Eagle View Walk (John Forrest National Park)

The stats

• Distance - 16km circuit
• Grade - classed as 'medium' to 'hard'
• Estimated time to complete - 5-6hrs
• Actual time taken -  4hrs 10mins (with half hour stop for lunch)
• Cost - $11 national park entry fee

The verdict

Second time around this walk was just as beautiful, challenging and a wonderful training exercise.  This time with a reduced Fellowship (as Dad is still overseas), the two of us managed the walk in under four hours.  So, a slightly better time than last year but even so it was leisurely enough to stop and enjoy the splashes of colour courtesy of some early wildflowers, and despair at the bone dry creek beds and trickle pretending to be a waterfall. 

A blessing however that the track was dry and we didn't have to lug wet weather gear along with us as there was little chance of rain.

Ready now to rejoin the C2C...

Journey to Home

Twenty years ago today a plane from Hong Kong touched down on a cold Perth night and three weary travellers made their way to Dianella.  The new day shed light on unfamiliar surroundings and a surreal 'holiday' feeling that soon gave way to new schedules, responsibilities, acquaintances and the long awkward path to settling into a new home.

It has now been two decades and I thank mum and dad, my fellow travellers on that night in July 1993, for their patience and courage in uprooting our family to the other side of the world.  

For the experiences and opportunities I've had over the last twenty years, I am immensely grateful.
For family members who were much missed and are now happily reunited, I am relieved.
To new family members who have completed our circle and are much loved, thank you for coming into my life.
To the friends and family who have been claimed by Time, I miss you more than you can imagine.
To the friends I have lost because of my own pride or careless actions, I am sorry.
To the wider fellowship of friends, colleagues, teachers, bosses, students and mentors I have met along the way, I truly value your companionship, wisdom and care.
And to this crazy, beautiful, frustrating, and enchanting place that has, through fits and starts, become my home, I am so lucky to live here.  Thank you for welcoming me.

Having a place to go is a home. 
Having someone to love is a family.  
Having both is a blessing.

(Donna Hedges)

 

Opportunities

Still a noticeable absence of epiphanies but a little bit of breathing space courtesy of an unexpected opportunity.

Hopefully epiphany moments still come in the good ol' common garden variety blinding flash of inspiration atop mountain tops.  If so I'm hanging out for epiphanies galore while crossing the Pennines!

Rocky Pool Walk

It was supposed to be a repeat of last year's Piesse Brook walk but we took a wrong turn while trying to connect the Rocky Pool circuit to the Helena Pipehead Walk.  After vainly trying to locate the Helena Pipehead trail we played it safe and returned to Rocky Pool and completed the circuit.  So all up probably only 8km however it should be said that the incorrect trail we ended up following took us up a very steep and very corrugated track with deep tyre ruts and loose gravel.  At some points I was clambering on all fours it was so steep.  Definitely a good workout for the legs and excellent hill training!

Some observations from the walk:

• A fire had been through the park since last year so the landscape had changed.
• The water situation is dire.  It has been a dry winter so far and cumulative dry winters are definitely taking their toll.  Watercourses were bone dry and Rocky Pool - supposedly a deep water pool with water all year round - was reduced to a solitary puddle.  What little water there was last year has long gone.  

Rain, rain, we need rain.

Bookends

Walks form the bookends to my days.  In the morning when the temperature is hovering around 2C, the river is still like a looking glass and there is a soft blanket of mist draped over the trees. The sun winks meekly through the leaves.  That's when my walk is brisk and purposeful to stomp some warmth into my legs.  

In the afternoon it's a more leisurely stroll.  The sun is slouching towards the west and the tired and happy tourists are taking their last pictures and leaving the park for the day.

And in between my day is productive but there's a distinct lack of epiphanies.  

Seeking...

WANTED: One Epiphany Moment

Blinding realisations or earth shattering experiences not essential however some degree of insight a must.  False hopes and/or misguided intentions need not apply.

Winter rain

Too wet to go outside to play so activities are limited to staring wistfully out of the window and watching the little upside down worlds inside raindrops as they scurry down the panes.

Watching the rain

Daily Dose of Silliness

Mon Dieu what is the meaning of this?!  I have a dog for only a couple of days and already he's acting like he owns the place.  What a mess.

Just look at the state of the house

Day 001 - A New Trail

Today is Day 001 of the rest of my life.  I left my job on Friday - my own choice and for various reasons.  Mostly to make time to return to study.  All I need to do now is figure out the where, what, when and how.  Er....

I'm very grateful for all the good wishes I received from my colleagues.  And the thoughtful gifts including half a tonne of chocolate (important for assuaging feelings of guilt for no longer working when I'm fit and able and probably should be) and some things from every stationery fan's favourite place: Kikki K.  The MYOD (Make Your Own Dog) is particularly gorgeous.  So far limited in my options for pet ownership but certainly not lacking in enthusiasm, my new pet is a welcome companion during this time of finding my way.

Day 001