Big Burleigh

As of tomorrow, it's five weeks since "The crash", and no, I still can't ride. I have, however, set September 10 as the date for a tentative return. In the meantime, I have been doing quite a bit of walking to try to keep fit (as I simply haven't been able to do anything else). Last Sunday was such a nice day that I decided to set out on an epic walk. I have no idea how many kilometres it was, but I'm guessing it was around 10-12 or so. Basically I headed across to Miami Beach, and then walked south, with the plan of crossing North Burleigh (or Little Burleigh), then walking the loop around Burleigh National Park, and coming home.





The plan also included a detour to Mike's Bikes to see if they had anything that might fit the bill for a replacement bike (they sort of did, but that's another story). Little Burleigh was quite interesting in it's own way, although the development around it was a little too close. There were a few interesting little flowers blooming in the spring sunshine. I crossed the hill and spent some time wandering around the markets, but more than anything else I was just enjoying the feeling of being outside again, after being stuck inside for weeks on end. Today I was appreciating a lot of the little things, like the bird calls in the trees and the scent of the ocean spray. Maybe a near-death experience changes one's perspective after all.









Further along I entered the pocket-handkerchief sized Burleigh National Park. Well, Ok, that description is a slight exaggeration but you get the idea. Still, there seemed to be a bit of wildlife around today, probably enjoying the conditions as much as I was. The amazing thing about this park (especially the rainforest section on the top track) is that it feels a lot further from suburbia than it actually is. Just how it manages that I have no idea, but today I was grateful for it.









Eventually it was time to go and start the walk home. I had intended to take the old track up the back end of Magic Mountain at Miami, but that's apparently been closed off for years. The practical upshot of this is that I ended up walking past the site of "the crash", which was a surprisingly nerve-wracking experience, even though I have no memory of it. One day I'll have to ride through it and I'm not looking forward to that particular task. I also concluded that my desire to buy a touring bike this time around will almost certainly take me to Brisbane, as there doesn't seem to be much fitting that description here on the Coast. For all that, I still managed a great day. Hopefully normal service can be resumed in the near future.