I arrived at the ranch 2 days ago and was very excited about spending Easter all together. We don’t know each other much yet but doing this kind of mixed cultural event is definitely going to create strong bonds within us all. And that’s exactly what we want, being a very close team.

After searching for the eggs in the ranch, the horses were looking at us like « what are they doing running around the place, aren’t we supposed to be the crazy ones here ? » we had a feast and then went to our daily activities. Like the day before I went to help with setting up the tents until Kevan came to me and said: “Celina, you are the one who needs the most training with driving, come with me”. It was true we had talked at the table about this the night before and I was the only without a driving license, all I have done is learning the basic on my old manual toyota van (1989) in New Zealand. So here I go not knowing what was going to happen and very curious to find out. Kevan drove down to the front paddock, explained to me that we needed to spread the horse poo so that with the next rains it would drain down and then the grass would be able to grow. And just like that he left me the driving seat. I sat and start the engine. What a pleasure to be driving again I thought and quickly realized I had a job to do. Kevan explained to me that I had to follow the previous marks on the ground to know where to go and that my right wheel should be on that like so there would be no gap. But I was too focused on the fact that I was driving, and didn’t know how to do it with a manual, that I couldn’t concentrate on anything else at first. Once he told me how to use the break I calmed down and tried to focus on the road. Once I was calmed down inside everything else came easily. Only a few minutes later Kevan told me to stop and to go and find him when I was done. So I did. Amazingly I forgot quite quickly about the car and focused on my main mission. I kept on going to another paddock and asked to do the difficult part of it because I was confident about my work.

This first experience showed me all the reasons why I’m here, to grow in any possible way. I will do anything around the place because I know I’m capable of it with the right procedure and the right people. Here is the place I drove on my own for the first time, on my second day… Happy Easter!