Night Walks

Once I got into the habit of walking between home and Tuggeranong (generally to go to the gym) it only seemed natural to continue walking even when the days were getting shorter. Some of the staff at the gym were horrified that I was doing the walk "in the dark" yet I felt perfectly comfortable doing it. I did buy a headlamp and, at the suggestion of one of the gym staff, carried my whistle but that was all. The headlamp could cause problems like the night I almost dazzled, perhaps I actually did, a chap on a bike who actually rang his bell to warn me of his approach. I was so surprised that someone would actually ring their bell that I turned around and gave him the full benefit of my light in his face. Oops!

When Trevor started to do his walking he aimed at walking after each of his meals. This eventually meant that he was walking after dark. I lent him my headlamp to try it out. The first outing was not very successful as he didn't realise that you could set the angle to suit the wearer. After this was explained and demonstrated the headlamp has been taken over by Trevor. Whose headlamp? I think I need to go and get one for me, now!

When I walk at night I generally follow a well lit route with a fair amount of traffic. Supplementary lighting isn't really required for most of my night walks. Occasionally, like this evening, I will go out just on dusk for a lengthy walk and then tend to vary the route. While I do have a small torch it is not nearly as effective as the headlamp. The torch is fine when the route is familiar but absolutely useless if trying to determine anything much about an unfamiliar one.

There are surprisingly few people out on foot after dark. I guess that the temperature drop probably has a bit to do with it. People tend to stay indoors when it is cold unless forced to venture out. Funnily enough, it only takes a windproof jacket, a beanie and gloves to be able to walk comfortably on most nights and frosty mornings.

One of the great things about night walks is that the views are wonderful if you get to a high point. The lights down the valley are very pretty. When the sky is clear, as it so often is on a Canberra winter night, the night sky is spectacular.