Have you ever taken a spontaneous holiday? Even just a quick trip away for one night? I find these trips to be so much FUN! Sometimes half the excitement comes from surprising the kids with a spontaneous adventure…plus you don’t have them counting down the weeks, days, sleeps or hours until the holiday!
Rainbow Beach is situated two hours north of The Sunshine Coast, Qld (our home town). The fact that we live only a two short hours’ drive away makes it a fantastic destination for our young family, two hours in the car is really easy with our kids, any longer and we start to hear the chants “are we there yet Mum?”.
There are plenty of accommodation options in Rainbow Beach, we’ve stayed at many in the past but most often choose to pitch a tent at the Rainbow Waters Caravan Park, we like it here because there is LOADS of open spaces, clean amenities and we can have an open fire to toast marshmallows, we’ve created so many great family moments by the fire watching the evening stars come to life. The boat ramp is also easily assessable for a spot of fishing in the beautiful clear waters off Inskip Point.
This past trip we decided to go the night before and left as soon as my husband finished work in the late afternoon which had us arriving after dark, we couldn’t help but notice the almost full moon rising as we took the Rainbow Beach exit. The moon reminded me that there was a horse riding business based in Rainbow Beach that offered a Full Moon ride. I dropped a quick email to Rainbow Beach horse rides and they arranged for my daughter and me to join them the very next night (we were lucky as the Full Moon rides do usually fill fast).
Our horseback adventure was the MAJOR highlight of this trip, which is a BIG call as we had so many great adventures (including a self-guided day trip to beautiful Fraser Island).
Andrew and his team of experienced riders/guides are so lovely and their passion and love for their horses is truly beautiful to witness.
After we were warmly welcomed by Andrew he gave us the safety demonstration and instructions on how to direct and control their beautiful horses. This briefing is as entertaining as it is educational – Andrew is a real Aussie character and Miss 7 was glued to his every word.
Miss 7 didn’t have much horse riding experience so she was a little hesitant to start off, I could tell she was nervous mounting her trusty stead (Skip), it is a long way up for a kid. Mikayla had her own private helper named Helen who made her feel relaxed and assured her that Skip knew what he was doing and where he was going. The whole team are really great with kids and before long Miss 7 was riding comfortably without concern.
There is something truly magical about Rainbow Beach and I can honestly say that experiencing it’s coloured sand cliffs and soft white beaches from horse back makes it all the more magical.
From the moment you ride onto the sand and witness the sun starting to set, throwing more shades of colour and contrasts across the beautiful beach to the moment you witness the HUGE bright moon starting to rise over the water it is truly something to behold!
If you ever find yourself visiting Rainbow Beach PLEASE look up Andrew and his amazing horses at Rainbow Beach Horse Rides, I promise you will not be disappointed.
Once we were home Miss 7 was eager to look through all the photos again and we decided to make a special keepsake for her to showcase some of these images at home (Rainbow Beach Horse Rides will capture and supply you with heaps of wonderful photos).
We used this amazing app called Foldify to turn some images into a photo cube. The app is really easy to use and has heaps of different layouts to choose from. You can purchase the app here on iTunes.
I also found a Video app that I’ve fallen in love with! It was originally named Replay but has now been purchased by GoPro who’ve renamed it Quik! It has to be the easiest video editing app I’ve ever used…it literally does everything for you! It will even automatically make a video for you each week using your phone’s images and videos! Here’s the video we created using it, I’ve since made many more and I keep learning new tricks with each video!
We hope you enjoyed reading about our adventure at Rainbow Beach, we hope you get to experience it’s beauty for yourself one day soon.
Louise x
This is not a paid post, we chose to share our adventure in the hopes that you too get to experience the wonder of Rainbow Beach horse rides. For more information on the Rainbow Beach area please head here to Queensland Tourism’s website.
Hey girls
We loved reading your blog and were delighted that we could take you on a very special adventure in such a magical location!
Your photos, video and feedback are awesome
We really do have the best job in the world!!
Come back and see us again soon!
Love from all the team @ Rainbow Beach Horse Rides
PS- Skip and Winter say g’day too!!
We can’t wait to visit again one day soon! Such an awesome experience.
Lou x