LEADER ON A LEASH

This is my average spaniel walking experience for the first 20 minutes or so of our daily wanders (or at least until I can let him off lead somewhere).

Believe it or not though, this is progress (aka he's finally hit middle age in dog years and is finally giving me and my shoulder a bit of a break), I've even been able to dispense with the 'anti-tug' harness (yeah, that's in air-quotes for a reason).

Anyway, this isn't a post about trying to walk a headstrong spaniel, but rather the lovely nature walk I finally got around to exploring this week, tucked in behind the beach and running through pockets of very lush coastal vine habitat and mangrove thickets...

(whatever, they can call it whatever fancy name habitat assemblage they like, it's jungle as far as I'm concerned. Pure coastal jungle. All that's missing is some monkeys. And some sexy Indiana Jones type).  

Although the (very likely outdated) online map from Parks and Wildlife appear to have this track listed as not allowing dogs, the signposts in the area specify that dogs on a leash are permitted. 

Walkers can either follow this path back out to Casuarina beach - exiting near to the nudist beach area (we have one of those, apparently) or keep going the full 5.5km up to Lee Point and Buffalo Creek (where dogs definitely aren't allowed)

BIG YELLOW TAXI

I'm probably what you'd describe as a lukewarm activist. Never one for crowds, slogans and rallies, I prefer to let my consumer persona do the talking. I have steadily imposed a personal bouycott on so many unethical and/or environmentally damaging brands over the last 20 years that there are certain supermarket aisles I now no longer even bother with. Then there's my attempts to live life 'plastic lite'. The fact that I don't own a TV. Trying to support small businesses. Cleaning up beaches. Buying a lot of goods secondhand. Donating to environmental groups. Writing letters. Getting three degrees in environmental science...that kind of thing.

Still, I've always tried to bring a scientific balance to my inner knee jerk hippie that likes to commune with nature and eternally wonders where 'everything else' is meant to live. I try to consider the reality of development in the face of a growing global population as well as recognizing the mineral, petroleum and energy resources that, as a citizen of a developed country, I use every day.

PARK LIFE

Snapshots from the Jingili Water Gardens, a meandering and semi landscaped park space that runs alongside Rapid Creek between the suburbs of Jingili and Millner. It's a grass, tree and freshwater alternative to the sun, sea and sand of my habitual beach walks.

A RAINY EVENING AT THE BEACH

Highlights from an evening wander at Casuarina Beach.
I've been on many lovely beaches around the world, but this sandy strip of coast has a very unusual energy about it. Wandering with my hound in the evening, I often feel like I'm caught between two worlds - between this realm and the next. It's a relaxing way to finish off the day, floating between realities.

FOUR BIRDS

I've basically been totally useless when it comes to some previous (clearly non-binding) assurances that I'd review coffee and food and other such things that Darwin has on offer. This is partly because my lunch and dinner outings have been feeble these last few months (apparently there's some primordial part of my brain that still thinks I'm broke and shouldn't go out and treat myself to a damned overpriced cheese toastie once in a while) and partly because I feel like a tragic hipster whenever I take a snap of my food. Or y'know, most of the rest of the time.

Anyway, speaking of hipsters - Four Birds. This quirky little cafe in the Star Village arcade is about as close as you can get to the Brunswick experience in downtown Darwin (and is my current preferred lunch spot).

So screw it, I ordered my favourite vegetarian bagel, took a picture of my food and read a copy of Frankie magazine.

TOTES UPCYCLED

Diary of a self-confessed scrap fabric hoarder.

Aside from knackered knickers, almost every bit of clothing that stays the course until it's threadbare will end up in my fabric scraps suitcase...It used to be a bag, now it's a suitcase. When it reached the verge of spilling over into a second suitcase I started to think seriously about what the hell I was going to do with some of this hoard (there are only so many rag dusters you can use in one lifetime, after all).

LIFE IN THE BIKE LANE

Bicycles.

As a child they're often our first symbol of freedom and learning to ride one - training wheels off - is a memory that stays with us long after we transition into a busy adult in a 4-wheeled box.

SURF'S UP

I know, I know...How could it get more cliche than an Aussie blogger living by the sea and using a lame surf catchphrase?

But I promise you, Darwin is stuck in one of the corners of Australia that gets almost zero surf. I suspect Darwin would be a much different place if we did (crocodiles and toxic jellyfish notwithstanding). And as such we don't have much of what would be considered stereotypical Australian beach culture up here.

GO-TO MEDICINE

I planted a small gotu kola runner in a pot back in September of last year when I was doing a series of gardening workshops. Although one of the two I planted suddenly died, the remaining plant is bounding along nicely. They do very well in the tropics and, as well as having many medicinal benefits, they're also a pretty plant for garden borders. However, they do best in swampy areas so it's important to ensure they're always very well watered. Popular in Chinese medicine, I'm not sure how well known it is in Western herbal lore as neither of the two chunky herbal guides on my bookshelf make any mention of it.

Referred to as the 'fountain of life', gotu kola (Centella asiatica) is purported to cure everything from depression to shingles. Our garden instructors assured us that a few leaves taken every day would treat rheumatism and arthritis. As nothing was mentioned in my herbal books, I checked online to see which of these claims has some evidence behind them.

OASIS

This has been my little oasis for the last few days. We hit record high temperatures of over 36 degrees for several days in a row last week. Add in the stonkingly high humidity and it's been pretty unbearable. A big storm system came through by the end of the week so I was finally able to get a good night's sleep. Once upon a time you used to be able to survive this town without an air con, these days it seems even the old stalwarts that have been around for years can't cope without them (I'm admittedly not too far off myself, though my current quasi open air setup doesn't allow for it right now).

So mostly I loll about in the plunge spa. And the walking carpet is generally not too far behind.
mmm, delicious human infused spa water
wut? No, I wasn't drinking the spa water

RESOLVE

seriously, just google 'yoga mountain' sometime
Unless one of your new year's resolutions has been to avoid the internet since we ticked over into the first of January, then it's unlikely you've been spared the slew of feel good, do good, get the life/body/romance you want, here's why your resolutions won't stick, how to transform your life in 5 easy steps, stock photography of someone standing on a mountain in a yoga pose articles.

New year, new you. While every day is a blank page, the first day of the new year is like the first page in a leather-bound moleskine, a Dear Diary of endless possibilities that, much like my own attempt at journaling, start off with the best of intentions but that eventually wind up bitching about that thing that person did that time, zomg. A native of the antipodes, the push to step up when the clock strikes 12 on December 31st (or at the very least once the hangover has gone) is even further fueled by the fact that it's high summer. How easily the determination to feast only on fresh juice and salads is coerced by our Home and Away lifestyle of long sunny days on white sandy beaches.