As you probably already know, I love being in nature…
And as part of retirement we’re trying to build more walks into our week… especially walks in nature.
It’s good for the body to move… but I think more importantly for the mind to take a break…
Immerse yourself fully in the walk and what’s around you.
We have a few favourites… Boondall Wetlands, both the Billai Dhagun Circuit and the Tabbil-ban Dhagun Boardwalk.
Tinchi Tamba Wetlands Reserve…
A foreshore walk… anywhere from Shorncliffe up to Brighton…
Most of these walks are fairly flat and easy… and I’m pretty good doing 2-4kms now.
I’ve slowly being building up to tackle more hills and bushwalks… I’m hoping the more I do, the easier they will become.
But of course we’re always looking for new walks to try…
One we did recently took us a while to find.
We had a map from the Samford Visitor Information Centre, but it was black and white and really hard to read…
But after a couple of false starts, we found the track and the old Yugar Railway Tunnel…
The tunnel was used until 1955, but is now blocked off due to the presence of a rare bent-wing bat colony.
It was an easy 1.6kms return, but there were so many birds it was beautiful.
A few weeks ago I saw a post on Facebook talking about a new walk that had opened on the site of the old Petrie Paper Mill…
The Central Lakes Walk is a flat and very easy walk but has become one of my new favourites.
There are two lakes… East and West…
The first time we did it we did both parts (approx 3kms)… but the West Lake walk takes you close to a very busy road, the Mill Water Park and play area, and through the carpark…
Although it is worth stopping here to see Milly…
Yes, she’s a smaller version of the very famous Matilda, who winked at the Queen in the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane… complete with those amazingly long eyelashes!
Anyway, the last couple of times we have just concentrated on the East Lake walk.
You start from the picnic area where the tables pay homage to the paper mill…
It really doesn’t matter in which direction you do the walk (we’ve done it both ways)… it’s a simple circular walk and roughly 2kms.
It’s exposed in parts so hats and suncream a must… but you do get nice breezes off the lake (at least in Winter!)
Almost as soon as you start you notice the birds singing…
Loads of Brown Honeyeaters… but there’s still plenty more to identify…
There are birds on the water too… Pelicans, Coots, Cormorants…
We’ve spotted White-breasted Sea Eagles sailing over the water…
And you just feel so far away from all the noise.
While I love doing the walk, I could just as easily take a seat anywhere along the path and just listen to the birds.
But what’s really special is so far, every time we have spotted at least one Koala.
The first time we spotted two in the same tree… (probably mum and bub).
The last time we couldn’t work out if it was one large male or if there were two snuggled up together!
Walks such as this one… make it easy to walk mindfully…
What can I see, hear and feel?
For me it makes my heart sing…
And feels like I’m walking on sunshine.
Ann 🙏