Hiking @ Ferny
I’ve mentioned before that my husband has moved to a 4-day work week and I work casual hours from home, so some weeks we can do some fun things during the week. Last Friday I wanted to hike, and G had been wanting to take me up to Ferny to show me the running trail so I don’t get lost when I go up with the crew to run. The weather was lovely for hiking—about 22C and fluffy clouds dotted in a blue sky.
A lot of the trail is in the Dandenong Ranges National Park. The Dandenong ranges are on the outskirts of Melbourne, about 30km from us and take about an hour to drive to. The trail starts with a long downhill section … but what goes down must come up. The forest here is a mix of trees and ferns with the Mountain Ash dominating the landscape. This is the tallest flowering tree in the world.
This route is a combination of trails, including well-made wide gravel paths, goat tracks and some parts where you need to duck. There are bridges over mountain streams and if you detour a short way you can visit Sherbrooke Falls which we didn’t do—Geoff was intent on me becoming familiar with the path and I didn’t need the confusion of added side trips. We also saw lots of birds including Eastern Rosellas, some Fantails and a Kookaburra. We even saw a Wallaby, which was an unexpected delight.
Do you ever have the chance to take a mid-week break? Where would you go for an impromptu hike if you had a free day up your sleeve?
9 Comments
J
That looks like a beautiful hike! There are a couple of lovely hikes around here, a drive away like yours. One is around a local reservoir, but the ones I like more are the ones near the ocean, which is a bit over an hour.
Melissa
W are lucky becuase we alive 500m from the beach, but it is a bay city beach so not quite the same as a wild ocean beach, but still lovely to walk near the water. My parents live down at Point Lonsdale which has a beautiful surf beach.
Elisabeth
This is MY KIND OF HIKE. I love walking through the woods (preferably on a fairly well-groomed trail; I do hate tons of mud when I hike).
My husband and I have been trying to fit in short walks before getting the kids from school each day. The fresh air is invigorating and after sitting at our desks all morning, it’s good to move our bodies.
Melissa
You have some beautiful places to walk. I seem to remember just the normal walk to school is pretty special.
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San
4-day work weeks are the best!! I work a 4-10 schedule, too! It’s nice to have flexibility… especially if you can get out for a beautiful hike mid-week! 🙂
Melissa
Yes, we always find the weekends are packed out or we’re too tired from running to get out for hikes.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
I do have some nice trails around the house. More walking than hiking but still. As a freelancer (with very light workload right now) i have time to go on adventured during the week. It is nice.
Melissa
Having flexibility at work is wonderful. I feel very spoilt to be able to do fun things during the week.