Recently I went to my aunt's 91st birthday. This was a major milestone for her because for some reason she was under the impression that she had finally turned 100.
The next day I had family on my mind and I spent most of the day reading about my Clancy ancestors that arrived in Australia in 1841 when Melbourne was young and had less than 5000 people and Victoria was a bush wilderness. Every place was remote and took days or weeks to reach by horse and cart along rudimentary tracks.
It was with these ideas in mind that I drove away from the Melbourne millions for several hours along a smooth bitumen highway - one vehicle in an endless convoy of cars.
When I reached the Great Ocean Road. I brought out my portable computer and opened a digital connection to my friends in Nepal and showed them waves on a blue sea one quarter way around the world.
I reached my campsite and set up my tent among the trees. I went for a small walk along a 4 wheel drive trail in a light rain at twilight.
The next morning was raining and dreary. Rather than try to cook near my tent I drove to a nearby picnic area and prepared my breakfast under cover.Despite the rain, I decided to start out walking and make the most of my time. I began with wavering conviction but soon began to enjoy myself.
In Australia we call forests like this "the bush". When we walk through them we call it "bush walking". In Nepal it would be called "trekking". In New Zealand it would be called "tramping". In North America it would be called "hiking".
Eventually I come to a clearing that looks over a river heading out to the ocean.
When I get back to the picnic area there is a kookaburra sitting on a post. Kookaburras are well known for the laughing noise they make.
In the afternoon it is still raining so I have a nap in my tent and read a book. The rain stops later when I cook my dinner. Packet pasta which I add some mushroom, tomato, egg and tinned salmon.
It rains again during the night but in the morning the rain has stopped. Birds are chattering loudly. I fall asleep again and I dream about hundreds of baby chickens hatching out of eggs and brilliant blue baby ducklings the size of my thumb. When I get up I see a sulpher crested cockatoo - a big white bird with a yellow feathers sticking up from its head like a lick of hair.
There are also rosellas in the area. These birds have a beautiful mix of red and blue.
When I head off on my walk the weather is pleasant. There is no rain.
Later in my walk I am lucky to spot a wallaby on the path. (A wallaby is like a kangaroo but smaller. I think this one is a swamp wallaby.) It watches me carefully for a minute before it rushes away, jumping quickly through the bush.
On the way back I see a rosella and manage to get a photograph.
It is very beautiful but I think I prefer the rainbow lorikeets I saw in the fig tree in my back yard a few weeks ago.
1 comment:
I really enjoyed reading your post - you are a great writer and no matter what you are writing about it is always entertaining! Looking forward to the next posts :-)
Kerstin
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