Ookpiktravel

Before starting my last big roadtrip up to Yukon, Northwest Territory and Alaska I wanted to escape the city life. So I searched for a helpX place close to Vancouver and found a horse stables in Delta.
In the past I was kinda afraid of horses or let's say I had lots of respect for them. That's why it was a good chance for me to learn more about these beautiful animals and fight my fear. 😁

Sue the owner had no private room for me left but I could stay in the lounge which was above the inside ring. So I always could watch the riding lessons going on. Different to my previous helpX stays was that the host didn't stay at the same place as us, so once a week we went grocery shopping with Sue and she payed for the food everyone had picked. So this was quite nice.

In total there were around 70 horses at the stables, we were 5 helpers and some regular staff member. Usually we helpers had to work just 3 days a week and got the rest of the time off. The work included turn out, switch and turn in the horses as well as mucking/ bedding the stalls and changing the water for the horses. And there was also a lot if gardening to do on the farm. So depending on your horse experience you got scheduled for different tasks. Me as an unexperienced was lucky that I had to muck just twice and the other days I did some weeding around the outside ring. Compared to the other helpers I did really prefere this kind of work instead of shoveling pee and poop. 🤣

I also got two riding lessons with Debbie. First she showed me how to prepare and saddle the horse and then we practiced the different gaits. The name of the horse I was riding was Midas. He was older, patient and already a bit grey-haired but really good to ride. I felt comfortable surprisingly fast. 😊

On my second day Sue took the five girls of us and two horses to the beach for a walk. This was my first time sitting on a horse and it has been an awesome experience! So I could check another point of my bucket list. 😃
For my last day Sue had planned to go kayaking with us in Boundary Bay which was beautiful and we got perfect weather for it. We could even see Mt Baker - lucky us.

When Germany was playing against Sweden at the World Cup Johanna and I went to Vancouver to see the game at a pub. At the entrance they wanted to charge us 10$ so we were discussing whether to stay or look for another place. But then they told us the really important point that also breakfast is included. So the decision was made quickly. 😅 The atmosphere was intense until the end but luckily we won this one. After the match we found out that the Jazz Festival was going on downtown so we checked it out. There was a stand of Kinder Bueno where they gave away free samples so we collected some. ^^ Haven't had them for a quite long time. We found a free S'mores stand as well. You put a melted marshmallow in between of two chocolate coated cookies - loads of sucre. 🙈
In the evening we met up with Sarah in Richmond and went to the Asian Night Market - delicious food everywhere! The next weekend I went with Maya again. :)
On the other day we two also went to the drum circle on Third Beach in Vancouver. It was quite a bit of a walk to get there so at the end we could just stay for half an hour before we had to walk back to catch our last bus towards Delta. The bus ride took us almost two hours to get back to the farm with several changes on the way. It's always a pain in the ass and takes two hours to come back to the ranch no matter where you are.🤣
Once Maya and I went to the Four Season Brewery just a couple of bus stops from the stables, tried eight different kinds and shared two delicious tapas from their menu. After this we just wanted to go to Ladner to buy her a new toothbrush and it ended up in a three hours trip for us cause we decided to eat at the delicious sushi place again where we've been with Sue the other day. Unluckily we just missed the bus so we had to take the next one and at the exchange station we had to wait for the transit again... At the end we probably would have been faster by walking. But never mind 😉

I'm glad I've stayed at the stables, had my first riding lessons and got Maya as a dear friend! Thanks for the fun time together and sharing our stories. 😘Read more