Australia: Victoria: Guide To Guest Ranches

The American "Wild West" is not the only region of the world where one can find horse riding adventures. In the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, tourists can take trail rides on range horses through rough woodlands and the breathtaking Alps mountains. Stoneys', a working ranch in Victoria, organizes three-day treks by horse for riders of all ages and levels of experience. The tour operator's web site and other related resources are now available to anyone connected to the World Wide Web who wants to discover more about these horseback trips across Australia's frontier.

Once in Australia, tourists ride on a bus from Melbourne to Mansfield, where they are picked-up by a Stoneys' employee and taken to the Hunt Club Hotel in Merrijig. There, the visitors can stock up on wine and beer for their outing and engage in a night of music and dance with the locals. After a good night's sleep in Stoney's bunkhouse, the tourists groom and saddle their individual horses before the ride. Riders are also responsible for washing their horses after each day's trek.

Over the course of the three-day equestrian adventure, the vacationers will visit such sites as the Howqua River Valley and Stoneys' Bluff, with stops for lunch along the way. At night, the tourists are treated to a dinner, complete with drinks and live Aussie humor. Stoneys' provides horse tours from October 22 to May 27. Each weekend tour includes helmets, lunches, and sleeping bags. For more information on the tour operator's horse trips "down under," look to their web site, which is provided below along with the sites for both Victoria's and Australia's tourist commissions.