Hiking in the sheep pastures of Mt. Alexander

Yesterday.

I awoke at 8am. i went on a massive hike to the mount Alexander region to look at the granite intrusions and metamorphic aureole.(phew- new words are fun!) i wrote a little diary entry that will appear in my nature diary... it goes a little something like this:

the fog hung over the landscape like a shroud, bringing to mind the bloody history of colonization that shaped our country. we walked as a group, most of us silent, some of us not. Gerry Gill ( our lecturer) firstly took us to a granite oven, used many centuries ago by the local aboriginal people. the dark rich soil surrounding it testament to the fires that once burned here.basalt chips littered the ground around the granite boulders, a testament to the generations of heating rocks that were dragged down from the plateaus of volcanic rock that surrounded us.

Gerry took us to a beautiful spot deep in the heart of this private property-a large granite basin had been formed below us and we were given free range to explore our surroundings, as long as we were careful.i took a few pictures of the natural waterfalls and the surrounding beautiful scenery of the gorge.

after a few of us had eaten our lunch we moved on up the hill to see a stone circle on the earth that had been formed by ancient hands within another granite valley. this structure may have been accredited to Mundi, the dream time serpent of destruction ( who coincidentally associated with the plague of small pox that struck the virgin aboriginal population) near to this stone circle was a more recently man made western style dry rock wall. Gerry told us that this had been built by a Chinese market Gardener in the time of the gold rushes who had supplied the local settlers with fresh vegetables.

at this time it was almost two o'clock so we began the arduous and most direct trek back to the bus ( as the crow flies) and i struggled to climb the hill that was on this path ( at that moment it felt like Gerry gill was my own personal trainer- pushing me one more step at a time!)

on the way back we stopped at an abandoned water course which now borders on a walking track. Gerry told the group of the vision that was instrumental in the planning of this water course that weaves its way in through and around the granite country of the area.

after this arduous trek we got back to the uni at about 4.30 hen went home and slept until 10am the next day! man my feet and calves are so sore!





P.S 'Springs' Asian grocer has opened up! They dont have very much variety at the moment but you can see that they have a lot of shelf space for more items!i asked about the eggs and we will see how they go! yayayay!