LOCATING A GEM IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD, QLD. AUS. whilst CYCLING







I set out this morning seeking to do some serious hill work. Serious! well, riding up a few inclines anyway. I'm not really a serious cyclist. What I mean is, I take my cycling seriously but not to the extent that some of the cycling programmes would like me to take it. I'm not into lycra , nor am I into PB's. I really like the recreational and social aspect of cycling and the fact that it is a vehicle I can confidently use both on and off road and in so doing, enables me to take photographs and write blogs.

 

The Platypus Corridor in Alexandra Hills, Queensland

It is my intention when writing my blog to take you the reader along for the ride and for you to witness in part what I see on these rides and with a little luck you may get the inclination to go out and do it all yourself where ever you may live. It is not necessary to own an expensive bike but it is handy to have a reliable one. If you have read a recent post of mine on photographing patterns and would like to try your hand at that, you don't need to have an expensive camera to do that either. In fact, having an expensive bike or camera is not going to make that much difference in the beginning but as you progress, particularly in the case of photography having the better equipment will certainly enhance your result.



Dundas Street, Ormiston. This hill is steeper than you would think. A 13 - 20% gradient
 

 

 

Now back to the ride. I did manage to climb some reasonable gradients which should help me on my planned country ride in a few days time but the highlight of the ride was that I found a trail which I had not ridden before and although it was quite short I was pleased to have come across it.

 

 

Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

 



As I was riding alongside the creek line, I kept an eye out for the elusive platypus but unfortunately to no avail. These beautiful, furry, duck billed creatures are very shy and love their watery seclusion. You can learn more about the duck billed platypus by dabbing on the following link http://www.australianfauna.com/platypus.php

Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

This area is the home of the Squirrel Glider as well, and although I stopped on numerous occasions and searched the tree tops, it was all to no avail, which left me a little dejected in the 'Big White Hunter' category......  No Platypus and no Squirrel Glider. Perhaps if I had a naturalist riding with me who was knowlegeable in these matters I may have had more success. Open this link for more information on the Squirrel Glider http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squirrel_glider

 It's amazing how suburbia can co-exist with nature and no more so than on this trail, the end of which is a very busy road leading to and from Brisbane. As I was searching the creek bank and taking photographs I couldn't help but notice the similarity of the sound of a waterfall with the constant filtered sound of the traffic, no more than a couple of hundred metres from where I was.

We need all the conservation reserves we get in suburbia to stop us from succumbing to NDD (Nature Deficient Disorder).

NB. This post was originally published under the title The Platypus Corridor which was slightly incorrect. Although part of the same creek system, the Platypus Corridor was on another branch of the creek.

Cheers and safe riding and if you are on bush trails, keep a wary eye out for snakes.....it's the season.

Jimmy Bee