Who Knows?

22 september 2018 - Kenilworth, Australië

Away for so long. And still I dont know where this journey will end. All I know that it has been a crazy one so far and I am doing things I could never have imagined myself doing.

A year ago I was for one month in Australia for the start of my Work and Holiday visa. Thinking I was half way of my original travel 'plan'. I thought, 4 months in Aussie. And here I am.. I have recieved my 2nd visa and I am allowed to stay another year in this country. What means that my hopes have come true! I'll go back to NZ in december for another (4th actually..) summer at NZhome. This time going back to my pony. Not a pony, my pony ;)

I always saw australia as a way to stay close to NZ. A way to earn money so I could keep coming back to NZhome. And dont forget I had friggin nightmares before coming here. Spiders in my dreams almost became a normal thing.. Lucky: all these thoughts changed over time. Because I have an amazing job!
Working with amazing people :)

I ride horses to train for endurance. It is incredible! I am learning, riding and being surrounded by horses all day. Yes we had a huntsman in the showers.. Ive seen a dead redback spider and even the bugs scare me with their huge size..

The other days I guess my nightmare came true.. Me and my coworker were preparing the feeds in the feedshed. Suddenly my coworker starts screaming and dancing. I didnt needed to hear it from her, I knew.. There was a spider on her back. Quickly I checked and I couldnt see it. But then she untied her ponytail and there it was.. A brown huntsman running on her back. 2 girls screaming and dancing.. I got her to stand still and launched the spider of her back with an empty bucket. We calmed down and continued preparing the feeds. And then.. IT happend. And it happend so fast.. While I grabbed a bucket this monster decided to crawl up via my hand on my arm towards my sleeve.. I panicked, screamed and... I killed it! I had a huntsman spider on my arm and crushed it with my other hand :/
When we saw a 3th one only 1 minute later we gave up and fled the feedshed.. Nope, I still dont like them. Yup, I forsure had a nightmare that night..

I have seen snakes. One carpet snake from upclose that gave me a fright but not as much as the spiders. Altho I still prefer seeing them on the back of a horse instead of standing on the ground myself. The redbellyblack from horseback is much easier to handle! I've seen Dingos running through the forest on horseback. (Ok. They call them wild dogs since the only purebred Dingo is only at Fraser Island but it was deff a Dingo cross ;)). The big bats fly around at night and the Kookaburras I hear them laughing everyday. Beautifull parrots fly around all day long and supersize frogs or toats is a normal thing now. Horses getting frights of Wallabies while riding or getting frights of a big lizzard running through the bush.

But then the other day.. Me and my CoWorker Jess were riding together. At some point (we basically ride here every single day..) she says: 'everytime we ride here I am trying to find a koala, since you havent seen one yet!' so I ask a couple questions and realize more and more how hard it is to see one. Most of the time they are curled up in a deep sleep what makes it too hard to see them. I thought to myself that, now that I am thinking about, it will be even harder to see one.. Normally its only spontaneous right? So I look up...
I stop my horse.. No... Way... A Koala is up in the tree looking down at us. I didnt even needed to point it out to Jess. It was way to obvious.. I could even see his head moving so that he could have a better look at us. A Koala!! What are the odds?! We were stunned and my day was made. Later on my boss told me that in the past 20 years he has only seen 2 Koalas in that forest. Yes, we were really lucky!

So seriously, I can't complain! I am happy I have been staying mostly in 'winter' here tho. Less spiders.. Less snakes crawling around. Less muscitos which is also quite a good thing. And winter.. Yeah I know in Europe it has been crazy hot. But seriously, 23 degrees, sunny and dry? Some frosts at night but ones the sun is out its perfect weather! I suddenly love winter time!
For an endurance ride it's a bit chilly tho to start at 6am in the freezing cold.. But 2 hours later I was happy that my endurance-experienced coworker pushed me to only ride in a long sleeved shirt and a vest. Cause it gets warm!
Spring has started now and the warmth and humidity are increasing..

The competitons are just too much fun. Its hard work, but rewarding. Camping, camp fires and riding horses. Or strapping for the riders.. Its addictive!

In august I worked 17 days straight at some point. 2 competitions in a row. Exhausted after, but soo worth it! I've done my 2 more 80km rides! With one of my favorite ponies I got to ride another 80. Ofcorse after a drought of 5 weeks it decided, during my 2nd 80km ride, too rain on that morning. I woke up at 2:30 in the morning and the rain started just then. I finished around 1300 in the afternoon and that was the moment when the blue skies came back. Still, while riding I hardly noticed the rain. Yes I was tired. But riding your horse, making sure he gets through it is just an amazing thing to do. We brought 18 horses and 17 finished succesfull. 2 weeks later I did my 3th 80km: again with Amazing Archer! A beautifull ride starting at noon this time. Finished in the dark. Finishing my 3th one makes me now an Open rider here in Aussie. This means I am officially allowed to do longer distances (up too 160km) and at faster speeds. A goal I had for myself to reach the open status, yay!

I have been here now for 6 months already. I feel lucky to have found this place and to be able to do what I am doing.

But always.. That constant missing.. Missing 2 homes. Its frustrating. And working here, working outside all day. Working with horses. Riding horses everyday.. How do I ever be able to go back to a 'normal' job I wonder.. The tought of being in an office again suffecates me.
Where normally on a weekend I have the urge to be outside, here I don't mind being lazy. Cause the rest of the week I am fysicly working hard. Walking, riding.. I dont know if I could ever come back from this...

When people said 'do what u love and you'll never work a day in ur life', I understand that now. Horses are my passion. I have been afraid that working with them made me loose my passion. I know now that its rather the opposite. My passion is growing, my eagerness to learn is incrising. But it has an expirey date. Like it always had. And it scares me that I am so addicted to this lifestyle. I get to ride endurance here, ride horses everyday. Being outside in the forrest everyday! Do competitions. I get to go back to my NZ family and ride my pony. Work with more amazing horses, learn more. And than.. I get to go back to this job. To australia which has become so much more than just an easy way to NZ. But the whispering voice in the back of my head keeps wisherping to me.. Whats next? What will I do? How do I get to keep doing what I love?

For now I am enjoying my time here. Soo.. In November i'll have a 3 week holiday in HollandHome! Than I'll go to Coruba and NZhome in december after. And after that... I'll come back to this place! I am allowed to come back to work for another season! 1 more year of riding ponies.. It looks like the team we have now will all still be here next season, which is great! It's a privilege to be part of this. Great people, amazing horses; In Australia and in New Zealand. Setting new goals for myself. And after that.. Who knows what could happen..

Love Lieke

Foto’s

5 Reacties

  1. Marjon:
    22 september 2018
    Geweldig Lieke

    Blijf vooral doen wat je het aller aller leukste vind, ook al is dat zo ver weg

    Dikke kus
  2. Paula:
    22 september 2018
    Wederom prachtig verslag over je passie..blijf doen wat je leuk vindt zolang het kan 😏
    Wij zien je weer in november!

    Liefs, Paula 😘😘
  3. Bianca:
    22 september 2018
    Heel gaaf, Liek!
    Geweldig hoe je je passie zo ultiem kunt uitvoeren. Geniet er met volle teugen van!

    Follow your heart!
  4. Lynn:
    25 september 2018
    Lieks!! Wat een verhaal!! Wat een leven! Echt fijn dat je zoveel plezier haalt uit dit werk!! Je hebt natuurlijk niet zo lang in NL maar het lijkt me heel gezellig om even af te spreken! Let me know! XxX
  5. Sanne:
    30 oktober 2018
    SUPER!!