New Zealand's South Pacific Beach Ride

Day 1: You will be picked up from Gisborne airport and driven up the coastal road which runs along the south Pacific coastline, ducking inland here and there among the native New Zealand bush (forest). You will arrive at Puketiti Station (a station is a farm which is over 2000 acres in size). As you are driven into the station you will pass the woolshed (where the sheep are shorn), shearers cookhouse and living quarters, then follow a tree shaded drive which suddenly bursts open to reveal the magnificent double storied, many roomed homestead, built in the early 1900s.You will feel as though you are stepping back in time. This is where you will be staying. After relaxing and enjoying refreshments you will meet the horses, and have a 'getting to know you ride', in a small paddock in preparation for the next few days intensive riding.

Day 2: After breakfasting you will saddle up for a days riding around the 2400 hectares of Puketiti Station. Puketiti farms sheep and beef cattle. The terrain is steep and changing but very fertile. Because of the steep country, horses are vital for the operation of the station as there are many places where a vehicle can't go. You will get a good idea of how the farm operates at the same time as experiencing the things that make New Zealand unique. The Punga trees, Cabbage trees and native birds abound. You will picnic lunch on the airstrip. You will see a Shepherd 'working' his dogs (these dogs respond to different whistles and commands in order to move sheep and cattle from place to place). You will visit the woolshed where you will see what is involved in the process of getting the wool from the sheep to your sweater. You have the option of going to the local pub, the Te Puia Springs Hotel, for a before or after dinner drink and a soak in the natural mineral sulphur pool.

Day 3: The horses will be trailered down to the nearby Waipiro Bay . Waipiro Bay was for over 30 years, in the late 1800s, one of the chief business centres of the East Coast, hub of country administration and of social activities. The township gradually declined after the East Coast road was pushed through, its course inland  from Waipiro Bay . You will breathe the atmosphere of the past as you wander through the old town, before riding along the beach past the quaint little church built by the Pakeha (European) settlers in the mid 1890s and on past the local marae (maori meeting house). You will lunch on the verandah of the Tokomaru Bay Hotel overlooking the ocean. Whether the beach ride is in the morning or afternoon will depend on the tide. You will then return to the Homestead for a Hangi dinner (traditional maori way of cooking in a pit in the ground).

Day 4: With lunch packed in the saddlebags you will ride from Puketiti Station over to the neighboring station 'Kiteroa Station'. Kiteroa is maori for long view. The views of Mount Hikurangi and the surrounding Raukumara Range are breathtaking. Hikurangi at 5700 feet is the highest peak in the region. Sacred to the maoris as tradition has it that this was the final resting place of Maui's great canoe, from which he fished the North Island out of the sea. The peak of Hikurangi is also the first land in New Zealand to catch the rays of the morning sun. You will then drop down into the Makarika creek, which is a clear mountain stream which headwaters originate at Puketiti and runs out to the South Pacific. After riding up the creek you will come to the campsite where it is optional to camp out in tents, cooking dinner in camp ovens like the drovers of yesteryear. (Drovers move sheep and cattle great distances overland on horseback). Or else you can opt to be driven back to the homestead.

Day 5: An invigorating swim in the creek will substitute for a shower for those who chose to camp out. Breakfast and then back in the saddle for another big days riding. You will begin with riding through a pine forest, which is a gentle contrast to the ruggedness of the ride to come. You will drop back into the creek before climbing up to the trig (the highest point on Kiteroa Station). From here you can see the world! Mountain Ranges, creeks, the South Pacific. It is strikingly beautiful, so cameras are a must. You will then ride back onto Puketiti Station and back to the homestead for a relaxing dinner.

Day 6: An optional farm trek or opportunity to jump the horses, before sadly leaving the farm and returning to the real world.