Last Monday Rob, Tony & I went up to King Lake, not far from Rob’s place, for a wander round. Tony & I were up bright an early for it – I left dad’s well before 7am – which was tiring for me, but I survived. Tony had to pick up two of his aunts from the airport at 5pm, thus the early start.
I think I’ve been to King Lake before – in particular, Mount Sugarloaf. But it must have been a very long time ago. Tony & I met Rob at his place, then we headed out in two cars, to allow Tony & I to zip off straight to the airport afterwards. It also meant we could leave Rob’s car at the top of Mt. Sugarloaf and Tony’s at the bottom, so that if bad weather came in unexpectedly we’d have a better chance of escaping it. As it turned out, despite being a fairly dreary morning, it turned sunny in the afternoon and actually quite warm.
We took the main walk from the bottom to the top, about 8.5km. It’s supposed to follow the creek there a bit, and go past a couple of waterfalls, except it was so dry of course that there was no water, aside from the occasional fetid puddles. It was remarkably dry, even for typical bushland… dust rose up in light clouds with every footstep. Still, the trees all looked healthy enough – being eucalypts, not surprising – and even the bracken, moss and occasional fern seemed to be surviving.
We didn’t see a whole lot in the way of wildlife. One wallaby, a handful of butterflies, and a couple of small lyrebirds. There were a few other people on the track in the early part of the day, and heaps of people at the picnic areas in the early afternoon.
Tony & I had stopped by a bakery and supermarket on the way up, so we had some rolls and assorted bits ‘n’ pieces for lunch, and snacks. Rob got all dressed up in army gear, complete with canteen and all sorts, which I thought just looked a bit silly. :P
It was a pretty relaxed day, for the most part, and thoroughly enjoyable. I was a little disappointed at my poor level of fitness, which showed particularly in the last little uphill bit before the top, but then it’s hardly surprising given how little exercise I’ve had this summer. I’m looking forward to resuming a regular gym and biking routine when I get over to California – I think my body definitely needs it. :)
Still, that’s not going to stop me gorging myself this one last Easter, before I go… I mean, it is the last time I’ll be able to get good chocolate in both large quantities and affordably. But then, Bobo really likes Hersheys (i.e. American chocolate), so maybe I can organise an ongoing trade with her while I’m over there. :D
On the way back Rob & I both felt a slight hankering for ice cream, so we thought we’d swing by Sophia’s again. Unfortunately and totally unexpectedly, they turned out to be closed. :/ We made do with Cornettos and Drumsticks from the milk bar, and then went on our separate ways – Tony & I to the airport, Rob home.
We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare, so we checked out a book store and few other bits & pieces before heading to the arrival gate. The plane was delayed only a few minutes, so we’d soon greeted Tony’s aunts and were on our way.
In the airport carpark Tony parked opposite an MX-5, which I took a bit of a look at. I still like them, despite Jens’ objections, although until I actually get into one I’m just not convinced they’re actually spacious enough to be comfortable.
And so we made our way back to Tony’s place, via Carlton to drop one of his aunts off, and then I headed home to dad’s.
I did take photos during our walk, which I’ll try to post at some point in the near future.
