Sam had asked to do some mountain biking in the area. We had looked up some websites to try to find some information on bike tracks in the forest, and it seemed that the bike tracks were hard to find and it could have been easy to get lost. But there was a company which took guided mountain bike tours and supplied all the equipment. So we had made enquiries about this. It turned out that Michael and Sam both did a guided tour through the Boranup Forrest which started at 9am and ended at 1.30pm (not riding all this time, as some of it was travelling to and from the tracks). They both enjoyed it, although Michael’s comment afterwards was ‘It’s not something I would get right into as I’m not that much of an adrenaline junkie’. Sam said they went through some very pretty forrest, although they were going so fast and had to concentrate so much that they didn’t get to look at it closely. They both looked quite exhausted when I picked them up at 1.30, and Michael was sore for a couple of days. But it had been some good father and son time.
Lauren had been keen to do some horse riding. And whenever she mentioned it, Hannah also piped up and wanted to join in. So we had looked into that here also. Only the afternoon times were available for that, so us girls had a relaxing morning while the boys were out. We dropped them at their meeting place at Margaret River in the morning, went to book exchange (got a few more books and exchanged some) and then went back to the van park. Lauren and I did a few loads of washing and Hannah and Beth played in their tree cubby house. At 1.00 I left Lauren and the girls watching a movie and went in to Margaret River. I did some grocery shopping before meeting the boys. Then we went back to the van park. We had a short break there before it was time to drive to Jesters Flat, the horse riding place we were going to – only 10mins away from Big Valley. Lauren was booked in to do a ‘Drovers Tour’ horse ride at 3.00 – this was advertised as joining in with rounding up some cattle. It went for an hour and a half. It wasn’t as exciting and challenging as the brochure made it sound, but Lauren still enjoyed the chance to be back on a horse for a while. Hannah and I went on a 1 hour ‘Country Lane Tour’ which was basically a walk down a back road through some lovely scenery and then through some nice forest, and we were able to have a couple of trots. Hannah felt very comfortable on the horse, and the guide said she seemed to have a natural style with horses. It was a lovely afternoon and I enjoyed the chance to have a ride through some beautiful scenery. I’d like to do more horse riding when we get back home. Meanwhile, Bethany had a ride on a shetland pony, being led by Michael. She really enjoyed this and had a trot a couple of times also. Sam went along for the walk with Michael and Bethany. There was also a great treehouse and tyre swing near the waiting area, so Sam enjoyed playing here also (as did the girls when they weren’t riding). Also at the waiting area was a large fire pit with a warm fire that had apparently been going since April – they just kept adding wood to it. They were very friendly staff and a nice environment, so it was a lovely afternoon.
Then it was home to the van park for dinner and bed.