Gleann Bòidheach: It's That Time of Year

Spring has sprung in our beautiful part of the world. That means it's perfect weather for bush walking. Not too hot, not too cold, just right (as Red Riding Hood famously said). So, in between gardening and other less interesting chores, we decided to avail ourselves of one of the many fabulous walking trails around Collie.

We chose to do a four-kilometre stretch of the Wiilman Bilya Trail. The whole trail is a four-night, five-day walk that starts and ends in Collie and takes you via the Wellington Damn. Just out of Collie though there is a short loop along the walk. This takes you across the Kaniyang Wiilman Suspension Bridge. The bridge is named for the Kaniyang and Wiilman people who are the Traditional Custodians of the area. Once you're across the bridge there is a short one-hour walk through the bush which runs along the river to start. We found it an easy walk although it is fair to say, I'm not a fan of suspension bridges once they get a swing up. And that was without R jumping around like he would normally. We were both walking quite calmly. We did work out eventually that if we both walked exactly in the middle there was less swing.

The wildflowers were just starting to burst out which was a joy to see. We did stop to pull a few weeds on the way. Sadly, there were lots of Watsonia plants, which were thriving, and a small number of Freesias. The Freesias are no more, at least for this season.

I took some pics along the walk. I was going to take my camera, but the battery was flat, not that the camera would improve my photography skills at all. I wish. These snaps were taken on my phone which has got a really good Leica lens. In the hands of a skilled person the phone would probably take great shots. I'm not that person. But I hope the photos will still give you a bit of an idea of how beautiful the bush is near Collie.

The first three pics are of, or from, a look out along the roadside, before you get to the start of the walk. Come to think of it, you could probably start the walk from the look out if you wanted to.