Mt Taylor circuit

Back in the March I took a series of photos detailing the circuit I quite often do around Mt Taylor. I have finally got around to downloading the photos from the camera and here is a pictorial view of the walk.

I tool the camera out a couple of weeks later to fill in some gaps. It was a day of many close encounters with kangaroos. I've added some of the photos from the second series into this post.

I start from home heading along our street, turn left onto Boddington Crescent and head towards Kambah Village.

Crossing Drakeford Drive is often a challenge. Yes, there are traffic lights but the wait can seem excessive at times.

The target, Mt Taylor, can be seen in the background.

Lanes are common throughout the suburb and this lane connects Marconi Crescent to an underpass at Sulwood Drive

The underpass is  fine except following rain. Its drains clog up and the underpass becomes a pool. When filled with water there is no option but to go across Sulwood Drive which can be a bit tricky at this point.

Once through the underpass, a rough track runs alongside the houses leading up to Colquhoun Street.

Crossing Colquhoun Street you pass through an open grassy area. Mt Taylor can be seen in the distance.

Finally you reach the entrance to the park. Note the locked gate which you need to get through to enter the park.

The distance from home to the gate is 2km by the route I normally walk.

Through the gate you are on the Old Kambah Fire Trail, seen on the left of this photo. At this point I generally take the track leading off to the right as I tend to do the circuit in an anti-clockwise direction.

The park has recovered well from the 2003 bushfires which raged through it. The trees have rebounded  and new trees have grown to replace those which were destroyed.

A short distance along the track there is a fork. When doing a circuit I take the track to the right. The track to the left meanders across meadows and eventually meets up with the Western Powerlines Fire Trail. I take the left track if I am climbing the mountain up "my track".

There are quite a few watercourses that run through the park. Most are dry pretty much all of the time. This creek crossing is a little over a metre deep. Not one to cross if it is full of water.

The track weaves its way across a meadow with some impressive native grasses.

At this stage I am tracking along the southern side of Mt Taylor along the Sulwood Fire Trail.

Sulwood Drive is visible at the bottom of the photo below. In the middle of the photo are a number of layers of ranges. Depending on the time of day and the light it is possible to see 5 or more ranges off in the distance.

At points on the circuit you are faced with options. I usually take the track which swings around to the left along drain.

 

This trail takes me up and across the bottom of a "rock run". I keep hoping to see water pouring down the rocks but to date the best I have managed is a trickle.

Water does collect in some of the rock basins.

The next shot shows the track leading up from the rock run. It is quite steep and rocky with a covering of loose soil.

The Sulwood Fire trail has some great views across Lake Tuggeranong to the town centre and the ranges beyond.

The Sulwood Fire Trail meanders up and down. It is great for developing your stabilisers and the surface is uneven, sometimes slippery and in parts rocky.

Here is another view across to the ranges with the Tuggeranong town centre just visible in the centre of the picture.

The Sulwood Fire Trail eventually meets Mrs Lowe's Fire Trail. I have no idea who Mrs Lowe is or was nor why she warrants a fire trail named after her.
 

If you look very carefully you can see a group of kangaroos on the path.

Many of the kangaroos are very used to walkers and show little or no concern as long as you are using the paths. This group were quite content to watch me walk passed.

The intersection of the Sulwood and Mrs Low's Fire Trails

At the top of Mrs Low's Fire Trail there is a path that heads up the mountain. Trevor and I generally refer to this trail as the Mannheim Street track as it is the track that you get to from the (informal) parking area on Sulwood Drive opposite the Mannheim intersection.

There is a park noticeboard at this point and the distance from the entrance gate to the notice board is 2km.

When doing a circuit I follow the track around the fenceline, go over a culvert and pick up a track on the bank of the cut-off drain which runs inside the park. There is another track on the outside of the park and you can see people walking along it in the photo.

As can be seen in the photo above, the track is not exactly straight neither is is level. It does take a bit of care to walk along it. Good for the stabilisers! This track runs along the eastern side of the mountain.

Across the drain is a fairly large meadow and there are often roos in this area.

The houses backing on to the park were built in the late 60s and early 70s. The blocks are quite large by modern standards and many of the houses boast tennis courts in their backyards. It is rare to see people out on the courts these days  however I suspect that they were well used in the 70s. When I arrived in Canberra in 1972 tennis was a very common social activity.

There are some lovely views from this part of the track. The photo below has the Woden town centre with a view across to Black Mountain.
 

The next photo shows a bridge across the drain which gives access to a summit track. According to a recently posted notice, the track is the first summit track on Mt Taylor to receive an official name. The name? Good question!I think it is now called the Richmond Fellowship (or is it Foundation?) Track. Marist College had some association with the upgrading of the track in conjunction with the Richmond whatever.

Often when out walking I come across ant nests. Here is one that I regularly pass over just beyond the bridge shown in the previous photo.

In the older suburbs the houses and other buildings are well hidden by mature trees. This view is looking over the Woden Valley with hardly a rooftop, let alone an building, to be seen over the trees.

At the point where I turn along the northern side of the park there is a rough exit path out to Macfarlane Crescent. I use this path when I am going to or returning from Woden.

Ignoring the path shown above, the path heads up over a rocky knoll before heading down towards the only official carpark servicing the park. This section of the track is rocky and rough and requires a bit of attention to foot placement.

Once through the short rocky section the path becomes flat and sandy with just the odd exposed rock jutting out to catch the unwary.

The track meanders through some light scrub before emerging near the car park.  There are a number of picnic tables in this area. I don't know how well they are used as I have rarely seen anyone using them. 

 As indicated earlier, there are lots of options when choosing paths through the park. From the carpark/picnic area I generally follow a track along the fence and then turn along a track that leads away from an access gate. This track cross a fire trail which goes up to the summit. Crossing the fire trail I walk down an eroded track which takes me to a dry creek. I have only seen water running in this creek once. The banks of the creek are well grassed and there is a meadow on the far side of the creek which often has a small group of kangaroos in residence.

There are some lovely mature trees within the park. Here is an example of one of them.

Leaving the dry creek I continue along a track that eventually crosses the Western Powerlines Fire Trail and I join the Old Kambah Fire Trail. Below is a shot of the Western Powerlines Fire Trail looking south.The trail actually does a number of ups and downs which cannot be easily seen in the photo.

The Old Kambah Fire trail continues west before turning south. This track has wonderful views across the ranges.Once it turns south it provides good view to the west and the sunsets are often magical.

There is often a sizable group of kangaroos either above or below this section of the track. Sometimes above and below. Mostly the roos are unfazed by my passage and will either continue eating or just watch me as I pass.

The are some great example of older trees along this part of the track, too.

Below is a view across the ranges.

The following 5 photos were taken in the second series and show some of the light effects close on sunset.

Looking up towards the summit a group of kangaroos can be seen in the meadow.

 Just before the gate I reach the path I first took just after entering the park.

And finally, the exit. This is a welcome sight when doing a late afternoon walk and the light has faded before finishing the circuit.

 The circuit of the mountain is around 5.5km. Add the 2km to and from the entrance adds up to 9.5km.

If you would like to learn more about Mt Taylor here is a link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Taylor_%28Australian_Capital_Territory%29  or just put Mt Taylor ACT into your search engine.

I'll add more Mt Taylor photos when I get a chance.

The Golden Everlasting is a feature of the park. Its flowers can be seen year round.

Here is a plant in situ

And just in case you haven't seen enough kangaroos, here are a few more shots:

May update

May has been a funny (as in odd) month. I seem to have been tied up with numerous activities that have limited my walking. For once Trevor has well and truly outwalked me.

I did manage over 30,000 steps on the first day of the month. It was another 4 weeks before I repeated what is normally quite a regular achivement. Not in May!

Most of the interfering activities related to swimming, firstly school swimming stuff then my more regular Swimming ACT things. May saw the Swimming ACT presentation night followed quickly by the AGM which meant, of course, the Annual Report. Both of these events have considerable preparation and printing involved and they really do take up a substantial amount of time. Throw in a meet or two as well as preparation for the ACT Winter Championships and the month quickly evaporates.

Still, I did manage some walking and that included a number of ascents of Mt Taylor. Yes, it was a start. Trevor observed that my track up to the top of Mt Taylor from the Colquhoun Street gate was quite rough. It seemed about the same to me. Still, it does provide challenges not available on the two more formal stepped tracks and I like its informality.

May stats ... and these look a little pathetic:
Distance: 307.54km (not even 10ks per day!)
Calories: 12,568
Elevation gained: 4710m

... and what is in store for June? Hopefully quite a few ascents of Mt Taylor working towards 1000m climb in a single day ... we will see how I get on ...

April walks

With Easter almost behind us April seemed to arrive early. This was going to be the month to start running again but it seemed that everything was conspiring against my plans. Still, I did manage to get in a fair bit of walking at the start of the month around the last of the school swimming carnivals.

This month I did achieve a number of milestones even if running was not one of them.

Monday 1 April:
Trevor and I headed over to Cooleman Court in the early afternoon, in the car, and I walked back tracking up past the Chapman shops and onto Cooleman Ridge and then following the Stanhope Highway around the base of Mt Arawang. This is a very pleasant 6km walk with about half a km of reasonable climbing in the middle.

Later I took the opportunity to do a circuit of Mt Taylor. I took my camera so that I could record some of the views from the track as well as the kangaroos and the actual track itself. There were a number of co-operative roos who were not fazed by my attention. I'll do a Mt Taylor post once I have a chance to check out the photos. With an extension around the ovals this walk was a little over 10km.

After dinner I did my Marconi Crescent walk. From home to the end of Marconi Crescent and return is just a shade over 4km.

Total for the day: 20.45km

Tuesday 2 April:
First up today was another regional swimming carnival. This was the shortest of the 12 & under carnivals and I was pleased to get home, do the results and other post carnival stuff. Unfortunately, Meet Manager wanted to download an update so I took the opportunity to head down to the Village to grab some items for dinner.

Once I completed the carnival reports I headed out and did the Mt Taylor circuit.

Total for the day: 12.04km

Wednesday 3 April
Wednesday is my day for torture. I have a 9 o'clock session with my personal trainer Sue. Most weeks I walk to the gym and home. This week was no exception. It is always nice to get out and it is amazing just how many regulars I encounter on the path between home and the Tugg town centre. Generally I walk along the lake shore on the way home. I'm always a bit slower on the return following my session with Sue.All up it is a little over 12km.

In the afternoon Astrid came over to spend some time with us while Nic tackled some cleaning jobs at home. We walked down to the village so that Astrid could have a baby chino and Trevor and I had a coffee.

After I got everything ready for Thursday swimming I did my Marconi Crescent walk.

Total for the day: 18.25km

Thursday 4 April
I was not feeling all that brilliant this morning. Faced with another day at the pool was not my idea of fun when not 100%. Still, the carnival ran well and I was pleased to get home, albeit feeling rather poorly.

After completing the post carnival activities I set out to do a slow Marconi Crescent walk. Slow it was.


Total for the day: 4.1km

Friday 5 April
My throat felt like it had been sandblasted overnight and my nose was running. Still, my temperature was normal so there was no reason not to go for a walk.

For lunch Trevor and I went down to Brother's Oven, a bakery cafe at the Tuggeranong Town Centre. After lunch I walked back, slowly, along the lake shore.

Later in the afternoon I realised that I needed to get some scripts filled so I headed off to the Village and went for a walk while waiting.

Total for the day: 11.21km

Saturday 6 April
I didn't sleep all that well. I seem to be awake every hour with either a blocked nose or a rough throat. At least I was feeling much more human by the time I got up. Hopefully I am on the mend.

Trevor and I decided to go to Cooleman Court for lunch and I walked back. I think it was my slowest walk from Cooleman Court home to date. Still, I did it.

I had been spending a lot of time hunched over the keyboard so I decided to stretch my legs again in the late afternoon and did my Marconi Crescent walk. Once again, I was not beating any records. It was slow but good to be out.

Total for the day: 10.18km

Sunday 7 April
Having slept badly as I woke up every half hour or so with a running nose and cough I had a pretty miserable start to the day. During the morning I attempted to clear some of my backlog of swimming stuff but found it difficult to concentrate.

In the early afternoon I decided to go for a slowish walk and headed out into the glorious autumn sunshine and almost no breeze which was a problem for the people trying to sail on Lake Tugg.

In the end I walked down to the Tuggeranong Town Centre and enjoyed a coffee at Brother's Oven before returning home. Walking along the lake shore was particularly pleasant. While my nose started to run after I had been out for a while and I did end up with a couple of coughing episodes, no thanks to people who were happily putting smoke into the air for poor sods like me to encounter, it was great to be out and I enjoyed my very snail paced walk.

Total for the day: 12.04km

Weekly total: 88.25km

Monday 8 April
Still not feeling great I took it easy this morning. I still have a heap of swimming things to clear up so it was easy to fill in the morning.

Around lunch time we trundled down to Woden Plaza. The place was full of oldies, obviously let out after being confined over the weekend, or young women with young children.

I walked home from Woden through Chifley and the Mt Taylor Nature Reserve. It was a lovely warm day and I had not expected to see in kangaroos so was pleasantly surprised to come across a mob lazing in the shade of the trees in the area below the Old Kambah fire trail. There were some big roos in the group.

Trevor and I wandered down to the Village later in the afternoon and after dinner I did my Marconi Crescent walk.

No walk today was speedy however I was certainly faster than the previous few days and my muscles seemed less tired.

Total for the day: 11.57km

Tuesday 9 April
I finally had a good nights sleep and ended up sleeping in until after 11 o'clock. When I go up I started to cough again. Bother. I obviously had junk in my lungs as it kept coming up.

Astrid came over this afternoon so we had a slowish walk to the Village returning via the ovals and the playground across the road from us. I only logged a mere 1.93km today. Will need to do better tomorrow.

Total for the day: 1.93km

Wednesday 10 April
When I woke up this morning I was felling awful. For the first time in a very long time I cancelled my PT session.

At lunch time Trevor and I went down to Brother's Oven. Suitably revived I headed home on foot along the shore of Lake Tuggeranong. It was a glorious day, warm with just the hint of a breeze. Very pleasant.

Once home I tackled some of the school swimming related emails. After a number of frustrating hours I decided that a walk around Mt Taylor would do me the world of good and it did. There were a number of spots where kangaroos had gathered, some quite close to the track. They were not in the least bother by my passage.

There is a program that comes on at 6pm which has walks around/across Britain. This week has the Coast to Coast. I'm not sure whether I want to see it or not. The program was shot in September when it is usually relatively good weather and so far the presenter has had 3 wet days out of 4. It looks as if we will get some use out of our wet weather gear!

After dinner I did my Marconi Crescent walk.

Total for the day: 20.29km

Thursday 11 April

I did go to my session at the Family History Centre today but I was really feeling lousy and was pleased when 2 o'clock came and I could head home.

We were babysitting Astrid this afternoon while Nic and Antony had a late afternoon appointment.

Not having done any walking during the day I did my Marconi Crescent walking before turning in for teh night.

Total for the day: 4.05km

Friday 12 April

Friday is generally the morning that Astrid swims. We sometimes head to Brother's Oven for breakfast before going to the Young's Swim School pool where Astrid has her swimming lesson. She is starting to actually kick rather than being pulled around the pool. She obviously thoroughly enjoys her swimming regardless of how much effort she puts in to the half hour.

I walked home after the swimming.

The day was gloriously warm so in the late afternoon  I headed out to do a slow circuit of Mt Taylor. I took my camera with me again and got more shots to include in my Mt Taylor post when I finally get around to doing it.

Total for the day: 13.24km

Saturday 13 April

Another pleasantly warm day. After lunching at Brother's Oven I walked home along the western side of Lake Tuggeranong.

My only other walking for the day was a stroll to the Village with an extension part way along Marconi Crescent.

Total for the day: 8.16km

Sunday 14 April

How quickly the weeks are flying by. The second week of April is compete.

It was another lovely warm day. After lunching at Cooleman Court I walked home along the Stanhope Highway. In the middle of the day I don't expect to see kangaroos and I didn't. There were lots of people out and about taking advantage of the warm day.

I the late afternoon I decided to do a Lake Tugg circuit. Once again there were lots of people out as well as their four legged friends. Bike riders are a potential hazard. Most do not give any warning that they are about to pass you. There is no noise until they are alongside. One day I'm sure that I'll step to the right for some good reason and find myself wearing a bike!

Before calling it a night I did a slow Marconi Crescent walk to get the kinks out of my shoulders and back from slogging away at swimming stuff.

Total for the day: 24.15km

Total for the week: 83.39km

Monday 15 April

Taking advantage of another warm day I walked from Woden home through the Mt Taylor Nature Reserve.

In the late afternoon I did the Marconi Crescent walk coming back via the Village.

Total for the day: 10.59km

Tuesday 16 April

Today was cloudy but still reasonably warm. I took advantage of the warmth and walked from Tuggeranong home along the lake shore.

Astrid visited us in the afternoon and we walked down to the Village and home via the playground just off Barritt Street.

After dinner Trevor joined me on the Marconi Crescent walk.

Total for the day: 12.49km 

Wednesday 17 April

Today was my session with my personal trainer. While I had woken up a couple of times during the night coughing I was feeling reasonable OK. My right arm was a little sore. This seemed to be consistent with the wog that had been plaguing Trevor and I for a while. Anyway, not to be put off I headed off to the gym a little earlier than I normally would have left home so that I did not have to hurry. Walking at a comfortable pace and concentrating on my breathing seems to minimise the coughing fits.

Sue, my PT, modified the plan she had set for the day, reducing the weights and substituting stretching exercises for a number of those she had intending getting me to do.

After my PT I headed home via the western shore of Lake Tugg.

I walked down to the Village to do some shopping around lunchtime.

At 4:30 I was meeting my fellow selector to go though the selections for the swimming ACT D Squad. The meeting place was to be the Tuggeranong Pool. A walk to and from the pool was a very pleasant respite from the other swimming activities I had been dealing with.

Total for the day: 25.19km

Thursday 18 April

Thursdays are always a bit of a challenge as I am generally tied up for much of the day with my session at the Family History Centre. Today was no exception. On top of everything else I was still feeling pretty lousy and I only did my Marconi Crescent walk.

Total for the day: 4.06km

Friday 19 April

At 4 o'clock I headed out to do a circuit of Mt Taylor. It is always wonderful walking around the mountain in the late afternoon and early evening. The views are lovely, the roos fun to spot and watch and the sunsets can be awesome.

Total for the day: 10.19km

Saturday 20 April

Trevor and I had lunch at Brother's Oven and then I set off for a longish walk. Initially I walked along the western side of Lake Tugg. On reaching the northern end of the lake I turned east towards Wanniassa covering some paths I had not used before.

At Wanniassa I stopped at the bakery and had a coffee. It was pleasant to just have a quiet sit for a few minutes.

Leaving the Wanniassa shops I headed up towards Sullwood Drive and crossed it near the reservoir situated beside Sullwood Drive, just before Athlon Drive. Crossing in the the Taylor Nature Reserve was a little tricky until I discovered that the fence between the reservoir and the reserve had been breached and there was a track beaten by quite a few passing feet.

Once in the reserve a narrow path meander along the bank of a drain which passed through spindly trees. The path eventually delivered my to the Manheim Street entrance to the park. Now I was on more familiar territory.

I set off one my one and a bit circuits of Mt Taylor doing it in a clockwise direction. I initially took the lower of the two tracks that traverse the southern side of the mountain and on the second pass of the southern side I took the higher route.

My exit point was my frequent entry point: the gate leading down onto Colquhoun Street. From here is was three and a bit ks home via the Village and the ovals.

All up this route was some 17.39km.

Having been nicely warmed up I ventured out just on 6 o'clock and did my Marconi Crescent walk with an extension.

Total for the day: 22.50km (This is the average distance we will walk on the 13 days of the C2C walk).

Sunday 21 April

Setting out from Woden just before 2 o'clock I headed through Chifley and into the Mt Taylor reserve. I did a complete clockwise circuit of the mountain picking the southern side on the first transit and continued on around the mountain until I reached the Colquhoun Street exit gate. A circuit of the mountain is around 5.5km give or take a little. All up I did about 9kms around the mountain. When I reached Marconi Crescent, instead of turning right and headed for home I turned left and walked to the end of the road before turning around and heading back towards the Village. Passing under Drakeford Drive I did a loop around the edge of the ovals before heading home. All up the walk was 16.11km. I was pleased that I had maintained a speed faster than 6km/h for this walk.

In the late afternoon I did the Marconi Crescent walk with a deviation through the Village, shopping, and then across the ovals on the way home.

Total for the day: 20.54km

Total for the week:  105.56km ... pretty good averaging just over 15km per day

Monday 22 April

Somehow I had not managed to get out until quite late in the day. A trip to Cooleman Court for a coffee and some groceries allowed my to start my walk from Weston. Walking up through Stirling and then across Waramanga I passed under the Tuggeranong Parkway and entered the Mt Taylor reserve just before the walking track crossed Waldock Street. This was new territory for me and it was good to follow the path passed the odd unconcerned kangaroos until the path joined the Western Powerlines FT. Here I discovered copious kangaroos grazing beside the track. I continued along the Western Powerlines FT powering up the steep ascents and coming down the descents at quite a quick pace. When the trail intersected the Sulwood FT I headed towards the higher route, the one that follows the power lines along the southern side of the mountain and completed an anticlockwise circuit of the mountain. On reaching the Western Powerlines FT I crossed it so that I could walk along my preferred Old Kambah FT which affords lovely views across the ranges, particularly at dusk.

Once back at the Colquhoun Street exit gate I left the park and headed home via the Village and a loop around the ovals. It was pretty dark by the time I got home. This was a 12.68km walk which I had doen at an average pace of 6.29kph.

Before retiring for the night I did my Marconi Crescent walk.

Total for the day: 20.35km

Tuesday 23 April
I had arranged to meet a couple of swimming people at Brother's Oven, the first at 12 o'clock and the second at 12:30pm so I headed off to Tuggeranong about 20 minutes to 11 so that I would not have to push it. I did have another objective. Astrid needs something like a painting smock to keep her clean when she is "mixing" and I was hoping to pick one up at the Hyperdome on the way through. I did eventually find one at Target although it is a little big on her at the moment but it does the job.

On the way down I took the short route along Athlon Drive. It is a mere 5.7km.

After my meetings, and the odd cup of coffee, I headed home. It was a very pleasant day. The temperature was in the low 20s and it was sunny. I walked back along Athlon Drive as Astrid was visiting us and expected to arrive around 2:30pm.

When Astrid comes for a visit we generally head off to the Village so that she can have a babychinno followed by time in the playground across the road from us. Her current favourite bit of play equipment is the slide.

After dinner I did my Marconi Crescent walk.

Total for the day: 17.48km

Wednesday 24 April
Wednesday is generally a good walking day as I walk down to the gym and back with my PT session in between. I made good time to the gym. I'm not sure whether it was the cool morning, it was only 6 when I set out, or whether I was finally on the mend. My return time is always a little slower - a reflection of the effort expended in the PT session.

After a latish lunch at Woden and some browsing at possible walking gear I headed home via Mt Taylor taking the longer clockwise route from my Chifley entry point to my Colquhoun Street exit. The temperature had climbed to 22 and it was bright and sunny. Very pleasant to be out and about.

I had a meeting tonight which was quite short and I managed to get home at a reasonable hour allowing me to get in my Marconi Crescent walk before hitting the sack. 

Total for the day: 26.35km

Thursday 25 April
Even though it was Anzac Day and a public holiday Jim thought that we should still open the family history centre. It did allow me to check some of the Maling information where my records differed from my recently discovered Maling cousin.

Having done no walking for the day I set out just on 5:30 to stretch my legs and walked through the spine of Kambah as far as Athlon Drive and back home.

I did do a trip to the Village a little later in the evening.

Total for the day: 7.52km

Friday 26 April
Trevor and I did a circuit from home around Lake Tugg with a lunch stop.

After returning home I dealt with a number of issues relating to school swimming. Some of the school swimming was beginning to frustrate me so I figured that getting out and checking the Mt Taylor kangaroos would keep me from going insane. It was very pleasant.

After we ate dinner Trevor and I did the Marconi Cresent walk.

Once again, before turning in I figured that stretching my legs was a good idea and I did another Marconi Crescent walk.

Total for the day: 32.13km

Saturday 27 April
Having finally got my swimming club brochure updated so that it could be handed out at the AIS Open Day I headed down to Office Works at the Tuggeranong Town Centre to print of the 200 odd copies I needed. I took the western lake shore route.

I joined Trevor at Brother's Oven for lunch and returned home along the western lake shore.

The day had been pleasantly warm and just before 5pm I headed out to do a Mt Taylor circuit which was a bit of a challenge as it getting quite dark by the time got back to the Colquhoun Street exit. just as well I'm very steady on my feet and manage quite well on rough terrain without needing to see where my feet are going. I should have taken a torch or a head light but I hadn't thought to do so. Still, the twilight provided some wonderful light effects and the many kangaroos kept the walk interesting.

I did the Marconi Crescent walk before turning in for the night.

Total for the day: 28.37km

Sunday 28 April
Today was the AIS Open Day and I headed out early as I had to pick up stuff from the storage room and I wanted to be there before the crowds arrived. The coffee van which was already doing a good trade when I arrived was a welcome sight.

We had been allocated a tent near the entrance to the pool. We had local radio station MIX 104.6 just feet away from us but they really didn't cause too much of a problem. Things were fairly quiet until about 10:30 and then the crowd started to build. The Ginninderra girls were great but it was a tiring day as it was standing up all day and I was pleased to pack up at 2pm and head for home.

I had taken a break and gone for a walk around the AIS to stretch myself after a lot of standing.

After I got home I did a walk down to Woden, sat down and enjoyed a cup of coffee and walked home.

Total for the day: 18.37km

Weekly Total: 150.57km and 21.51km average per day!

This was the end of a big walking week. I suspect it is the most walking I have done in a week in my life. My step count for the week was a whooping 213,176!

Monday 29 April
The month seems to have flown by.

With so much swimming stuff to deal with balancing walking and swimming and everything else has been a challenge.

Around 2 o'clock I figured that I needed a break and headed off to Chifley via Mt Taylor, enjoyed a quiet coffee and then returned home. The day had been warm with temperatures in the low 20s. It was great to get away from the PC. My shoulders have been complaining about too much keying and mousing of late.

I got a call from Trevor, who had gone out to the airport to pick up Anto, Nic and Astrid, asking me to organise food. While I waited for the food that I had ordered I walked around the Cooleman Court precinct.

When I finally got home I did my Marconi Crescent walk.

Total for the day: 18.76km

Tuesday 30 April
I was out of milk so did a morning walk to the Village. I was surprised by the number of oldies I encountered going to and from the Village as well as at the Village itself. I obviously don't visit the Village at the time of day as a general rule.

Trevor and I went over to Cooleman Court for lunch and I enjoyed the warm afternoon as I walked home along the Stanhope Highway. 

Before dinner I did the Marconi Crescent walk.

Total for the day: 14.28km

Monthly summary for April
During April I walked 457.22 km which is an average of 15.24km per day
Calories burnt: 19,612
Elevation gain: 5,669m

The tracked walking obviously does not include incidental steps such as walking around the house, supermarket or shopping centre. I generally carry my pedometer so I get a fuller count of what I have been up to. In April my step count was: 714,433. Gosh, almost 3/4 of a million steps in the month. This was an average of almost 24k steps per day.

Walking with Trevor

After many failures I had finally given up smoking in May 2011.

I was overweight and had put on more weight on our trip to Canada and East Coast of the United States and during the Christmas and New Year Festivities.

I needed to do something to get fitter and to lose some weight.

A combination of walking and control of my calorie intake seemed to be an appropriate course of action. I have mainly continued to control my calorie intake.

February 2012 was the start of my walking.

I decided that I would would do some walking each day.

My first aim was to be walk around the local oval without stopping. This was about 2k.I than started to extend the distance I undertook each day. After a couple of weeks I started doing this twice a day, After about a month I extended this to a walk to the adventure playground and back, about 4k. I did this twice a day. I continued walking each day until I was walking around 10k a day, usually in 2 lots.

The next step forward was to include some inclines in my walks. I decided on 2 circuits. The  Inkster circuit (5k From Home up Inster St, down Sulwood and up to Kambah Pool road and Home) and Urambi (6k From Home past the Adventure playground up past Urambi, along Smodgrass, left onto O'Halloran than turn at Woolshed and Home via walking paths). The first time I did each of these circuits I needed to stop going up the inclines. I am happy to say that by May I was not needing to stop. I also added another walk (Coolaman Court via the Stanhope Highway)

With the Flinders Ranges walk due at end of August I needed to start doing some serious climbing walks, Mt Taylor beckoned. In July I accomplished a double ascent of Mt Taylor, with stops along the way. In early August I did a triple ascent of Mt Taylor. I added a couple of additional walks on Mt Taylor. The first from Colquhoun around the base of the mountain to the top of the horse paddocks the second is the complete circuit of mountain.

Flinders Ranges here I come. It was with some trepidation that headed towards the Flinders Ranges. Being the first organised long walk we had undertaken I did not know what speed we would be walking. Lorraine has covered this walk in detail. The best can be said was that I surprised myself with how well I survived. 

In December I did, along with Lorraine and Michael, the Camelback Trail, Camels Hump and beyond. This was a real drag and whilst Lorraine and Michael walked ahead I brought up the rear. I was not fast but I did make it. This was probable as difficult a walk as we are likely to do anywhere.

Each day I was driving over to Duffy to walk the alpacas. I decided that instead of driving that it was probably a good idea to ride (7k each way, with numerous inclines). I borrowed Nic's bike and rode over a back each week day. After some time I decided that I should get my own bike instead of using Nic's. This I ordered and it arrived the day before we went on the alpine adventure.

The next planned trip was the Great Alpine Walk, around the Mt Hotham area in Victoria.This walk had for each day a standard walk followed by either an easy walk or a more difficult walk. I did the difficult walks each day even if I was much slower than the fast group, but I did have some slower than me.

At the end of January I suggested to Lorraine that that we do a walk and thought that perhaps one in Tidbinbilla would do. However Lorraine had pretty much exhausted the Tidbinbilla walks so she suggested that it was time to look at some of those in the Namadgi National Park. The Orroral Heritage Trail was the one she selected. This was a reasonable easy stroll and during the walk we must have seen half the worlds population of kangaroos.

My normal walk each day is between 10-15k, with some longer walk days. In addition, each day I ride about 15k. My campaign has been somewhat interrupted with swimming in the last month, especially with school swimming meets.

March has come and gone

I'm not sure where the past month has vanished to. I guess the combination of my regular swimming activities and the school swimming have really consumed a great amount of the month. Still, I have managed to get walks in most days.

Having tackled the loop around the western end of Lake Burley Griffin early in the months (see earlier blog), Trevor and I tackled the eastern circuit of the lake. We started at Kingston and managed it in pretty good time. I felt that the western circuit was the more pleasant of the two circuits and will probably tackle it again.

I can never tire of circuits of Mt Taylor. There is always so much to see from the views over the Tuggeranong and Woden valleys to the ranges, kangaroos turning up in both expected and unexpected places as well as delightful sunset lighting. This circuit is a little over 9km from home to home via the Colquhoun Street access to the Taylor Nature Reserve. The track offers some challenging ups and downs, particularly if you are doing the circuit at a fast pace. Adding a loop around the ovals near home brings the distance up over 10km and I have been doing this extra bit of late.

I've also done some loops around Lake Tuggeranong. From home to home this walk is a little over 13km. It is fairly flat with only gentle rises. The biggest challenge is coping with all the other people and creatures using the circuit.

I have continued to do my 6km walks between home and Tuggeranong Town Centre, Cooleman Court and Woden Plaza. Each have some pleasant aspects and I still enjoy walking through the Taylor Nature Reserve on the walk between home and Woden as well as the amble along the Stanhope Highway which is part of the walk between home and Cooleman Court.

On Saturday Trevor and I walked from home to Antony's via Cooleman Court and then home via the same route. That clocked up around 18kms.

On Sunday I tackled a walk from the National Library home. The first part of the walk took me along the south western shore of  Lake Burley Griffin before cutting off towards Weston Creek. There were interesting sections on the route with views across to the new Molonglo suburbs. I did enjoy a sit down and coffee when I got to Cooleman Court. To extend the walk I took a deviation from my normal route between Cooleman Court and home by walking around the outside of Allchin Circuit. All in walk this was a pleasant walk and totalled over 21km.

So, my stats for March ...

Distance: 370.42 (11.95km per day)
Duration: 65 hours 18 minutes 18 seconds
Calories: 15,039
Elevation gain: 4,721m
Elevation loss: 4,435m

My left heal has finally healed ... about time. Having blisters on blisters was no fun. I now need to ensure that I don't blister either of them again.

Forward planning is to consider adding some running in to my regime in April and in May I'll start doing some serious climbing again. By May the snakes should have disappeared and no longer present a problem on unformed tracks.

All in all I feel pretty confident that I can handle the Coast to Coast walk. Yes, I know that the average distance for the 13 walking days is 23.5 but we do have all day to do it. The average height gain is 450m per day with the biggest climb being 970m on one of the longest days ... one of the 32km days. Fortunately, that is near the end and the climb can't be any worse than tackling Grouse Grind was and I'm a lot fitter now, too.