Light autumn rain heralded a beautiful day of twenty-five degrees- a good day for a walk in the bush. We were all decked out with shorts and walking shoes and backpacks. By general consensus we decided to start along the lake edge, to a pier projecting out into the lake, for nature lovers or bird fanciers.

The lake itself was still brown water- suitable for neither drinking nor swimming, unless you were one of the grey teal ducks. Along the edge were reeds where ducks hid, and many grey-green native bushes. Several of the trees still had their summer flowers- cream-coloured flowering gums and others with bright yellow fluffy flowers and brown gumnuts, and peppermint gums. Many of the bushes had red or golden flowers like the omnipresent red bottle brushes.

We sat on the pier for afternoon tea, then set off deeper into the bush and back towards the car park. There was a small pine forest in a clearing and we crunched the pine needles under our feet as we walked, and drank in the refreshing pine smell and the wonderful sunshine.

The mild autumn could mean a warm winter, and reminds us that global warning is happening.