Cape Trib back to Cairns 1/22

One of our Jungle Surfing guides recommended a horse back riding tour. A couple years ago, she worked for the horse tours and said it was one of the most entertaining job she has ever held. The only downside was the owner, a "rough around the edges" type of guy. Not concerned about the owner, we signed up for the tour. The pick up was at 8:30 am. We were greeted by a man dressed in a t-shirt cut off and dirty jeans. He had tattooed arms and a fowl mouth. Scott Rock? No this was the owner….bro!

We took a quick ride through some off road trails , crossed a creek, and arrived at his ranch. Each of us were assigned a horse. Phillip: Big Chief, Casta: Elton, Calesta: Midnight, and Luke: Topaz. All of the horses were male, except for Luke's. His horse had an attitude which Luke quickly adjusted by making it walk through every puddle on the trail. Phillips was stubborn and lazy and probably a few years away from collecting retirement. Using bastard and f*@! as every other word, the owner gave us some helpful riding tips. He showed us how to get on a horse, make it go, turn, and stop. He stressed the importance of the ride order, Elton, Midnight, Big Chief, and Topaz. We were ready to ride. The owner and another guide lead us through rainforest trails, across open fields, and creeks…..well all of us made it across the creeks except for Phillip and Big Chief. Remember we said he was stubborn. We approached a rather large river crossing, Everyone crossed the river with no problem except Big Chief and Topaz were missing in action. The owner being the the owner yelled " Phillip mate! kick the bastard, kick him like a F&*$ing futbol." All we could we hear was Luke snickering and Phillip saying " I'm kicking him he wont move." Using a few more choice words from his vocabulary the owner road across the river and pulled Big Chief to the adjacent bank. Topaz obeyed her master (Luke) and crossed the river. It turns out Big Chief doesn't like being kicked no matter how hard. He did however respond to a quick slap of the reins. After the river crossing we brought the horses to a fast gallop. Halfway through the gallop we found out how important riding order really was. Turns out Elton didn't like Thor(owners horse) being next to him in the gallop so the two horses began racing each other. Casta oblivious to what was happening held on while the owner was yelling from his horse " Slow down you bastard." An hour later, we arrived back at the ranch drench from the rain. Here we enjoyed a cup of coffee, billy tea, and crackers with the owner, guide, and stable hand. Not long after tea we headed back to the hostel. Later that afternoon we piled in the car and headed back down the road to Cairns.

We are not surprised to find wet weather awaiting us in Cairns. Winds and sporadic rainstorms kept us in for the night.