24/4/22 Steam Trains, Bicycles, and Old Fashioned Walking.

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What?  You're going out again?  What about me?
 

On Sunday we caught a steam train from Mt Barker up to the Bugle Range and back again, sharing the trip with Mama, Gramps, and hordes of other citizens who also wanted to get coal dust in their eyes and up their noses.  


There was a wee bit of cheating involved: two big diesel engines lurked at the back of the train and pushed us up the hill, thereby relieving the steam engine of having to do much other than use its steam to puff vigorously and blow the whistle loudly as we chugged past train-spotters at every level crossing.

Our train had a number...

... a name,

...and last, but probably most important, a driver.
 

The sun shone brightly in a clear, cold blue sky as we finished our train ride, ate our sausages on the platform, and polished off strawberries and icecream back at Mama and Gramps'.  It was way too nice weather to just go home so after the strawberries and ice cream I dropped Roger off at Crafers for his turn at the gravity-assisted downhill coast into Adelaide and started looking for an adventure for myself, given that my bike was still languishing in bicycle hospital. 

A quick look at Google Maps and off I went to do some walking in the Mount Lofty Botanical Gardens.

 
Autumn was in fine shape in the upper car park of the Mt Lofty Botanical Gardens.
 
Now here's a tip: if you visit the Mt Lofty Botanical Gardens make sure you park at the bottom car park, thereby ensuring that you will have a downhill run at the end of your walk. I made the mistake of doing the opposite, ensuring myself a heart-starting uphill sprint plod to get back to the car park before the gates closed at 5pm. Other than the eternal battle with gravity, I had a good time.

I saw a koala hiding in a tree,
 

 

a spinebill hiding in a bush,
 
 
and some kangaroos posing picturesquely in front of winter-bare woods.

 
I had Queensland flashbacks in the Tree Fern Gully,
 
 
found a last leaf clinging tenaciously to a twig,
 
 
and found the (sort of) half way point of the Heysen Trail.  This was quite exciting, the Heysen Trail being on my ever-lengthening list of Things I Intend to Do in South Australia.
 
Only 200km to go!  Or gone, not sure which.
 
I also found a big grass slope down which I could have slid, had I thought to bring some cardboard and been sufficiently skilled at ignoring signs.


 

Roger was already home by the time I got back, having happily wended his way down the hill and through the suburbs, checking out pretty architecture and making notes on coffee shops that would bear future investigation.
 
We had our dinner and apologised profusely to the cat, who pointed out that we had been out rather a lot lately and demanded extra brushing as compensation.


 

 


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