A little break

I borrowed one of my nieces, B, on a gloriously sunny winter Saturday, so she and I could have some fun somewhere in the outdoors.

We headed up to the Waterworks Reserve, nestled beneath the Mountain, and had our lunch to the sound of kookaburras in the nearby trees.

We then enjoyed a stroll around the upper reservoir, checking out the animal pathways that crossed the track, and watching the ducks, gulls, and cormorants swimming on the lake. We were also greeted by a goose and ducks who were clearly used to being fed by passersby; they were disappointed today!

We had some playground fun, and then, with me being way too heavy to counterbalance B on the see-saw swing, I had to haul up and down on my end so that B could have a good swing.

We finished up at the Waterworks by exploring the little valley under the sandstone arch. It’s a pretty little spot, with a tiny creek and a few picnic tables, plus the drama of the old arch crossing overhead (it used to — and may still do — carry a pipe for water, as well as now being a walkway across the valley).

The day’s downside was that I had a stack of work that had to be done, so on our way home we stopped at the Parliament St playground with its long slide and swings before I had to get back to the grindstone.

It was a good afternoon.