Early on in November, I realised that I had somehow managed to fit all the exciting things I wanted to do in the break into just four days, back to back. I didn't do this on purpose at all; when I found out, I was a bit nervous about whether I'd be able to pull it off. It's almost the end of November now, and I can safely say that those four days were some of the most exciting days I've had in a while.
Days one and two saw me volunteering at the Adelaide International 3 Day Event, which is an international Olympic-level horse competition. The day after I finished volunteering, I went on a day tour of Kangaroo Island. Finally on the last day of my November Adventure, I went sea-kayaking ... I even got to see dolphins!
I woke up at 6.30 am so I could be at the Victoria Park Racecourse at 8 am for my volunteer briefing on Thursday the 22nd. It wasn't easy dragging myself out of the building so early, though the early sunrise helped a bit. I got a bit confused getting into the location, so I arrived about fifteen minutes late, but it turned out alright. I was given a polo t-shirt and cap, which I get to keep! I was pretty pleased, as both had really nice designs and were comfy to boot.
The picture above is of a horse called Master Puzzle, during the 2 Star dressage event. What a beautiful animal! I loved watching it move across the arena. I only got to see about three horses during the dressage, as I was busy working for the rest of the event time. I'll be honest and say that I know barely anything about horses. I volunteered just to give myself something to do during the break.
I was lucky though. The lady I was paired up with for the first day of work was absolutely passionate about horses, and she herself used to take part in competitions. Her name was Michelle, and she told me so many things about horses, and all the ones that she used to own. It was almost mesmerizing listening to her speak, and learning about her life. She taught me about how the competition works, horse stories and how to tell the differences between horse colours. I really feel like I learnt so much from her, and I'm thankful I got the chance to have her as my partner for that first day. What an amazing woman.
Other than the dressage (pronounced like dress-ahhhge, real fancy like), there was also gonna be a cross country event and a show jumping event. As volunteer, I had free access to the show jumping event, but I went sea kayaking that day so oh well. The picture above is of one of the jumps for the cross country event. It's so cute!
I didn't get paired with Michelle on my second day, so I didn't get to learn any more about horses. I got moved around a lot; checked wristbands at the Grandstand, took ticket stubs from people entering the event, manned the information booth. I met quite a few more volunteers, all interesting people, though not all of them as horse-crazy as the other woman. I quite like the lady I manned the information booth with, Polly. She was this slender, aged woman with a long neck and big glasses. She knew nothing about horses, but I thought she was incredibly cute - just the way she talked and interacted with me and the people who came asking about the event.
Other than the interesting people, the work itself was really dull. A lot of menial tasks, but I guess that's pretty much expected. Also, the weather was freakishly warm! It was really dry, and I felt like I was constantly surrounded by dust. Even with the exhaustion and stickiness by the end of the second day, I somehow decided to walk all the way home. This was about three kilometres' worth of walking, which isn't bad actually ... but I had spent the whole day standing around and dehydrating. At least I enjoyed the scenery on the way back!
The picture above has nothing to do with volunteering, haha! This was my dinner on the first day, went out to Cafe Piatto with the Adelaide Family minus Nigel. This dish was the garlic prawns, and it was absolutely delicious. It was also kind of expensive, but I felt like spoiling myself a bit. This has got to be one of the priciest meals I've ever bought for myself ever. Anyway, it was a serving of rice with loads of prawns in a creamy garlic sauce, accompanied with juicy vegetables. So. Good. Ugh.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the AI3DE. It was a different experience for me, and I really learnt a lot from it, and I loved getting to know all the people I met, and seeing all the beautiful horses. Two days well spent.
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