127 Minutes...

Tuesday 22nd March 2011

For those who have seen 127 Hours (or perhaps read the book Between a Rock and a Hard Place, I haven't, yet) you will understand the spring in my step when I left this morning to venture off into the Dandenong Ranges National Park. Granted, I wasn't venturing very far from civilisation, wasn't likely to encounter falling rocks, and someone did know where I was going, but you (possibly) get the point. After my relatively relaxing week in Perth meeting old friends and new relatives (I'll explain that in another blog), I felt ready to wander/wonder again. So I packed my bag with some water, some fruit, some nuts and some bird seed (I was heading towards Grants Picnic Ground where I had been told you could hand feed parrots), and off I went, headphones in, Ipod on and camera in hand. The rain was coming down, but it was thin and only really a drizzle, and the temperature was a lot more bearable than Perth (though still very warm and slightly humid). About 40 minutes in I came to Grants Picnic Ground where there were just dozens of parrots waiting to be fed. A little unsure as to what would happen, I placed a load of bird seed in my left hand and knelt down towards the ground. Immediately one big white parrot (a cockatoo I believe) came over and started eating out of my hand. I then tried to ready my camera in my left hand, which meant I inadvertently moved my right hand away from the parrot. So he bit my hand. I screamed, like a girl. It hurt. I took a few minutes to compose myself, but pretty quickly got back into it, this time no kneeling down, but standing so the bird would fly onto my arm and eat out of my hand. At one point another different type of parrot just randomly flew onto my shoulder, even though I had no food in my hand. I just managed to snap a photo before he flew away again. Eventually I decided to venture off further into the bush on a designated trek that was about 2 hours long. Checking the time (it was 14:58) I set off, and despite the quite atrocious signage I somehow managed to not get completely lost, and even managed to spot four lyrebirds (apparently rare to spot so I was pretty lucky) and a wallaby. The walk was stunning, with the rain causing a very atmospheric mist, and the constant sound of birds and parrots was awesome. It was pretty hot and sticky by now, and at various points I didn't really know where I was going because the signage was so bad (well, bad equals non-existent, even when paths forked off), but following my nose, and using a bit of common sense knowing which directions I should be going, I eventually ended up back at Grants Picnic Ground. And do you know what time I got back to Grants Picnic Grounds? 17:05. You work out how many minutes later that was. I followed the trail back towards Belgrave and stopped in at the Micawber Tavern for a well earned pint, before heading back to where I am staying (via a fish 'n' chip shop). Tomorrow, I'm gonna let Puffing Billy do all the work...