Well, Wonderland may be hyperbole, but it is rather pleasant walking in the hills that surround our street.
This morning a little after 5:30 am I left our house (see the faint yellow sign), turned right (heading left on the photo) and up on the hill following the white spotted, black line.
There is a couple of spots with moderately steep upgrades that get the heart pumping. It's a pleasant walk that takes about 30 minutes ... all the exercise an old dog (and even some young dogs!) needs.
From the surrounding hills, you can see The Gap south of Alice Springs through which the old Afghan camel trains used to pass. Nowdays of course, our trains and motor vehicles pass heading south to Ayres Rock (Uluru) and into South Australia or heading north to Alice Springs and beyond. You can also get a good view of the rest of the MacDonnel Ranges, the result of upheavals of an inland sea billions of years ago that later dried, vegetated and left such an impressive mark on the landscape.
As a boy, I collected various types of trilobite fossils from the countryside around Tennant Creek, 500km north of Alice Springs. They are somewhere between 250 and 500 million years old, which is an inconceivable number of years when compared with the minuscule 70 or 80 we spend here.
The weather this morning was very comfortable and I never ran into anyone walking their dogs as I often do.
While walking I took several photos of the surrounds and one of my house, which I have posted on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=119326&id=557304789&l=a2141c74f7
Usually kangaroos, some of which hop into our backyard, or around our house at sunrise or sunset appear whtn you walk this track, but I didn't see any today. When you walk close to them they are either lying down in the shade and, startled by your presence take to flight or they are grazing and move a few more metres out of your way.
This is not the only route one can walk. Tory and I took off on an unknown track a few months back and took 2.5h to get back home. Even Tory was stuffed when we got back, which was a good sign.
Robin
