Quand j'étais en vacances au bord de la mer, j'ai eu l'opportunité d'aller faire de l'équitation sur la plage. J'avais toujours eu envie de le faire...

I'd like some help understanding why plus-que-parfait is used in the second sentence.  Is it because the desire to ride horseback on the beach is before the also past action of having had the opportunity to do so?  I think the English translation was "I had always wanted to do it" and my brain wasn't able to place this as a past feeling-before-a-past action!  So tricky...