... on discovering new places.

I'm an epic early-morning walker. By that I mean that I like to get into my hiking boots and stride off for the sort of long walk that sees me coming home sweaty, hungry, and satisfied that I've been out into the world for a bit. Over the past few weeks I've been scoping out the new (to me) local area for some good routes, and I'm pleased to report that I've found some... oh yes!

This first place is a path that runs along a ridge high above the Brisbane River. It sits beside a road bordered on one side by one of those bushy sustainable-eco types of housing developments, and has a gravelly path that reminds me of Girraween National Park, my favourite camping destination.

If I feel up to the climb on the way back up I can take a steep bush track that zig-zags down to The Rocks Riverside Park. It's an old concrete works and incorporates lots of old industrial stuff into the design. One of my favourite parts is the old jetty which has these grates that you can look through down to the river, and is teeming with chittering swallows who zoom in between the pylons to their nests underneath.

I'm delighted that the river is within range, and just the other day I found another bit that I like a lot. There's this odd little pocket of rurality in Oxley. It has horses in paddocks, a dam with a cloud of mist often arising from it, and even a farm stall selling garlic, eggs and tomatoes on Fridays. I can walk down a hill past an area of rainforesty bush listening to whip-birds calling, say hello to the horses and stop by the river awhile, which always looks beautiful in the early part of the day.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's walk already.