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RAIN

It's raining that beautiful slow rain that seeps into the earth or rests in little puddles and pools, that gently bends the grass and falls in droplets from the balcony upstairs. I think I will walk into the city in this rain.

Walking Again

Since our return to Australia, following the epic walk of epicness across the entirety of Cornwall, we have not really got back into the swing of going for regular walks. There have been a number of reasons for this. The weather, for a start. We had that period of intense heat, where stepping outside meant an instant sweat drenching. We've had epic thunderstorms and flash flooding. And we haven't had a goal to work towards - we don't have a big walking project to train for at the moment.

We had been feeling somewhat city-bound recently, a little claustrophobic. So it was with great excitement that we organised this walk as an excuse for catching up with our friend R, who is in the country on a flying visit. So we gathered around us a group of eager ramblers: J and D, G, R, A and L (E also joined us for the journey, but not for the walk - she sensibly took in the sights and sounds of Belgrave while we wandered).

G, E, J.

A, R, L

We were returning to familiar ground - J and D had done this walk earlier this year, and G had done part of it with us recently as well (albeit in the opposite direction). We had a gloriously sunny day, and were thankful for all the shelter provided by the trees.

After the initial climb out of Belgrave, we stopped for morning tea before heading up again into Sherbrooke Forest. There had been a fair amount of rain recently, and the trees were suitably green.

We climbed steadily upwards for a while, before clambering over a style and emerging on to a small country lane, and up past Sherbrooke Lodge. At this point, we encountered a large group of (shall we say older?) walkers coming in the opposite direction ("Which one of us is lost?" one of them japed). We stopped for lunch at O'Donohue picnic ground (we didn't need to shelter in the toilets this time), and had little chats with other walking groups also lunching in this spot.

(THEM: "Where are you from?" US: "Um... er... where do we come from or where have we walked from?" THEM: "Which walking group are you with?" US: "Um... er... we're just..." THEM: "We're the 3rd WNFDBCY Walking Group" US: *Smiles* *Sit down for lunch*)

On the several occasions that J and D have done this walk, we have never seen much in the way of wild animals. Obviously, we've seen lots of birds - especially those screechy cockatoos - but not much else. Very soon after setting off for lunch, we saw an echidna snuffling its way along beside the path. It didn't seem terribly bothered by us, and just continued doing its thing as we all stood around and took photos of it. After we'd had our fill of echidna watching, we started forward, muttering to ourselves things like "an echidna! Well did you ever! What a swell..." when what should be running across the path in front of us but a lyre bird! We only caught a fleeting glimpse of it, but just as we started off again, discussing how wonderful it was to see all these things and about all the different sounds a lyre bird might make, L called out "Wallaby!", and we said, "What noise does a wallaby make?" and she said "No! Wallaby! There!". And sure enough, there was a wallaby, hopping merrily through the forest. It was all rather special.

We had the obligatory stop-off at Sherbrooke Falls, where R was inspired to show off some hott poses. There just remained the descent out of the forest, the short haul along side the main road, and the essential stop in a cafe (in this instance, as in many others, The Queen Of Tarts, Belgrave), where we met up again with E, and with many a delicious thing.

It felt really good to get out of the city and back to our walking ways. Hopefully it won't be too long before we can do it again.

EAST GIPPSLAND, OCTOBER 2009

After we got back from the UK, we went to visit J's parents in East Gippsland. It was lovely, and here are some photos to prove it!


From the train window


Stony Creek Trestle Bridge / East Gippsland Rail Trail


Under the bridge


D and some big nuts. And bolts.


A chunk of glass. Car accident?


They are down to three chooks at the moment.


One of the many reasons to visit your parents!


Pigface near Bemm River


The view from our picnic spot at Pearl Point


Beach art!


Shells and blank sand


Family shot with J's boots in the way!


D and J

Today we are going for a walk in Sherbrooke Forest with some friends - including R, who has been living in the UK for years but is back on a flying visit!