Sunday, March 31, 2013

Capella Campdraft



Overcast day with a breeze, out on the veranda with a cafe latte, my thoughts and reflections, and my Mac.  Sounds like a perfect opportunity to get lost in some blog writing!  I’m going to have to do a split blog again though, to keep them at a readable length.  I have got two great weekends to fill you in on!


Lets start with the Capella Campdraft weekend!  James, George and Sonya left on Thursday after work, and headed down with six horses and the horse truck. I worked Friday all day, and headed down myself in one of the Wentworth work utes when I was done my workday.  A friend of our named Chris - who we call Chrisco, drew me a lovely map so I wouldn't get lost!  It was a very simple drive, with only a few turns, and went by a HUGE mine!  Definitely the biggest I've ever seen.  The drive was perfect, and I arrived at the grounds shortly after 7pm.  Horses, trailers, trucks and collared shirts everywhere!  I was so happy to have finally arrived.  I love that camping style show weekend atmosphere!  Music was going, and you could hear some events from the day wrapping up with the whips from the judge and the commentator’s voice booming through the speaker system.  I found the Wentworth horse truck, and parked the ute adjacently to it for the weekend.  I met up with James and a few friends of his, and we headed for the bar where we socialized and danced for the remainder of the evening.  They were giving away florescent beer coolies, and I snagged three!  Handy souvenirs!  Ben, a friend of James that he met in college, came back to our camp with us and the three of us had a few more drinks and then set up our swags for the night in the back of the ute.  We woke up with the sun in the morning, and I got organized for a 30min drive to another town called Emerald for breakfast with a friend and a long overdue hair appointment!  I had met a girl named Jenna on Friday night, and gave her a lift to Emerald!  She was great company, and made the short drive seem even shorter.  A friend of mine who I met in Melbourne who is also teaching through ANZUK is working as a nanny on a station in Emerald.  We’ve been keeping great communication since we met, and we arranged to have breakfast together before my hair appointment at 10:30.  Ange is very much like me, but she’s brunette!  We get along like we’ve been friends for years, and she’s such a gem to be around.  We met up shortly after 9am at “Luv-a-coffee” and both ordered French toast and fruit – it was made on thick fresh bread, and we both nearly licked our plates when we were done.  Deeeelicious!  Conveniently enough, my hair appointment was in the same shopping centre as where we ate out breakfast, so we parted ways at exactly 10:30!  I was into a chair immediately, and was there for nearly two and a half hours – most females can relate to this or even longer – and left with a head of ash blonde highlights and three inches off the ends!  It felt like a millions bucks, and was much needed.

I drove back to Capella, and sadly missed James’ event for that day by 30 second – literally.  I was pretty disappointed!  Ah well.  We watched some events and ate, and hung around our site for a few hours munching and keeping hydrated.  It was so hot and humid!  Humid isn’t humid until you can’t dry off from a shower.  It’s horrible.  You might as well just get out of the shower and put your clothes on while you’re soaking wet. 


That night, there was a horse and rider auction that served as a fundraiser for the committee and for RACQ (CQ Rescue, a helicopter rescue service).  The ten horse/rider combos from the Open were some of the best campdrafting horses and had scored the highest over the course of the weekend.  They all had red shirts on that were made for the weekend, and they were really nice!  The auction was a Calcutta style auction, where people bid on a horse and rider combo - whoever they think will win. The money made was divided accordingly between the winner, the winning ticket, the person that “bought” the winning horse/rider combo, the committee and the charities.  The horse and rider combos were very impressive to watch even before the “top ten shootout” started.  Just while they were riding around having people bid on their win in the shootout was awesome to watch, as they demonstrated their quick turns and stops and pivots and team work.  The top ten shootout came after the auction, when each combo got to compete for the win in a final campdrafting event.  Two people ended up in a tie for the win.  It was exciting to watch such skilled horses and riders compete!

Angela made it out to the campdraft with a lad she works with at her station named Rob.  I was so happy they could make it!  They showed up just after the shootout, and I introduced she and Rob to James and the others.  We had a hoot together, introducing ourselves to randoms, and makings friends!  (like two peas in a pod, we are!)  We met all kinds of people, and laughed all night.  We danced and sang, and had one helluva night. I had my eye on those red shootout shirts, and was challenged to getting one.  Challenge: accepted.  I asked for a few nicely, but wasn’t willing to kiss randoms or flash the upper half of my body to compelte strangers, so I just waited for the perfect opportunity!  Towards the end of the night, I did a shirt swap with one guy and although I ended up having my good shirt stretched and misshaped, and no longer in my possession, I scored another wicked souvenir!  (I’m actually wearing it right now!)  A big men’s work shirt, with the Capella Campdraft and RACQ logos on the chest of it, and Rio Tinto, a big mining company’s name across the back shoulders.  I win! 

We mucked about for a little longer, and had a few more drinks before calling it a night.  Ange ended up sleeping in her swag by Rob’s truck, and I slept on the floor of the horse truck.  It cleans up really well and even has a wall and a fold down bed!  George and James along with other horse owners established small horse pens with fences for their horses for the weekend, so the truck is more like a farm style motor home!  In the morning, I met up with Angela for breakfast.  Ten bucks for a full plate of greasy bacon and eggs and beans and toast.  Perfect!  We watched a few more events, and then Ange and Rob headed home.  I hung around, and watched James’ event, then helped the crew pack up the campsite.  We headed out shortly after 3pm, and made a stop in Clermont to see Ben. 

When we made it home, we unpacked and watched some Nitro Circus before passing out!  Another great weekend in Australia!

I’m going to call it a wrap for this entry, and start on the next one!

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!

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