Journeying between my Homes

I journey North East toward the Plateau,
Past regenerating Blue Gums,
Their blackened flesh revitalised and sprouting.
Past the still blackened Silver Top Ash,
Just sprouting.
The forest floor is a fresh green carpet.
The odd sentinel stands out as a monument.

Arriving at the cooler country,
Signs of the devastation dwindle and peter out at last.
I am amongst the forest giants.
Shining Gums shade the fern trees,
Black woods just in blossom,
Remnants of snow lay like whisker-tinged shaving foam,
In the shaded gutters of the track.

We reach the gap between the ranges.
I look down the steep precipice to the falls.
I hear the gurgling sounds of fast moving water over stone.
The Sassafras Christmas Trees  now take the place of the gums.
I am in the Cool Temperate Rainforest.

Opening out onto the other side.
We see the first signs of habitation.
A cleared paddock, a plantation.
We are high, eleven hundred metres.
The trees are stunted, Snow Gums and Candlebarks.
Cross the fast flowing river, lined with tea tree.

Wind down again into tall forest,
This time Grey Gum and Messmate,
Cottonwoods reaching up between them like children.

At last we descend into the village,
Neat and timeless save the satellite dishes on tin roofs.
Climbing out of the valley that holds the town like an infant,
We escape out into stark sunshine,
The open high plains of the Monaro.
Arrived.