On Sunday we went out walking from our place into the heathland and national park which is only one block away from our street, up a slight hill. We are always looking for reasonably short works, say an hour or so, that aren't too taxing and that can be done after work or for a quick walk on the weekend when we have other things to do. We are spoilt for choice around here, but are still learning all the tracks and beginning to name them as part of our new personal map making landscape.
I love this photo of Jamie, with his new haircut. After all these yars, I still think he is gorgeous.
Some of the yellow wattle has come out. It seems too early but I guess this is just an early variety. Come August, the whole place will be a lit with yellow flowers. It's quite a spectuacular sight - everything glows, particuarly in the late afternoon. This day was a bit of a dull day, so forgive the dull photos.
As we walk up the track we get a video message from my 3-year-old grandson who is asking us about kangaroos. We send one back of Jamie bouncing through the bush and say that he is a kangaroo.
"Noooo. That's gwwwwwwwwwwwwandpa." he says in his cute way. Bless. In fact, we did say three or four kangaroos but I didn't get my camera out in time.
We cross onto the old coal mine track which is shut off to traffic now and generally used for cyclists walkers and runners. On this day, nobody is out and about. That's winter for you. It's much quieter. I love it.
They have cleared big spaces on the side of the road which will create a fire break which makes us feel happy. Of course fire is always on our minds, but this is the safest season to be in really and we're very very little risk of fire. When you think there's houses not far away, it's quite reassuring.
You can see the old chimney from the coal mine. They stopped mining here years ago and are still clearing up the land and figuring out a use for it. For now we are hoping for lots of rain to fill it up as a lake for birds. At once stage they floated an Eden Project like the UK but it was shouted down by the community. Too much traffic and tourists - we have enough already in peak season.
There are a lot of beautiful old gum trees, a variety of grasses, acacia trees, and banksia - this would all be foreign for any of you that are reading this from overseas and I acknowledge we have a totally different landscape from many of you.
This is the banksia from above - Australia certainly morphed some wild looking flowers.
It's a good firm track to get a good pace up with a slight downhill as it goes down towards the river so I really enjoyed the walk.
We end up at the beginning of the river which winds down to the sea. There are clear paths on either side and it is very calm and peaceful. We paddle board along here or ride the bikes and some people kayak or fish, although there are no fish at the moment because it is too acidic. They are still trying to solve this problem. Little bridges cross the river so you can cut across at various points to go to the other side of town. Even though it's not far from the houses, it feels like it's in the middle of nowhere.
I don't picture it that here but we pass the picnic area and a huge children's playground that is shaped like a pirate ship that all the local kids have loved for some 20 to 30 years. I remember taking my boy here when he was little. We stopped for a little while to look at some fairy wrens and fre crest finches And then take some different roads home to look at all the different houses. This town is very unique like that there's all sorts of quirky houses and no uniform estates which is really nice. Some are falling apart summer modernised and there are a couple of new builds amongst them as well, but generally there's a real range of different houses and we get inspiration for our garden as we walk.
It takes longer than we thought to get home because it's the weekend and we stop and talk to a couple of neighbours as we go up our street. We are really enjoying being in a place that has both wild natural environment around but also a community of people we are getting to know.
I make a scrambled eggs for breakfast and Jamie makes coffee and then we get on with a garden. This is Sunday for you and it couldn't be more perfect.
We decide to call it the Grandpa Kangaroo walk. We are in the habit of naming all our walks locally for easy conversing about which route we will take. I wonder if other people do the same, adding to the personal mapping of their own lives.
With Love,
Oh, how fun! I took a photo of a Banksia just today. I love the flora and fauna we have in Australia. I love that it's so very different to other parts of the world and that we have all these weird and wonderful animals and plants that are completely different to anywhere else that I've been in the world.
I also love that you named your walk the Grandpa Kangaroo Walk. Brad and I have nicknames for some of the tracks that we go on and for the loops that we've created in the bush here. It just makes it easier to talk about this loop or that loop. Brad seems to naturally and easily come up with names for things, and it's really helpful when we're talking about where we want to walk on any given day.
Loved seeing your photos. As usual ;)
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Oh I'm glad you get the whole naming thing. It's harder to say 'you know that walk up the hill and to the right onto that track past the tree and down to river past the pirate ship where we walked on that Sunday last month', right?
That kangaroo story made me smile :^)
Not the worst park to have around the block ;^)
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Love the variety of scenery and surroundings in a relatively short walk. It looks quite remote and there's hardly any houses in sight even though you say it nearby your place. I wish we had walkable places like this near us.
Yes we are so lucky. You can get out away from the houses easily and not see a soul. Just amazing. My old town had nothing like this variety!
What a lovely start to the day and I love the name. :))
It's a good one isn't it? We often make up silly names for things..
So wish I had a scenic route like this within walking distance of my house. Really jealous here. As far as the old coal mine. Maybe they could turn it into a local park. The stip pits into lakes for birds and fish. Trails where the trucks used to travel and so forth.
There's definitely tons of trails all around it. Definitely think a lake in order but not enough water to fill it - there's an issue with the aquifers I think but idk. Yes, we are sooo blessed here.
Well your winter does look a lot like summer here :-D I hope they get that mining hole filled up, more space for the animals is always a good idea - and will probably bring tourists, anyway. And maybe those that are a little more respectful with the environment, as they go birding.
Next week is rain if that helps .. still it's mild for May
We get pretty busy down here.. between bike trails and surfing, it's a bit of a Mecca!
It would have to be quite a lot of rain and the right soil formation at the bottom to let a lake form. And more run-ins than run-outs of water. Would be interesting to observe that over the years :-)
What a nice walk, it looks like a great time of day to do it and you got some great pictures out of the deal. Good to hear they are repurposing the old coal mine. Those all too often get buried and just forgotten leaving dangers down the road.
Beautiful flowers you found along the way, and even the old smokestack has it's own majestic beauty though I'm sure it will eventually be torn down as modern progress marches forward.
Great post as always!
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I do like evidence of old industry in the form of buildings. The smokestack is rather iconic. I'm with you there.
Here the mining company is responsible for the clean up. Whether they do it to the communities idea of clean up remains to be seen.
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