The following walk reports may include locations subject to restricted access. It may not be open to the public and you would not be authorised to visit the location without approval of the landowner. Our walking groups obtain permission where required for these walks.
Walkers – Wendy & Steve, Julie, Jackie, Christine, Helen & Grahame, Hugh, Michele & Gary, John, Paul, Colin
We started off this easy 17.9km walk in bright, sunny conditions expecting it to get warmer as the day progressed and perhaps an electrical storm and maybe a shower towards the end. We were quickly strung out and the first regrouping occurred at the Tullawal/Border Track junction. Smoko was had at Joalah Lookout where we usually (but not this time) see little black snakes warming themselves in the sun. Very little haze yet even though it was getting warmer so we could see for a great distance.
After Smoko we pushed on to the Border Track Junction where we would veer left to get onto the Araucaria track. We arrived at the Orchid Bower but again we had missed the best of the orchids. It is very hard to arrive at just the right time for the best display.
Next stop was Araucaria Lookout and this time we did the loop in a clockwise direction just for a change. The views were spectacular but getting quite warm so with little shade we decided to return to the more shaded Orchid Bower for lunch. We spent an extended time here for lunch as we had made good time.
From here it was a leisurely walk back to the Binna Burra Tea House and then on to Gary & Michele’s place for refreshments of coffee, tea and delicious chocolate cake – Colin.
Why does attentiveness to nature matter? In a very fundamental sense, we are what we pay attention to. Paying heed to beauty, grace, and everyday miracles promotes a sense of possibility and coherence that runs deeper and truer than the often illusory commercial, social "realities" advanced by mainstream contemporary culture. ... Our attention is precious, and what we choose to focus it on has enormous consequences. What we choose to look at, and to listen to--these choices change the world. As Thich Nhat Hanh has pointed out, we become the bad television programs that we watch. A society that expends its energies tracking the latest doings of the celebrity couple is fundamentally distinct from one that watches for the first arriving spring migrant birds, or takes a weekend to check out insects in a mountain stream, or looks inside flowers to admire the marvelous ingenuities involved in pollination. The former tends to drag culture down to its lowest commonalities; the latter can lift us up in a sense of unity with all life. The Way of Natural History, edited by Thomas Lowe Fleischner and published by Trinity University Press (Texas)
