A short(ish) walk from the Hindu Kush?

Possibly yes, if Kush means grocery store ....

 ... which it doesn't seem to according to the wiki!  This post covers an expedition from Phillip (where El Camion Real was deposited for a 1500km check over) to Civic where one of my molars got some maintenance.

In the initial stages I was quite impressed with some of the graffiti on various flat surfaces.

 

After getting to Hindmarsh drive I was feeling a bit as though I had had a Lamb Kofta that was past its use by date.  All was well however as I spotted an interesting sign in the nearby shopping centre.  I am not referring to the sign for the Snag Stand.  (For non-ockers, snag is Strine for sausage.)

Having got that out of the way I headed onwards and upwards noticing a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo having breakfast on a street light.  I think it is actually eating a pine cone and the other vegetable matter is by-catch.

As I progressed up Hindmarsh Dive I noticed this tasteful residence in O'Malley.  I thought it was some Embassy but there was no signage to that effect.  (The presence of large stone lions suggests a country with its Embassy in Deakin but enquiries are in hand.)

 More graffiti!   It is very good of ACTEW to  have positioned spray-can playgrounds so liberally through the area.

 On the ascent to the peak of Red Hill I got a good view across O'Malley to the Brindabellas. I was sobering to see the amount of St John's Wort seed-heads covering just about every open area.

After completing the ascent of the South Face of Red Hill I arrived at Davidson Trig giving a good view South .  Fortunately, the hills here block the suburban sprawl from sight.

After progressing along the ridge I descended on a track demonstrating the approach to protecting biodiversity in the ACT.

At least they have an expensive sign explaining what is the area before the burn.  One of these signs explains in detail how walkers and mountain bike riders can damage the area.  It is close to a fire trail well chewed up and showing the tracks of what look suspiciously like the tyres of a 4x4.    But fire-trucks don't damage areas, no sir, Oh my goodness no, don't you worry about that!

While the Hindu Kush is in South Asia crossing this sward (with no 4x4 tracks) I might have been in Africa to judge by the amount of African Lovegrass growing there.  (That is runner-up to St John's Wort for ACT climax vegetation.  This year Serrated Tussock is a distant 3rd as Patterson's Curse has temporarily withdrawn due to dryness.)

A few of the street trees in the suburb of Forrest were showing some signs of Autumnal colour

Another flock of cockies were found in Telopea Park.  Still doing the business on pine cones: note the tongue licking the seeds out!

 Nearby was a flock of Little Corellas showing the white crest and blue eye-ring..

 Not all white birds are cockatoos!

 I couldn't resist an image of this young Darter.  It seemed to be too waterlogged to fly away.

 Also not flying away were the Fruit bats hanging out in Commonwealth Park.  The colony seems to be increasing in size and grumpiness.  The noise was considerably more than last time I visited the area,

Although it is 5 months to Floriade 2013 (and about the same since the 2012 event closed down) there is massive work going on.  It is a great shame that because the National Capital Authority won't acknowledge its status as a dinosaur and allow all these beds to be permanent huge effort is wasted on clearing them away and recreating them each year.

 After a nice visit to my dentist (she is a great person) I took the bus back to Woden.  Surely with over 50 folk on the bus the bus company must be making a buck on this service?  As I walked back to the car dealership I found this last example of graffiti.