Not a trig: Great walk #6 - Gordon Ridge

I thought I’d seen a trig up on Gordon Ridge, so I thought I’d go and have a look. There was a little sprinkling of rain; enough to give me the place to myself, but not enough to worry about.

I parked on one of the local streets and walked up some stairs and a well-worn path to the fire trail.

It was a little climb, but not too strenuous. But then you can walk all the way along  the ridge on a pretty level trail. The views are pretty amazing, and change all the way along, from views over the Lanyon Valley; to Tuggeranong/Black Mountain views; then around to look out over the Bullen Range.

I had thought I’d find a trig up top, but the top of the hill is fenced all the way along (that I could see), so I settled for a no-trig journey!

I headed most of the way along, then down some big steps back into Gordon. Each step was quite high, hard on the knees!

I decided to loop back through the Gordon streets, rather than doubling back on the fire trail. There was even a nice view from the suburban stairs! 

There were some ups and downs as I made my way back, which made for more of a challenging walk, but it was good getting back into some of that hill walking! It was still less than 3km, but I got my heart beating well! Hopefully I’ll get my groove back nice and quick. 

Not a trig: Great walk #5 - Eucalypt Forest

New Year’s morning was lovely. Cool, cloudy and quiet. I got up early (for New Year’s Day, lol), and drive out to beautiful Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. I wasn’t aiming to push myself hard yet, so I decided on a wildlife focus. I headed to the Eucalypt Forest, where the first thing you are greeted with is the koala breeding enclosure. They are very cute. Hi 

I started along the Eucalypt loop, then branched off onto the Peppermint Trail. Almost all the way around I was joined by beautiful monarch butterflies. They were everywhere! 

It was a lovely, shady walk through the bush, with lots of beautiful bird life, bubbling streams and pretty Australian bush. I was alone for the first half, then a family got close behind, spiking the set with a bit. But that’s the way it goes I guess. 😬

Once again, it wasn’t a huge walk (less than 2km this time), but it was nice. I’ll definitely head back there for more over the coming weeks.

Not a trig: Great walk #4 - National Botanic Gardens

As I mentioned in the last post, I haven’t walked for a while. Probably a good month since I’ve done much at all to be honest. I had terrible lung problems for a couple of week, then for the last couple of weeks of term (and the couple of weeks since) I was completely and utterly exhausted! 2020 in a school took it out of me.

So around Christmas I started doing some short walks around my local area, trying to build my fitness. On New Year’s Eve, I ventured further afield. 

The National Botanic Gardens is a beautiful natural wonder just to the west of Canberra’s CBD, on the slope of Black Mountain.

My favourite part is the rainforest gully, so I started there. 

The rainforest gully is an absolutely amazing space. They have spent the last 50 years turning dry Canberra scrubland into a lush, cool rainforest,

and it’s gorgeous. On a warm day, it’s a lovely place to walk around.

From there, I walked to the rock garden, where there were lots of gorgeous water dragons sunning themselves, and a lovely little duck family.

I wandered around the gardens for a while longer. There is so much to look at, and for a keen gardener like myself, there is lots of inspiration. 

All in all, I managed just over 2km. Not a huge walk, but a lovely one. And it got the heart pumping. Perhaps one day I’ll combine it with the Black Mountain Summit Walk.