recharge day
.
Today, as my holidays draw to a close, i had a whole day to myself and took the opportunity to go on one of my favourite Eastern Burbian expeditions.
I left home early in the morning to catch the train to Belgrave, where i strolled up to Earthly Pleasures for breakfast and a pot of tea. After a leisurely hour or so there, i wandered along the main road looking at some of the old houses, then back to the station to catch the bus up to Mount Dandenong, choosing a good window seat to take in the scenery as the bus wound up through tree-fern filled gullies, tall forests and touristy little townships on the journey up. At the lookout, i spent most of my time wandering through the English Garden, watching the stream water flowing over rocks and pebbles beneath the little bridges and doing some walking meditation when no-one was around. It was pretty chilly in the morning, but far less crowded than later in the day. As the bus-loads of tourists started to arrive, i took a walk along a bush path until i reached a spot overlooking the Eastern Burbs, where i sat for a while looking down at the forest on the hillside and the farmland far below (the brim of my hat tilted low enough to screen off the industrial zones beyond them, including the one where my work sits waiting for me). Rosellas and kookaburras were everywhere, as well as one very large bird which may have been an eagle but had passed overhead before i got a good look at it. As 2:30 approached, i strolled back to the lookout to catch the last bus back to Belgrave, with enough time for one more wander around the (now much busier) English Gardens, soaking in the image of babbling brooks to call to mind in a couple of days' time when it's 36 degrees again. Another scenic ride back down the mountain, getting off near Micawber's Tavern to sit by the creek for a while, then walk the last kilometer into Belgrave, past the cute little houses nestled into the hillside below the road there, a quick stop in a gift shop to pick up a wind chime, then back to Earthly Pleasures for another pot of tea, sipped while listening to their soundtrack of jazz, blues, old rock & roll and African-sounding stuff and gazing across the tree-shade dappled lawn. Tea and atmosphere drunk, i took one more stroll, down the walking path by the railway from Belgrave to Tecoma station, then onto the train back home to hang my wind chime and relax in my own garden (with an extra bonus of kookaburras singing by the walking path here).
Not a bad way to spend a day at all.
Today, as my holidays draw to a close, i had a whole day to myself and took the opportunity to go on one of my favourite Eastern Burbian expeditions.
I left home early in the morning to catch the train to Belgrave, where i strolled up to Earthly Pleasures for breakfast and a pot of tea. After a leisurely hour or so there, i wandered along the main road looking at some of the old houses, then back to the station to catch the bus up to Mount Dandenong, choosing a good window seat to take in the scenery as the bus wound up through tree-fern filled gullies, tall forests and touristy little townships on the journey up. At the lookout, i spent most of my time wandering through the English Garden, watching the stream water flowing over rocks and pebbles beneath the little bridges and doing some walking meditation when no-one was around. It was pretty chilly in the morning, but far less crowded than later in the day. As the bus-loads of tourists started to arrive, i took a walk along a bush path until i reached a spot overlooking the Eastern Burbs, where i sat for a while looking down at the forest on the hillside and the farmland far below (the brim of my hat tilted low enough to screen off the industrial zones beyond them, including the one where my work sits waiting for me). Rosellas and kookaburras were everywhere, as well as one very large bird which may have been an eagle but had passed overhead before i got a good look at it. As 2:30 approached, i strolled back to the lookout to catch the last bus back to Belgrave, with enough time for one more wander around the (now much busier) English Gardens, soaking in the image of babbling brooks to call to mind in a couple of days' time when it's 36 degrees again. Another scenic ride back down the mountain, getting off near Micawber's Tavern to sit by the creek for a while, then walk the last kilometer into Belgrave, past the cute little houses nestled into the hillside below the road there, a quick stop in a gift shop to pick up a wind chime, then back to Earthly Pleasures for another pot of tea, sipped while listening to their soundtrack of jazz, blues, old rock & roll and African-sounding stuff and gazing across the tree-shade dappled lawn. Tea and atmosphere drunk, i took one more stroll, down the walking path by the railway from Belgrave to Tecoma station, then onto the train back home to hang my wind chime and relax in my own garden (with an extra bonus of kookaburras singing by the walking path here).
Not a bad way to spend a day at all.