A Massive Walk on Saturday, and Good Start to the Week

Saturday was the action packed day that I had hoped for. My partner had staked out a walk for us to do over on the North Shore of Sydney and so at about 11:00 we took off for the ferries at Circular Quay and a few minutes later we were over on the north shore at Taronga. There is a zoo there, but we were more interested in exercise and our trip plan was to walk the track to Balmoral Beach. We might do the zoo some other time.

The trip was supposed to take two hours, and was meant to be for a distance of 8kms. There was an option of extending the walk to 12kms, but by the time we got to the optional part, we were more interested in finishing as the terrain was steep in parts, and there were a lot of steps so it was quite hard going.

The bushland was beautiful and there were some quite stunning views back towards the city from the track that we were walking on. In addition there was some wildlife about the place, the most remarkable being the water dragons that were sunning themselves on the path, and took off at great pace when we startled them by daring to use the track! They were quite quick and did look like something out of Jurassic Park. Nice to see so many of them so close to the city.

We were surrounded by Australian bush during the entire trek, and that saved us from getting sunburned. We were wearing hats, but did not think sun block was necessary, and we were proved correct. The federal government has been spending a bit of money on parts of the track, trying to prevent the bush from dying back, so we were forced to stick to the trail most of the time, and frankly given the cliffs and bluffs that were around, that was no hardship. On the walk we went through an old naval training facility that was opened in 1890 and then moved in 1998 to somewhere else in Sydney. They are restoring some of the old buildings, and it is a magnificent walk.

I'd say that the walk in terms of exercise was better than the walk we did the previous weekend, however it was not as stunning and the beaches were a bit of a let down. They were nice enough, but they were inside the harbour and so there were no waves at all. I like a beach with some action, and these were strictly boring beaches, but great for families as they are much less dangerous. There were several roped off or netted water areas on Balmoral Beach which I had not seen before. The nets were steel wiring, or more like cables, in some parts and I wasn't too sure why they were there. It didn't look like they were there for any serious reason as plenty of people were swimming way outside of the netted areas.

Our walk was strenuous and we were had it by the time it was done. We had moved at a cracking pace, and reachd the end well inside of the suggested completion time. My knee had been playing up on the downhill leg of the last part of the walk. The stairs that we were going down were quite big, and the shock wasn't going down too well. It was clicking and giving me a bit of pain, but once we finished it seemed to settle down. Hopefully all of this will be strengthening it and helping it to come right. Also, my partner's cousin who joined us managed to fall over on the track and skinned her knee so she didn't feel like pressing on too much more than what we had done to reach the end. My partner had streaked on ahead so I was left to help her cousin. I am pleased to report that I was quite the gentleman - I didn't laugh or anything! After I had stifled the laughter I even managed to enquire as to how she was - as you can imagine there were many jibes about my bedside manner needing improvement! Nothing serious happened to her I can tell you, and I think she was embarrassed more than anything else!

Balmoral wasn't the cafe scene that we were hoping for. The cafe that had been suggested to us was very expensive and so we decided to head for home. We caught the bus back into town, and the train from there. It was a good day, but we were all glad to get back home. I think next time we will try and choose a beach where there will be waves as our final destination as a couple of hours walking followed by an hour long swim is a magic way to spend the day.

Sunday was a bit of a dull day. My partner and I spent the day cleaning the house and getting ready for the arrival of my parents tomorrow. This place hasn't been this clean ever I think! We did some shopping and got a couple of DVDs, one of which was The New World with Colin Farrell in it. A very average film that I wouldn't bother watching again. I found it ponderous and very dull. It covered quite an interesitng story, but never managed to get to the essence of what was exciting about it - two civilisations meeting, and a love story of two people - Captain Smith and Pocohontas. If it wasn't for some of the historical aspects of the film it would have been a complete disaster. The acting was awful as well, particularly Farrell and his love interest. Talk about wooden. Not reccomended. My partner fell asleep, and she is a Farrell fan.

Today I have been to the gym and done the cardio workout given to me by the trainer. I didn't crank it up that much today as my knee was still a bit sore. I carcnked out over 300 calories for each session, and noticed that this felt very much like an easy workout. I remember it was only a week ago that I was wondering if I would be able to keep up with the workout that she gave me! Progress - good, all the time progress and I will make it to my goal. No workout with the trainer today, she's having an operation this week so apparently I may be on for Thursday and Friday but I wont worry too much, there'll be plenty going on with my parents here!

Keep fighting the good fight!