Walking Vs Pounding

Do you walk? Right, best to go read another article then because frankly you probably know more than me on the subject, and I don’t need that sort of pressure peering over my shoulder. For the rest of us i.e.myself and the dog watching me type, it’s time to discuss Walking versus Pounding. What is ‘walking’? Walking is an upwardly mobile activity, done at a relaxed enough pace that you can notice the nearly expired rego on your vehicle and sigh, the kind of speed you can see the rain sweeping toward you and fumble to get your brolli up, but also the right speed to notice pleasant naturey things. If you are panting after 10 paces and not 400kg, slow it down. It should feel natural, organic, unshaven. It is not to be confused with ‘the dawdle’, which should only be used for markets (included the synthetic variety), thrift shops and Ikea. This pace was surely not natural to MPP (my primitive peoples) as it invariable screws up my back. Use dawdling infrequently and with due care. So, walking is a speed at which you can take in the fresh air and birdsong and easily pause to fill a dog-poop bag without yanking the head off the dog. It is useful for noting the seasons and relaxing and of course a bit of exercise although this is never to be used as first priority. Dear me. Pounding? Pounding is putting your feet down at such a pace as to feel like you are planning to 'cover some miles today Legolas'. It is not ‘running to catch the train’ speed. Nor is it power-walking. Sigh. Who invented that coronary assault? Never ever call power-walking walking for a start. A friend once asked me if I wanted to go for a ‘walk’ one morning. Sure, says I. Well she shot off like a rocket I’d just lit- I had to jog to catch up. Of course I felt compelled to match pace. Alas, I had trimmed the topiary less than three days before and I could feel the sort of friction only an elephant’s arse and a tree-trunk can produce, beginning. Then there was the ‘trying to chat’, when every millipound of oxygen really needed using to keeping me from passing out.The speed at which we went caused my eyes to water so I couldn’t appreciate any nature that blurred by, and if it was called exercise it can only mean in the military sense where I needed to try and stay alive with just the clothes on my back. By walks end I almost had herniated dyspepsia. I do not know what that is, but the words feel right to describe my pain. So power-walking. Only for sports people and others who enjoy hurting. Pounding on the other hand is great. It can be done in happy times (tra la la) or angry times (bloody phone technician cancelled again, bloody...) and it feels good anyway. You are not walking too fast to enjoy the scents in the air (blossom, wood smoke, blood and bone) but the thighs get a right jiggling and the dog must trot. I find this the best pace for ideas to pop into my head. And, I must say, the pounding of your feet on the ground feels like an accomplishment. Even if the rest of your day is boring waffley crap (you work for a big company), you know you already ‘achieved something’ at the beginning of the day. Ha! They can’t take that off you Francine! Having said that, you can pound or walk in the evening too and it is most pleasant to do so. Dog poo is a little harder to skirt and car headlights make you want to bolt back to your bunny hole, but overall, it’s the other best bit of the day to do your stuff. And, if you do back to back evening and morning, you’ll think you’re pretty bloody amazing which is probably more than the boss or the kids are going to tell you. Win-win all round young Skywalker.

City and Chinese Gardens Photo Playdate.

Recently I got to throw down my paintbrush, wipe the Dulux off my arms and enjoy a well-earned city adventure with my lovely sister-in-law. We had promised many months ago that we would grab our cameras and head off somewhere yonder for a creative playdate. Of course we didn't intend so many months to pass but happily we did finally wangle it.
We chugged it into the city and enjoyed a delish brunch at a cafe with chairs lined up down a quaint alleyway. Even the old painted walls were inviting a photo; thus armed in the belly and the creative mind, we began the stop-start wander of the photo-buff.
As we discussed, this works well in pairs, but not solo with non-photographing family or friends. Otherwise this is professionally termed-"giving people the shits". Together it's fab because you are in simpatico company.
So, we wandered from Town Hall (St James and Town Hall beg a photo) down to Darling Harbour (great pier and water/boat pics to be found) and onto the gorgeous Chinese Gardens where you will be totally spoilt for choice and can take a lovely shot blindfolded ( though this method is a hazard on the rocky climbing pathways).
As an added bonus to the gorgeous plants and wildlife (turtles, water dragons, koi), people can hire traditional chinese Emperor/Empress garb for only $10. What we orginally thought were wedding parties, were just regular folks taking vanity shots among the waterfall and pagoda's. Fun!
Our last leg was back through part of China Town (great shops for pics) and back up to Town Hall for much needed victuals at a bookstore cafe. Sigh. What a lovely way to spend a great day. Then finally gathering your photo bounty at home and having a second load of fun playing round with your gleaned treasures. Brilliant.

Sydney Walk and Rail Adventure

I don't get many chances to play tourist in my own city, nor days adventuring with my family, so I combined the two and we all caught the train into town on the weekend.
The best way to get teens out of bed, is to promise a hearty breakfast at the destination. Hence, less than an hour later we were having a delicious hot breakfast at Bona Fides on Druitt street, Town Hall. It is a lovely medium sized cafe with most tables outdoors and set down a little alley way. A history of this little lane is written on the ground.
I'm no food critic but breakfast was very tasty and the organic coffee delish. Such good moods were induced by full bellies that I was able to quickly drag the family into three bookstores before the protests began (Abbeys, Galaxy and Kinokuniya). Working in a book store does not seem to cure you of wanting to go into others!
I was rather shocked to find my husband who has worked in the city all his life had never been on the monorail, so we did the full loop. I didn't realise one of my boys spent the whole ride contemplating how well the monorail was attached to it's track! We alighted at Darling Harbour and after a quick look around to see what was on, we headed towards The Rocks. There were so many beautiful little terraces we passed and some large fine old houses that I'm afraid I don't know the history of. Theres a big horrible development whose name I won't mention, taking up that part of the waterfront. I'm afraid the peace and relative quiet of so many little old houses will soon be gone.
Despite the fact that my husband seemed to know the area well by all the old pubs visited in years gone by, he had no trouble leading us round the streets and up steps till I called for a detour to Observatory Hill.
What a view! It must look spectacular on any day, looking as it does past Walsh bay and onto the Harbour and bridge but we were extra lucky with clear blue skies and sunshine- I could have taken a picture with a brick and it would have come out well. I have never been to the observatory itself- another adventure mentally booked for the future.
With a promise of ice cream at The Quay, we set off again through my favourite part of The Rocks. Sandstone is everywhere and you can't help imagining the convicts breaking their backs cutting it a few hundred years ago. Amazing!
The markets were on as usual but I was out-numbered by males 3 to 1 and didn't stand a chance of browsing. Plus, there was that ice cream I'd promised, luring them on!
We cut through to the Quay via the Nurses Walk, I think it's called- tiny old buildings, walkways and worn steps. In one spot they have left the foundations of a home (perhaps it is two) so you can see the size of the places they lived in. It has a funny atmosphere to it though it is only small and out in the open.
After the quiet back way, it is a shock to walk out onto the crowded Quay.It is the Festival of Sydney at the moment and school holidays, so the waterfront is bustling with people and buskers.
With all the ferries,water taxi's and jet-boats bobbing enticingly on the water, my younger son wanted to catch a boat somewhere. I couldn't blame him, the harbour looked beautiful and it would be nice to get away from the crowds, but it will have to wait another day.
I am not an ice cream fan, so it has to be good stuff to entice me, which is why I will happily eat the amazing stuff at Gelatissimo- and no I am not being paid to say this! I had two scoops in a cone- panetone and coconut- mm mm.
Lastly we walked around to the Opera House, because you just have to, and the boys sat on the fountain and played with the water jets. You are never too old to do this, especially if you get to chuck water at your sibling.
With a promise of a fish and chip lunch back on home turf (this carrot thing really works), we all headed back to collapse gratefully on the train, having had a thoroughly lovely adventure in the city.

La Perouse Peruse

I set off yesterday to view 'Sculptures By the Sea' between Tamarama and Bondi in Sydney's east. Unwittingly, I chose the day that Prince Frederick and Princess Mary also decided to take a squiz. I joked I had to search so far west for parking, I may have reached the eastern suburbs of Perth. In the end I gave up and decided upon Adventure Plan B- La Perouse.
I hadn't visited this area in years. Sure it had it's tourist attractions in the nearby sewerage treatment plant and Long Bay Gaol (I can make these jokes- I grew up in Kurnell.),but somehow almost twenty years have passed since I had been there.
La Perouse was named after a French navigator called Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse (!)and is at the northern headland of Botany Bay. On the southern side, at Silver Beach in Kurnell, La Parouse was the thing you preferred to look over the water at, rather than the airport, the shipping docks or the huge oil tankers in the bay. As a kid, you visited La Perouse to watch the reptile show (done by the same family since the 1920's)or to watch the boomerang demonstration and then beg your dad to buy you one, which never flew again except away from you.
The place actually has a really fascinating history with a great museum. Bare Island (which I thought was filled with bears as a kid) is a small island with an old military fortification on it, attached to the headland by a wooden bridge. The waters around the area are thick with scuba divers. Apparently the area is considered one of the best off-the-shore dive sites in Australia. You learn something new every day.
I had a really lovely visit. There are several sweet little beaches nearby and also good food (in my non-gourmet opinion)and coffee. Next time I would try book a tour of Bare Island and make a day of it. Perhaps give a nod to La Perouse himself and take a little picnic of french wine, crusty bread and some suitably stinky cheese.

Bonnie Vale

There's a place not too far from where I live that I fall in love with each time I visit. In my mind it qualifies as an island because it is a group of little seaside communities overlooking various beaches, sandbars and creeks.
Houses are everything from tiny old fisherman/holiday shacks right up to million dollar(+) mansions.
The 'island' has a perpetual holiday feel to it and in acknowledgement of this the place is peppered with B & B's and a lovely camp ground. Shops are small and quaint with handpainted signs and home-style food.
A ferry arrives on the hour dropping off locals and tourists alike, the latter like me, peering wistfully into the real-estate window. Good or bad, it is the 'island' like isolation which keeps many people from staying longer than an idyllic weekend. The one road out is long and can be treacherous, the activities for young people limited beyond the great outdoors. Highschool is a ferry and bus-ride away.
Still, I could live here very happily in a few years when my children have left home. There are lots of creative people living here, drawn to the beautiful and peaceful setting. It has a strong community feel.
I could definitely live a life by the sea, looking over the water to the 'mainland' and be blissfully glad to have escaped the bustle and highrise of suburbia.
This special island can be accessed by visiting by car or ferry, the villages of Bundeena, Bonnie Vale and Maianbar.

The Needles

Isn't it funny how you can live in an area for ages and then hear about a spot that everyone seems to know about except you.
The Needles was one such spot I heard about recently and I refused to be left out! Hence I went for a little explore yesterday. Some of the prettiest spots I find are right next to suburbia which gives them special meaning since I know they must be dear to the hearts of locals and visited by grateful adults, yelling happy children and wet excited dogs alike.
I have no idea how The Needles got it's name since it is a concrete causeway on a river with shallow rapids on one side and deeper water interspersed with shallow slabs of rock on the other. No needle like rocky pinacles in sight. In fact I thought it should be called The Hill since the walk back up it is a doozy! Not for the unfit, hence my mild exhaustion! This is a lovely spot for swimming in the warmer months, but bear in mind that return trip- you will not want to carry moaning children up it!

Cape Solander II

I headed out once again to Cape Solander. A month or so had passed since my last visit and with Spring well under way, I thought things may have changed a little- and they had!
I love the tiny rainforrest at the beginning of the path; huge straight trees, palms and pitosporum and ferns in the undergrowth and a little creek tricking in the half-light. Then it's sparsely treed forests of scribbly gum, turpentine,scraggy old peperita and the pink curly arms of the angophera. Lot's of cockatoo's screeching overhead and playing acrobatics on the grass tree flowers. We also saw the first of the channel-billed cuckoo's that visit each year from New Guinea and which promptly set about driving us all insane with their horrible screeching and calls.
Then you come to my second favourite part of the track. Just before you reach the heath, a small hill runs down with slightly stunted trees on each side. It's very protected and still and a haven for flowers.
A little further on you come to the wind blasted small tree's and shrub, also still at ground level and a haven for birds and lizards like dragons. I have seen snakes here at times too.
And the final part, my favourite (but not by much), are the heathlands which cover all the sandtone plateaus at the edge of the sea. There is the constant twitter and tinkle of small birds against the faint booming of the ocean against the cliffs. It is often breezy or windy here but if you get down low, it's still and warm and I imagine it is a lovely place to live if you were a bird. Tannin stained water trickles down toward the cliff edge and the sound of frogs is added to the chorus.
There is a safe spot to climb down the cliffs (away from the bits that make my legs go funny!) and you clamber over giant chunks of sandstone fallen off the underscored cliffs. You walk under these shelves reasoning that it would be silly for these pieces to crumble right now while you are under them!
Keeping well away from the pippi studded lower rocks, notorious for washing away fishermen, the cliffface is a magical world of fossil crusted rock, stalegmites, ferns, pools of rainwater, and the most amazing rocks of every hue and finish. Some are dry and potholed, others are wet and slimy (but only to look at)but it is all beautiful. And behind you , you have the ocean pounding away under a blue sky- magnificent!
Petrels and terns and pelican fly over the sea and ravens, swallows and spiders hang around the cliffs. Obviously you are not alone, but it's all so wild and open, you feel very much like you have all this to enjoy for yourself.