Published on Jan. 10, 2010 in Australia

There are several large cities around the world that blend a great mix of tame and wild elements within the same borders. Portland, where I went to University, was certainly one of them. Located within a 15 minute bike ride from the CBD, the park has an area of over 5,000 acres and makes up part of some of the best biking in Portland. Sydney, where I live now, has similar great attractions. Yesterday we visited Warragamba Park, nestled just outside Penrith, after a morning of work at the Richmond campus. (W worked, I talked with Nathan).

We left the house quite early so W could be at the campus before 8:30, had a pleasant drive, and finally arrived. I helped haul the equipment out to the trees for W to do her experiments, and retreated into the demountable to plug in my laptop and read. W's ex-coworker, Nathan, a faculty member at Boston University, visited the site and we started discussing the finer parts of carbon and technology. A few hours later W had finished her experiments, and Nathan, Remko, Daisy and myself helped push the tractor back and packed away the equipment. We locked the gates and left for Warragamba Park.

Our path took us south from Richmond through Penrith via Mulgoa Road, then to a little set of stores in the tiny village of Wallacia. We bought some brew and snacks, and turned onto Silverdale. We then came to the dirt road off to the right, and continued to the watering hole. The fireroad to the hole was quite steep, and we lost at least one beer along the way. The watering hole reminded me of home, and we opened the snacks and beer. Four hours of hiking in the streams, being stung by weird insects, and 3 coats of sunscreen later, W and I bid our farewells and hiked back up the trail, and went home. Besides the countless shards of broken glass around the water, this was a great little adventure.