Kangaroo spotting

One of the benefits of walking is the opportunity to spot kangaroos. Yes, I know there was a kangaroo cull earlier this year but this has done little to reduce the number of roos I see from the various routes that I regularly walk.

Doing a circuit of Mt Taylor is definitely a roo spotting exercise. Late in the day, particularly at dusk, this can be a little tricky as the roos and rocks can look very similar. I have noticed that the rocks don't generally move so moving rocks are normally kangaroos. I can't recall doing a circuit of thye mountain without coming across at least one roo and sometimes it is getting up towards the hundred mark. Even so, the amount of vegetation on the slopes and adjacent pastures is phenomonal at present and spring has not yet arrived. It looks like we will be in for a high fire risk summer. Perhaps the authorities should not have done the roo cull after all!

Yesterday, Wednesday, Trevor and I did the circuit around Mt Taylor. While I generally walk from home and back yesterday we drove. I think I have only managed to get Trevor to walk to the base from home once. Anyway, it was a lovely sunny day with a stiff breeze. The walk was quite pleasant and I let Trevor set the pace. It was the first time that he had done the full circuit and it took us just over the hour.

The views from the circuit are really good. Depending where you start you have views to the south across the Tuggeranong Valley with the lake, town centre and backdrop of the ranges; to the east you overlook the Woden Valley and south Canberra; then to the west you have wonderful views to the ranges. The western views are wonderful around sundown ... really worthwhile walking along the Old Kambah fire trail as the sun is setting over the ranges.

I keep being surprised by kangaroos grazing close to the walking tracks. Usually there is one roo on lookout duty. As long as you are on the track and keep walking they will normally just watch you walk by while the rest of the mob just continues grazing.

It is fun watching joeys, particularly bigger ones, getting in to their mother's pounches. There are times when the effort is obviously too much as legs and tails are not always retracted.

In three weeks time Trevor and I will be half way though our Flinders Ranges adventure. I just hope that Trevor has done enough preparation so taht he is able to participate in most, if not all, of the activities. I think that he should be OK for most of what is on offer, even the ascent of St Mary Peak. I guess time will tell.