1979 Inter Pacific Pony Club Team

Many years ago, a bunch of young horseriding people aged between 18 and 21 converged on Western Australia from all parts of the world. On Tuesday night, nearly 29 years later, four of us had dinner together in Sherborne, Dorset. Of course the photo album came out, and we all laughed at how we had changed in the intervening years. Who was that skinny blonde in the photo wearing that funny coat playing silly buggers? She looked vaguely familiar.

The four in the photo above (L to R) are Phil Trump (Devon), Bryan Harris, (Canterbury NZ), me, and Richard Pinney (Dorset).

The old photo shows Bryan, me, and Phil. That's Peter Abishenagaden on the right. This photo was taken back in August 1979. Weren't we so cute?

Easter in Ireland

http://picasaweb.google.com/jane.thompsonuk/IrelandAtEaster

Here's a few photos taken during my stay with the Carey family in Ireland. It was a great holiday, and included a bit of shopping in Dublin, walks in the beech forest and around the local castle, not to mention reading books, playing with kids, and eating lots of easter eggs! Sam's birthday present of the football kit was a great hit - he wore it for four days including sleeping in it!

Plenty of Activities

I've just returned from Easter in Ireland which was a "great craic" albeit rather cold (especially after I receive lots of reports of the glorious weather in New Zealand). I'll be posting the photos up as soon as I get a chance.

Tonight I'm heading off to a semi-reunion of people from the 1979 Inter Pacific Pony Club teams. We've got two from the New Zealand team (Bryan Harris and myself) and two from the English team (Dick Pinney and Phil Trump). David Green who was in the Australian team and who has lived over here for years and years, can't make it unfortunately. Will post some photos from that. Its a shame I haven't got some copies of the photos of us from 1979 to compare today's ones with!

Another amazing event to look forward to is Sir Edmund Hillary's memorial service at Windsor Castle which I have managed to get myself on the invite list (thanks to New Zealand House and a ballot system). That's in early April.

The British Open Showjumping champs in Birmingham are also on the agenda in the beginning of April and I must get my accommodation organised for Badminton Horse Trials which are the beginning of May! Then there is that Anzac weekend BBQ that I have been promising to host....

RIP Bob

I received some very sad news from Whangarei. Bob Tait passed away yesterday.

My condolences to Glenise, Karen, Sandra and Blyth and all the grandchildren.

Bob was one of life's real characters. I have very fond memories of Bob from the pony club scene and then as we all graduated on to bigger horses and new adventures. I remember fondly Bob bringing the kids chips and jugs of what he called "Tigers Juice" (which was also known as boring old raspberry cordial and lemonade). This kept us happy while the oldies had something a bit stronger, at places like the Tangiteroria pub.

Bob always had a twinkle in his eye, and a wicked sense of humour. He'd tease us kids remorselessly at times, but also knew when we needed that little bit of encouragement which he readily gave. As we grew older, he was always interested in what we were up to. The photos here were taken at the 2004 Burghley Horse Trials where Glenise and Bob were watching Blyth compete (and finish 8th at what was said to be his last Burghley).

He and Glenise were fabulous hosts. How we ever managed to get home from the Taits' house sometimes is a mystery.

I hope those of you able to get to his funeral give him a good send off.

Tate Modern

Back in England, and it was off to the Tate Modern with Jan on a damp Saturday afternoon. This was my first visit inside this wonderful art gallery. I had walked past it often enough but never had ventured inside. Today we wanted to see the Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray and Francis Picabia exhibition but first had a look at the much publicised "crack" in the floor (aka Shibboleth).

The work was by Doris Salcedo, originally from Colombia. According to the official blurb, this is “the first work to intervene directly in the fabric of the Turbine Hall. Rather than fill this iconic space with a conventional sculpture or installation, Salcedo has created a subterranean chasm that stretches the length of the Turbine Hall. The concrete walls of the crevice are ruptured by a steel mesh fence, creating a tension between these elements that resist yet depend on one another. By making the floor the principal focus of her project, Salcedo dramatically shifts our perception of the Turbine Hall’s architecture, subtly subverting its claims to monumentality and grandeur. Shibboleth asks questions about the interaction of sculpture and space, about architecture and the values it enshrines, and about the shaky ideological foundations on which Western notions of modernity are built.”

All very well, but for me, the fascinating part was watching the people interact with the work. Of course then I had to interact as well, by taking photos of the people interacting! Fantastic. If you want to see the results, you can view them here http://picasaweb.google.com/jane.thompsonuk/TateModern

The Duchamp, Manray and Picabia exhibition was great - very extensive and very out-there at times but certainly interesting. They were great mates, and must have had some fun times in their creative space! If you would like to know more about this exhibition, or the Tate Modern, you can check it out at the official website http://www.tate.org.uk/

The visit was topped off by a drink in the members bar (thanks Jan!) and an attempt at some photography at dusk on Southbank.

Mark Todd

It's great news that Mark has successfully completed the first part of his Olympic comeback. With the Puhinui title in his trophy case, he is now heading to England and is planning on competing firstly in France at Saumur and then in England. I'm looking forward to catching up with him and following his progress further. Investigations in how I get to Saumur in May are now underway.

The photo here is one I took at the Athens Olympics when Mark was the eventing coach (there's other photos of the Athens Olympic equestrian events on my photos page - see the link at the top of this blog). That's Matthew Grayling next to him and the photo was taken just after Matt finished his cross country. Unfortunately I hear that Matt has had to withdraw from the Olymic shortlist due to some health or soundness issue with his horse.

There will be a lot of equestrian activity on this website soon. I've also just submitted an article to the NZ Equestrian Sports' Bulletin on Jonelle Richards and Tim Price. In early April I am off to Birmingham to the British Open Showjumping, then of course there is the Badminton Horse Trials in early May, followed closely by Chatsworth, Branham and many others. Great to be back into the horsey activities again!

To the person who commented below, I understand Mark will be based in the UK.

Aire sur Adour, Condom and Fources

I've had my camera out while staying in South West France. I've done a few visits to nearby towns including Condom, Fources, and Aire sur Adour (all inland) and Saint Jean de Luz on the coast, just below Biaritz. The link to other photos is below (all taken with the new Pentax K10)

St Jean is a delightful town, very picturesque, right on the coast. I've always loved Biaritz, but I really recommend St Jean as well. It's probably a little more "down market" that Biaritz, with some great shops and restaurants.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jane.thompsonuk/SouthWestFranceHousesitting

We also visited Condom, north of where the house is located. The place Condom apparently has no connection with the contraceptive device ("french letters") - they just happen to have the same name. As you could imagine, there have been many photos taken by the sign bearing the town name - I didn't bother... Armangac, a type of brandy, is produced in this general region. Another little town worth a visit in this region is Fources, a real delight. It's got loads of medieval buildings, and works on a circle design with the town "square" actually being a circle.

I didn't get to investigate Pau at all. As they have a four star horse trials here, I'm sure I will be back at some stage soon!

If you want to see the map of this area, click on this link. http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=perchede,+france&sll=43.785719,-0.137157&sspn=0.050067,0.1157&ie=UTF8&ll=43.305194,-0.137329&spn=1.614957,3.702393&z=8

The food - well a lot of it revolves around ducks. This is the area where they make "foie gras", "magret de canard", "cassoulet", and all products using "fat ducks". Apparently the people who live in this area have a higher life expectancy than any other areas of France, despite their high fat and salt diet (the "French Paradox").

The wine of the trip so far has been Domaine de Fortunet which is made just down the road from the house. It's a sweet and fruity wine, goes well as a pre-dinner wine, or with chicken and very very quaffable!!!

House Sitting in Perchede, South West France

For the next two weeks I am looking after four dogs (three of them staffordshire terriers), two horses and a small rural block in Perchede, South West France. The nearest village is Nogaro (which has a fantastic bakery producing the absolutely classic baguette). Other bigger towns nearby are Mont De Marsan or Pau.

House sitting is a great co-operative venture. I get to have some time in a place that I wouldn't normally experience, and get some time with animals again (much missed). The house owners get to go on their holiday knowing that their animals and property will be well looked after. Very few costs involved for either party and

some great friendships made as well.

I used to get friends to house sit when I had the dogs in New Zealand, and used to house sit myself in New Zealand before owning properties. I thoroughly recommend it. Housesitting over here has been arranged through the website http://www.housecarers.com/
where I am registered as available for housesitting.

I'll write more soon, but in the meantime, it's exploring, walking dogs, and eating far too much!