May 10th
Quarry Supper
Please come and thank your Quarry for their Stirling work this season and support the hunt, by coming along to the Quarry Supper

Bodle Street Green Village Hall
Tickets: Clare Miles 01323 763063
£15 each incl dinner.
Starts straight after the AGM which will be at 7.30

June 1st
Barons Grange Pony Show

Bullengarook

Hi all,

I thought it about time I sent an update from Oz for those who are interested.

We have all settled in very well and adjusted to our new life down under. This is probably because we found a house quite quickly and once all our stuff arrived from the UK moved in. We are living in an area called Bullengarook which consists of a fire station, a sports ground (with 2 public sand arenas!) and not a lot else. There are quite a few houses, but all miles apart and most are on land and have horses or cattle.

We are on the edge of the State Forest and have unlimited riding which is fantastic as long as you avoid the motor bikes at the weekends. Our local town is Gisborne which has 3 supermarkets, a couple of butchers, bakers and heaps of cafes and clothes shops, but is an eighth the size of Lewes. Consequently there are never queues and parking is free and plentiful!

There is a large cricket club which Dave and Lawrence (1 st hat trick, 5 for 34 off 8 last Saturday for the cricketers amongst you) have joined and it is a very friendly place. I have taken up tennis again after all these years and have met some great people through it. They have persuaded me to play ladies competition which should be fun although I haven’t played comp tennis for about 20 years! I’ve also made some great horsey friends—one of which has already sold me a 3 yr old! Didn’t take long! He is called Oakley and a lovely little horse, very easy so far. He is a Trakener x TB with a dash of Percheron. An interesting mix but has it all there.

Poor old Merlin is still stuck in NSW due to the outbreak of EI. It’s a very long story but he was in the batch at Eastern Creek Quarantine that brought the flu in and has been stranded in Sydney ever since. He was let out of quarantine in September and I am lucky that since then he has been looked after by a fantastic woman who has been really helpful and reassuring. I managed to get him “on the dole” so at least the livery bill is being paid. Hopefully the end is in sight as they seem to be on target to eradicate it by mid March. Because it never got to Victoria it has been impossible to get horses across the border, however they are finally easing restrictions so I am reasonably confident that he will be allowed out soon. Fingers crossed!!! I can’t wait.

Competitions are beginning to start up again and I have entered Oakley in an in hand section at the Royal Melbourne in March. That shows how bored I am coz I really don’t do showing but it will be good experience for both of us. Hopefully there will be some young horse series I can do this winter if there isn’t another outbreak. Hunting starts in May and we have a good local hunt called the Findon. A friend’s father in law was the huntsman until a few years ago. He now just has a few hounds at home and has offered to take me out with them when the weather cools down- what fun! Let’s hope I can remember what to do (and fall off!). At least they don’t jump wire here, most hunt jumps are the same as in England—no hedges though unfortunately.

Everything else is fantastic. The pace of life is slower and the people here are just great, so welcoming and they go out of their way to make you feel at home.

Lawrence starts school and after a long break is a bit apprehensive but looking forward to making new friends and using the little grey cells again.

Adam is off to the ANU (Aus National Uni) in Canberra in February to read Maths (don’t blame me!) and looking forward to that, so life is sorting itself out for the kids too.

Dave is keeping busy, the house and land need heaps doing so there is never a quite moment. We have the odd road trip and go exploring, there is so much to see and Victoria is a beautiful state with so much space and gorgeous scenery. We count ourselves very lucky indeed.

I hope you are all having a great season and not getting too wet!

Love to all,

Ruth

PS. There are some photos on http://pictures.wwwebb.co.uk