Walking and running

Yesterday my husband, My Fixit Guy(I once joked that I never got anything new cause he always fixed the old stuff) and I went for a lovely walk along the river with our 2 dogs Jack and Annie, and our friend's dog Digby. The road our cul de sac empties onto goes all the way down to the river. 

The street becomes a dirt road just past the last of the houses and when we get to that point we let our dogs off the lead so they can run and sniff and fool around (and pee where and when they want, and wade in the water, chase birds and generally do doggy fun things).

 We put them back on the lead if we encounter any other dogs. Annie and Digby would be fine but Jack is a trouble maker. He is tiny (hand bag sized dog) but at heart he thinks he is a wolf or an Alsatian and wants to take on anything no matter their size.

In this picture My Fixit Guy is walking another friends dog who has to stay on the lead. Our other 3 fur babies are enjoying freedom

Digby at back. Jack (white and brown) and Annie (black)

Once our road reaches the river it turns to run along side it. Actually we don't take the track right down by the water. That is usually more populated - fisher folk and other people enjoying the river. Instead we take the track that runs along the top bank. I really love the walk. It is beautiful and peaceful. We often encounter kangaroos in the paddock beside the river. I am glad the grass is high enough that our little dogs don't see the roos or they would be chasing them. Well Jack and Digby would. Annie is getting a bit old for such activity. 

These photos were taken back in October after a fire had ripped through the paddocks. You can see the  roos grazing on the fresh pick that was coming through

The bird life by the river is prolific too. There are usually ducks and other water birds on the river. I saw pelicans one day.  We have had flocks of sulphur crested cockatoos about the place recently. I came across 20 or 30 of them on the road as I turned the corner one day last week. My presence disturbed them so many flew off immediately. By the time I got my phone out the dogs had arrived and so I took a photo of just one cockatoo... not a great shot and it will sound pathetic when I say there were so many there when I started to take the photo. So I haven't included it

Lots of grass dwelling birds are about at certain times of the year... how do I know... Well Digby in particular loves to chase them. She goes rushing into the grass beside the road and there is a swoosh and and flutter and out come one or more little birds fleeing before her. I don't know what they are and I have never even tried to photograph them but Digby assures me they are great fun to hunt. (I don't think she would know what to do if she caught one)

The paddocks are now thick with grass which is drying off again

The river itself is so beautiful to walk beside. My photos do not do it justice but I am often blown away by the sight of the sun glinting on the water, the green trees, the ripples dancing in the light breeze. 

Our walk ends at the place where there is a weir across the river. 

The bank here dips right down onto a large flat area that is once again very popular with fisherfolk and others enjoying the river. People often make camp fires here too and hang out beside the river. The dips and rises of the bank make it a popular place for people riding trail bikes etc so we don't ever venture down there preferring to keep the dogs out of harms way. Even when I walk at times when others aren't around I don't go down there as the walk to the weir and back home is a good length (about 45 mins) 

Digby surveying the tracks made by trail bike riders

the track down to the river flat where people often fish, swim, make camp fires and hang out. You can see how steep it is and why I don't bother to venture down there

Yesterday I realised that there is a gorgeous tree above the weir with a blaze on it. Explorers came through our district exploring ways to open up our huge country and they marked their way with these huge blazes. This might not actually be a deliberate blaze but instead might be the result of natural phenomenon. I might have just been more aware of it because this weekend a small community near us is celebrating 170 years since Ludwig Leichhardt passed through our area, marking a tree at Comet. I took some photos of the tree and noticed that high in its branches was a native orchid growing. Stunning stuff. 

It must be turtle season... time for them to get a move on because we encountered 3 of them on our walk yesterday. The dogs weren't sure what to make of them and though I don't think they could harm them we kept the dogs away from the turtles. I tried to take a photo on my phone but it was blurry so not worth showing to you. Today when I was out running I noticed another turtle crossing the road. Its a fairly quiet road so I didn't stop to move him off the road which I would normally have done. Not to mention I was 5 kms into my run and if I had stopped to do that I might not have got started again.

Today I ran my greatest distance to date. 7.34 kms in 64 mins. Its not a record breaking pace but I am very proud of my achievement. I am now eyeing a new goal. I would like to be able to run 10 km by the end of the year. I would also like to get my time for 5 km down. Currently its just under 40 mins (39.40 I think) 35 would be terrific.