Magpies belong in a pie

The Australian Magpie. Not the prettiest bird round here. Makes a bit of noise in the morning. It's the bird sound you usually hear in Neighbours.

Also opportunist attacker of cyclists. I was happily pedalling away around the foot of Red Hill when the first one swooped. I think I swore a lot and waved my hands at it and that seemed to make it think again (from my experience I've found a crazy English person swearing and waving their hands like a madman usually puts people off). A few more had a go before the day was out though.

Well, at the top of Red Hill (which I climbed most of out of the saddle) there were great views which hadn't changed a lot since last time I was there some 2 months back. The big disappointment was the cafe was closed so the ice cream I was craving never materialised. There were plenty of Crimson Rosellas hanging about though (still I would have prefered an ice cream whilst I was looking at them).
I chained the bike up and walked along to Mount Taylor, which is basically the next bump along from Red Hill. I think what you notice here is how the city seems to disappear and you could be virtually anywhere in Australia (there is even a rough red dirt track).

Back at Red Hill I saw three kangaroos, two of whom scarpered when I appeared and the other one followed soon after. No great pictures, but I did film one of them boing-boinging down the hillside.

The ride back home was good, barring one or two more magpies, mostly because it was downhill. The bike seemed to survive though was a little dustier at the end of the day.

Tara from the nation's capital,

Neil, the bike and the flamin' magpies