Exploring the national museum surrounds at night with Bigfoot Adventures.
Like fireflies on a feeding frenzy, our bright headlights dance through the night air. Stands of ghostly gums whiz past and stones clatter into our spokes. Particles of dust, kicked up by our chunky tyres and which would go unnoticed during the day, seem larger than life when illuminated at night.
You'd be excused for thinking we're on some all-night ride on a bush track in the Brindabellas, or maybe even hurtling down Mt Stromlo's internationally acclaimed trails. But, no, we're literally a stone's throw from the democratic heartbeat of our nation. We're actually on the three-kilometre Parliament House exercise track, which circles most of Capital Hill.
We eventually stop for a drink and for our ever-attentive guide, Michael Milton, to check everyone's comfortable with their bikes and the pace. Ahead we hear running footsteps. We half expect a budgie smuggler-clad Tony Abbott to come tearing around the corner.
Fortunately, it's not - instead, some overworked ministerial staffer out trying to catch some fresh air. She looks incredulously at the words ''Bigfoot Adventures'' emblazoned on Milton's cycling jersey. Yes, Bigfoot Adventures!
When Paralympic champion Milton recently named his new business, I have to admit at being somewhat concerned. Was the formidable athlete muscling in on my territory? For the uninitiated, Bigfoot is the Australian version of a yowie. My suspicions that I was indeed facing a mystery animal turf war were somewhat heightened when I met Milton earlier in the night and he had the word ''Thylacine'' splashed all over his bike. The thylacine (the presumed-to-be extinct Tassie tiger) is high on the bucket list of every cryptonaturalist.
Thankfully, Milton quickly put to bed any prospect of a takeover of Yowie Man Inc. First, Thylacine turned out to be the brand name of his bike and then he explained that ''Bigfoot is the name my wife gave the business because I have a big foot.'' Phew!
The National Carillion - one of the nocturnal stops on Bigfoot Adventures.
OK, back to the night ride, which is one of a range of outdoor experiences that Milton offers.
We crunch on the gravel leading up to the National Carillon just as the hourly chimes clang. He's got it split-second perfect. Not bad. But I guess timing is everything for an athlete of the calibre of Milton, who holds a number of records, including the world mark for a skier with a disability and open Australian record at 213.65km/h. That's seriously fast. My car doesn't even go that fast.
Although this tour is all about exploring central Canberra by night, Milton, when asked, candidly discusses his leg. ''The really important things in life are family, friends and having fun,'' he says. ''None of those things have anything to do with how many legs you have.''
Geoff Leeper's stunning snow-gum on Mt Bimberi. Photo: Geoff Leeper
After lapping the Parliamentary Triangle, and two hours after setting off, we arrive back at Acton Peninsula. We've only covered 10 kilometres but distance (or speed) isn't what Bigfoot Adventures is about. We've had a blast, we've explored several hidden nooks and crannies of the Parliamentary precinct, made new friends, been wowed by Milton's courage and seen Canberra in a different light (literally).
Sure, it's not something you'd fork out your hard-earned to do every week, but if you have visitors coming to town or a group of friends looking for that something different (with X factor to boot), Milton's night pedal is an enlightening way to explore our city.
Mt Bimberi's rocky toad. Photo: Chris Bashford
THE MANY FACES OF BIMBERI
Although Canberra's highest peak, Mt Bimberi, might just be a little blimp on the horizon when viewed from most places in the city's suburbs (Peak Footsteps, March 9), bushwalker and high country historian Matthew Higgins snapped a photo of a snow-capped Bimberi (opposite page) from Namadgi National Park's Granite Dome last winter.
Meanwhile, intrepid adventurer Geoff Leeper reports that he has hiked up Bimberi ''a number of times and would describe the walk from the western side as moderate to hard, but not too difficult''. Leeper suggests that ''people who want to make a weekend of it should stay at Currango Homestead, which is reached via the Snowy Mountains Highway''. Leeper also submitted a photo he took in the 1990s on Bimberi Ridge (the slope from the south to the summit), of a beautiful snow gum and wildflowers (opposite page). ''When I returned to Bimberi in 2005, unfortunately I discovered the tree had been burnt in the 2003 bushfires,'' Leeper laments.
A snow-capped Mt Bimberi photographed from Granite Dome last winter. Photo: Matthew Higgins
I reckon Leeper's shapely snow gum resembles a horse's head or maybe even a unicorn. What do you think? On the subject of simulacra (faces and forms in nature), recently atop Mt Bimberi, Chris Bashford of Torrens spotted a giant amphibian (opposite page) soaking up some sun and the lofty views. ''The moss on the side of its 'face' reminds me of a cane toad's glands,'' Bashford says.
SPOTTED
A few weeks ago, this column brought you musings that Goulburn's Big Merino was to be donned in a giant 30-metre scarf to mark the city's 150th birthday. Well, rumours are rife that Rambo, who has been resplendent in his fetching knitwear for more than a week, has been more than feeling the unseasonal autumnal heat. As a result, he's expected to soon shed the scarf.
A scarf-bedecked Rambo. Photo: Perc Carter
MAILBAG
A steady stream of correspondence continues to lob into my inbox about the old Kirkdale Church ruin (Kirkdale Intrigue, February 16; and Perfect Setting, February 23), located on the Federal Highway near Collector, after this column's speculation that celebrated author Miles Franklin may have briefly attended school in the church building.
Gerald Farleigh of Kambah, who ''often wonders about its history'' as he drives past the historic place of worship, consulted The History of the Diocese of Goulburn, by Ransome Wyatt (1937), which confirms that in the 1880s ''a public school was held in the building''. However, what really grabbed Farleigh's attention was reference that ''Bishop Mesac Thomas complained in several letters that the rent obtained barely covered the cost of repairs consequent upon damage by the children''.
''Were the kids burning the furniture to keep warm in the winter?'' Farleigh ponders.
Meanwhile, many of this column's Miles Franklin devotees will no doubt be heading for Goulburn this weekend when the town's Lieder Theatre presents Miles Franklin - A Brilliant Career, written by Jennifer Lamb and directed by Annabel Scholes.
CONTACT TIM
Email: timtheyowieman@bigpond.com or Twitter: @TimYowie or write to me c/o The Canberra Times 9 Pirie St, Fyshwick.
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