Time Capsule
Posting has been a little slack on this site lately… something to do with cats. All I’m saying is that if the new Bond Spectre movie spikes demand for ‘Evil Genius White Cats‘ we will have plenty in stock.
As today is Australia Day and wishing to avoid crowded places, I bought the three younger children for a cycle to Truganina Park. We had cycled there many times last year, so it was good to revisit a familiar spot. I checked the bikes as we left, pumped up the tyre on two of the kids bikes and considered doing the same for mine but reckoned it’d be ok. What could possibly go wrong?
I also made the effort to take a few photos with my new phone.
The cycle path near our house goes all the way to the park without hitting any roads. The path has an easy meander, with some low bridges to cross some small streams and a river or two. All of which makes for a leisurely cycle. There is also an off-path cycle park.
It’s more a sandy path with bumps than an actual cycle park.
The park has the highest land point around so there are great views from the You Yangs mountain range west of Melbourne to the city itself.
There is a long steep winding path to the top of the hill. IrishDoom tried out his low-gears to get up top faster.
There is a statue called the ‘Time Beacon’ on top to mark the spot where a Time Capsule was buried on Australia Day 2000. A grand opening of the capsule is planned for Australia Day 2025. The first time we cycled up to the “Time Beacon” statue the kids named it the “Omega Platform”. I’m not sure how they arrived at that name but that’s now our family name for it.
The plaque commemorating the burying of the time capsule has changed since last year… I’m not sure that it was an official ‘paint job’
This is how it looked last year:
We’ve seen some pieces of public art which elicited sniggers of laughter before, but the ‘Time Beacon’ inspired our kids to make a Time Capsule of their own. Last year they filled a box with ‘treasure’ and notes to their future selves, then hid it in a closet.
It has been left untouched for nearly 12 months with no set date for when it will be opened.
As soon as we turned around to head for home I noticed a very flat looking rear tyre on my bike. “Oh…” a little voice said in my head “..that’s what could go wrong”. Suddenly the meandering-leisurely cycle took on marathon proportions. I jogged my bike back at an ‘I’ll-be-wrecked-before-I-get-half-way-home’ pace. IrishDoom did offer to walk my bike while I cycled his, but I kept up as best I could and finally got back. I’m only catching my breath back now several hours later.
It was still an enjoyable cycle, even with the return jog. And after all that exercise,there was nothing like coming home to an understanding wife who let me put my feet up and rest for the remainder of the day. Yeah right! My homecoming was nothing like that.