05 June 2007

Walk around the block

I'm finally doing My Suburb walk thing that Bells started - these photos were taken on 13 May.

OK - put your shoes on, and your sun hat, we're off for an autumn stroll of about 2 km, or 1 mile... no sign of rain (of course)! Up my driveway, and turn left. We live on the main road through our suburb.

Down the hill is the closed down petrol station (behind the green sheeting), and one of Canberra's ubiquitous bus shelters. The shops are to the immediate left of the bus shelter. Our local primary school lies further along the road on the left (and no, my kids didn't go there). We're going to turn left at the first corner...


Round the corner, and down the hill. More street lights! Lots of dried out grass...

This is a bottlebrush, a native Aussie plant, very drought tolerant.


We've turned left at the bottom of the street again, and now the terrain is flatter. More houses, wirey bits, dry grass, and gum trees.


Turn left again! And it's a steep hill, so get ready for a few breathers along the way :) Parts of our suburb are real fancy like (way out of our league), as this house on the corner shows.

Near the top of the hill. And it's a bus! A rare species nowadays, since they've been cutting services (don't get me started). Love the autumn trees - Canberra has a fair mix of European deciduous trees and Australian natives (which don't lose their leaves, but drop bark instead).


Some big houses...

This is a banksia of some variety. Another drought-tolerant Aussie native. These plants produce the "Big Bad Banksia Men" of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie fame. They used to scare me when I was a little girl!





A bit further along...


At the top of the hill, and about to walk over a little bridge (over a walkway). Another bus stop! And yes, we have graffiti here too. Be careful as you tread, a lot of the pavement is cracked.


Close to home now...
Just over the crest...


... and here's a close up of the distance, which shows our local town centre, about 6 km away - I like this view.
For overseas readers, yes, we drive on the 'wrong side'...

And we're back at the top of my driveway, with its sad dead gum tree. It died because of the drought, and will be removed soon. It's on the nature strip, so our local government is responsible for taking it away. Oh bother, I need to do more weeding...

Thanks for coming on my walk around the block! Now come inside for a cuppa tea :)

7 comments:

  1. oh lovely! What a difference decent daylight makes. I swear I'm going to do mine in better light.

    I love the close up native flower shots. What a lovely addition!

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  2. How different from where I live.I love seeing the bus and the bush!!

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  3. Big Bad Banksia Men! I love Snugglepot and Cuddlepie! Hope you've had some rain since these pics - looks awfully dry there.

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  4. What fun! I love you commentary. Wish I could see more!

    I think the flora photos are so much like your collage work - I now see the inspiration that spurs your artwork in that medium.

    Chloe got her stitches out today, and we had a lovely walk in our suburb environment. There was a lot of wind gusting around (we were supposed to have rain) but alas, nothing came down from the sky. At least not tonight.

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  5. What a great suburb--and here in Nor-Cal we know all about drought resistant... Vinka anyone?

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  6. Thanks so much for the tour! It relly IS dry there. May you get a nice long slow soaking rain this winter.

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  7. Oh Jejune, that was lovely. So nice to the area where people live. I'll have to go for a walk, a very unique experience for me. Thanks for sharing!

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