Morning coast ride

After quite a good weekend camping and generally being away from 'The World', the sham and whatnot, I found myself awake at 5:30am. 

For the past week I've been taking the company car home, so have missed my daily bicycle commute. 

After breakfast and coffee I still had about two hours before I was due at the office. Plenty of time for a lap of the Coastal track.

Entering the Muirhead Estate the air was relatively cool. I cycled east, directly toward the enormous blazing orange glow of the Sun as it breached the horizon, smoke haze defused the light allowing me to gaze directly into the broiling globe. It was as if I could actually sense it's mass levitating in the sky just out of reach. Before long the light became too intense and I had to shade my eyes and look away.

On a patch of unmolested native scrub I noticed the white flowers of a native Gardenia (megasperma?). I had once fallen in love with one of these and had tried to protect the plant only to see it crushed under tons of earth which had been piled up after local land developers had cleared the site. I spent 15 minutes just admiring the tree, it's form and habit are quite rugged but delicate, a bit like a sculpted frangipani tree with terminal leaves and bright sweet smelling flowers, the bark has a soft yellowish hue that makes it seem quite out of place in the Savannah woodland. 

Approaching Buffallo creek I passed an older man about to start a hike, possibly into town along the coastal path, he had a small pack and his woman was kissing him farewell. It touched me to see this tender moment, I smiled at them and the woman smiled back. With one look she slew the miserable cynic on my shoulder.

The beach was now in full light, I moved on from the WWII bunker, allowing some space between the hiker and myself. Mornings like this are for solitude, nobody wants to be crowded in such places. Timeless, open, free of obligation. Whatever demands they might wish to impart or impose are dead while the sleepers snooze.

Morning Glory (Ipomoea pes-caprae)

As I roll past a particularly lovely stand of Casuarina's I noticed a tight clump of Beach Morning Glory (Ipomoea pes-caprae). Every time I pass this way the beach lures me to stop and rest. it's at a spot just beyond the point at Lee Point facing North East. There is a good energy.

 

There is a Kingfisher in this image, too small to see

After cycling along the sadly denuded monsoon vine forest I took the mangrove trail toward Casuarina Beach, entering the mangroves from the dry and open savanna is like stepping into another dimension. The sound of a black butcher Bird rang out as soon as I crossed that line. The tide was coming in and I stopped to watch small fish swarming in the shallow stream under the bridge. A jewel of blue flashed by my face, I followed it's path as it landed on the areal roots of a mangrove further down the creek. It was an Azure Kingfisher! So happy to be here right now.

Time was ticking away so I took the Rockland's drive trail back past the hospital and on to Vanderlyn. 

I was cruising under the powerlines headed toward Hibiscus shops when I spotted a curious looking creature strutting across the grass towards me.

Chooky Coming back for another chat

I stopped and re-focused my eyes. A chook! A little red chicken was making it's way straight for me. I stood still and waited for her to arrive, thinking any movement would scare her off. No chance! She came straight up to me and started clucking and looking for food. Poor thing must have been lost. I had a brief chat with her to reassure her that she'd be OK so long as she stayed off the road. Meanwhile a jogger passed and had a bit of a chuckle at the affair. 

By now I knew I would need to keep moving if I wanted to be at work on time. Something deep inside me said.... Nothing... Absolutely nothing, the thought of work passed, the moment was just too perfect. I remained peacefully in the company of the chicken until she decided to continue her foraging, then I naturally continued my ride. Not thinking about work, not thinking about time, not imagining what I would should could or must do... Just rolling along as God intended.