An early morning walk along Martins Road

And an apology, dear reader. I should have taken my camera so that you could enjoy some of the sublime beauty that I enjoyed this morning. I promise I won't be so silly next time and I'll post some photos soon, once I've done the walk again.
I tend to wake up early these days and so this morning the great idea occurred to me that I should get up and go for a walk along Martins Road (Martins Road is the road that leads to the Billen Cliffs community). Steve is currently in Newcastle, so there was no early morning cuddling to keep me in bed. It was a perfect morning of what looks to be a perfect day. So there I was at 6.20am walking down McGuinness Road on my way to Martins Road, pausing for a minute or so as a young red necked wallaby remained in the middle of the road, allowing me to approach to within a metre and a half before roo-crawling off to enjoy some of the lush grass growing along its edge.
The air was cool, but not cold, and the calls of magpie, kookaburra and lorikeets accompanied me as I strolled along the tree-lined Martins Road. Drops of water hung on strands of fencing wire and the steamy mist rising from the paddocks created a golden glow as the sun back-lit it. A small flock of white-headed pigeon flew out from a tree, not because they were disturbed by my presence, (I don't think), but more likely because they were just getting on with their day.
Another red necked wallaby hopped slowly out of my way, still with a long stem of grass in its mouth, and I mused over the macropods that live in this area. As you would know, the red necks are by the far the most common here, but we also have swamp wallabies, which are much shyer, tend to live by themselves and not anywhere near so abundant. Another twenty minutes or so north of us you can find red necked pademelons and I've seen a dead grey kangaroo just on the outskirts of Kyogle. And I know there are pretty faced wallabies (an absolutely gorgeous wallaby) about two hours away in Lammington National Park.
Anyway, I kept walking as far as the entry to Billen Cliffs community ("where children and animals have right of way" as their welcome sign proclaimed, proudly) and thn  turned around and headed back home. The air was warmer, the sun higher in the sky and the greens and blues more vivid as I strolled back to Maryville, admiring the boys as they grazed our hill paddock. I need to do this more often. (And take my camera).