to be riding a 3 year old gelding named King, but I ended up switching with one the Australian riders who has an injured arm, because apparently King is actually one of the quietest and calmest of the bunch! I was given an 11 year old eventing mare named Katie, who was a bit wild at first but settled down when we let her go out with her stablemate Billy. I was given instructions not to point her at any of the jumps, because once she has her eye on something she will do anything to jump it! I did consider “accidentally” pointing her at a jump… 

We set out in 2 groups for a trail ride/ exploration of the cross country course. They run horse trials from beginner novice through 3*, and had some pretty impressive complexes. I would have loved to bring my horse for a day of schooling! Part of the course is actually right next to the drag racing track, but none of the horses seemed to mind the cars whizzing by or the sound of the motoring engines. 

After mid-morning “tea” we left the park and returned to the hotel. That same afternoon we walked over to the Australian Pro Rodeo Headquarters, which is right around the corner from where we are staying. They took us on a tour of their museum, and then to the back where they were actually backing bulls. We watched some young cowboys attempt to sit huge bucks by some very angry bulls. It made me really appreciate how well behaved my horses are. Some of our riders were asked to practice roping a fake cow. Our chaperone Amber showed everyone how it’s done by getting it on her first try! Later they treated us to a delicious barbecue. 

Today we are off to see some draft horses and have lunch at a waterfall. Sounds terrible, right? 

Aussie Pastimes

Hi all; it’s Ann again! Reesie, Amanda, and I started off the morning at 7am with a run down by the river. Sound nice? It was 34 degrees and NOT sunny! After some warm showers, we headed off to learn about sheep shearing, which appeared to be a pastime for the Aussies. We got to watch three sheep loose their nice warm coats in near record time and then enjoyed some tea and cookies in the barn. On our way out of the farm we enjoyed a nice view of wild Kangaroos running across the property! Apparently kangaroos are overpopulating like deer in the States.  

We had the afternoon off so the team went out to lunch and then went to see “The Heat,” a movie about two female cops, during which I only jumped once! After the movie Reesie and Amanda went for another run (I know, they’re crazy), and the rest of us took a long stroll by the river. We wrapped up the day with dinner and a fun game of Minute to Win It with Leesie and Tammie, who rode for the Australian team in the 2011 New Zealand IPE trip. We had a blast watching JAMBER fling marshmellows off a plate and into a cup, Reesie blow over cups with air from a balloon, Alexa pull tissues out of a box as fast as possible with one hand, and Amanda use her trunk (a stocking with a tennis ball) to knock over 10 cups. I just had to bounce ping pong balls out of a tissue box tied to my back, during which I failed miserably.

Now we’re off to bed so we can get a good night’s sleep for an early trail ride and afternoon BBQ at the rodeo! Thank you to Tammie and Leesa for organizing the horses for the trail ride; they even found enough horses so that JAMBER could come with us!!!  

Farewell Runaway Bay!

Hey there, Reesie checking in! It’s my turn to give y’all an update on our amazing journey Down Under. Yesterday, we returned to Surfers Paradise for an afternoon of touring, putt-putt golf, and much to Ann’s joy, frolicking in the beach! Amanda and I got temporarily lost in the town searching for Montezuma’s Putt-Putt, but we both agreed; what better place to get lost than a beach town in Australia?!

Later in the evening, we donned our suave formal jackets again and experienced the famous Outback Spectacular. Prior to the show start, we got to meet some of the horses (aka, stars) of the show, and mingle with a few of the riders as well: Benny and Nic. They were very friendly… and good-looking. That seems to be the norm of most Australians. The show was an incredible tribute to the role horses have played in the development of Australia, complete with a tribute to the great racehorse, Phar Lap. It was unlike any dinner show I have ever seen, definitely another once in a lifetime experience!

Today, we bid farewell to the Runaway Bay Sports Center after spending nearly a week enjoying their sport fields, nearby mall, and bountiful breakfast and dinner buffets. This morning we packed up our massive pile of luggage and threw it onto our bus, and set off for Warwick. The views of the landscape as we traveled were absolutely breathtaking. Midway, we stopped for a tour of the Washpool Lodge training stables. It was neat to get an up-close and personal tour of a prestigious racing farm. The Australian thoroughbreds are so different-looking than the ones back home, a bit on the beefier side. There were definitely a few I wouldn’t mind bringing home!

We’re now settled in our rooms at the Jackie Howe Motel, looking forward to learning about how sniffing dogs are trained.