Day 1 - Borallon to Lowood and return to Borallon

 It was easy to find our way to Borallon Carpark, which is right on the edge of the Rail Trail.

Once Hennie was off the car and stuff we needed for the day packed in the pannier, I locked Rosie and Roxy and me were on our way.

The valley was filled with mist and it was pretty chilly too.  I had forgotten how rough rail trails were.  The path was narrow, loose gravel and I was wondering if I had made a bit of a mistake.  But Roxy was taking it all in her stride.  She had a little run when I had to get off to walk down a steep creek crossing.  

But we soldiered on and the trail improved remarkably as we approached Fernvale.  Coffee and a vanilla slice and the arrival of the sun and blue skies lifted our spirits.

We continued onto Lowood on a much better path and although about the same distance it appeared much quicker than I thought.  The region seemed to have a lot more pride in the Trail, with a lot of native trees planted.  There were heaps of double-barred finches zipping around, as well as red-backed wrens flitting across the trail.  There were the usual noisy miners, willie wagtails and magpies strutting around and  crows complaining in the tall trees.

There was also a large colony of fruit bats chattering in the trees along the river.  

So all in all a pleasant experience on our first day and it was great to see Roxy was taking it all in her stride, even laying down in her basket.

Once we got back to the car, we packed up and drove up to Esk, where we will be staying for the next 3 nights.  The room is comfy with all we need, so time for bed!  Roxy is already snoring!