laura_seabrook | Back to Bush Walking

Yesterday, I look Pegasus for a walk. Nothing unusual about that, except that it was the first bush-walk I'd done with the car back. We walked in a section of the old Gretley Coal Mine. This is North East of Newcastle proper, and North East of Barnsley, where I live (see map below).

I normally walk Peggy in one of the bush areas near Barnsley. There's a few options
to choose from. I often take him just the other side of the Freeway west of West Wallsend. The freeway goes east of the ranges that run north-south, and are part of the Great Dividing Ranges. The good thing about this are is that it's hilly, and if I want to, we can climb to the top of the range and back down again by a different route.

The hills and valleys ake the most interesting (and strenuous) walking. And Gretley Colliery has the most of this. I'm not entirely sure, but I think it used to be an open-cup mine, and many of the contours there have been formed from this activity. A good part of what was there is now the regional dump (the light gray area), but the rest of it is just overgrown again, bushland.

One of the attractions to living at Barnsley was the closeness of the bush. When I was without the Rauni for five weeks, I had terrible doubts about the wisdom of living there. The problem though is not one of location, but of income. If I had the money to maintain the car, it wouldn't be an issue.

In any case, this was the first time in five weeks that I'd been able to access this area for a dog walk. Until now, it's been walks up to West Wallsend (for dog bones and minor shopping) or a walk along Sandy Creek to Edgeworth shopping centre. While these are fine as far as they go (and I do like the route that takes us past the sewage works!) it gets a bit monotonous week after week. So Gretley Colliery was a breath of fresh air.

The section we walked was between Minmi & the Link Rds, and Glendale and Wallsend. That covers a fair chunk of ground. Within this area, like most
of the other bush areas around here, it's cross-crossed with power lines, dirt tracks (4-wheel drive, bmx, and motorcross varieties), abandoned installations and ruin, and a hige variety of human litter and junk. When I first came here I was disturbed by all the litter and ruin, but after a while I think I came to see it in terms of geological time. In that scale, the time all the junk takes to rot is barely the blink of an eye. And mostly, the bush recovers. It grows over it – it makes it its own. I help sometimes too. I've recovered all manner of items from the bush, from old tables and chairs (still good to use) to even computer games and railings.

For me, there's a “spirit of place” in such locations, and I can feel that when move through them. The one nearest to me, at Barnsley, seems to like both Pegasus and me. Maybe because I treat it with a form of respect. I don't litter (apart from bodily excretions by both of us) and even recover. And when we walk, normally it's just as we are -- I never cut anything down, so we are just alike any other animals that move through it. Peggy chases Wallabies and Roos sometimes (and the odd time a wild goat) but he never catches them. There's one exception, and hat's Lantana. I have no hesitation in cutting that away. Otherwise, the only aid I have in moving through the bus is a good pair of boots, and maybe a staff.

Mostly, we keep to the established tracks and trails, but often we have to go down an animal trail, or climb along one on an escarpment. That's when the staff comes in handy. Normally I'll find one just right, waiting for me, in the bush. The ideal staff for me is a branch about 5 foot long (staffs should only be measured in feet) and slightly bent. In a pinch I'll make do with a broom handle, I have to pack one of those in the car first. Normally, as I said, I can find what I want. Sometimes though, I have a feeling that I shouldn't take such an item out of its area.

I had this once in the area west of Killingsworth, on the other side of the freeway. It was the perfect staff, the right balance, and strong and sturdy. I made sure though, that I left it leaning up against a tree near where I'd parked. It was always there, waiting for me. Once I arrived and the whole area had been burnt out (someone had camped there), but the staff was untouched and still waiting for me. Eventually it fell apart, and I had to find a new one.

I wonder, too if this “closeness” I have is related to be a Gallae. Cybele is a Goddess of the mountains and deep earth, when I walk with Pegasus (who was a gift of the Goddess, after a prayer) I feel closer to myself, and in being a spiritual being. Perhaps. Maybe it's just good exercise, but in either case know we both enjoy it.