A track day in Wright Forest, Cockatoo

A Sunday in Cockatoo in May, and about ten kilometres of Wright Forest with friends and their dogs along. It was a leads-on walk from start to finish, and on a track this wide, with a new smell every metre, nobody minded.

The country kept changing under our feet: tall forest with ferns and deep leaf litter, then sudden openings where the old railway line cuts through, with hilly green farmland behind it. The dogs ran beside the line and sniffed every metre of it.

Pepsi: A leash walk that still has a creek in the middle of it gets my full cooperation. I ran the track, waded the pool, and sniffed every metre beside the railway with my sister-in-paws doing the same.

Halfway round, the Puffing Billy trestle bridge came into view, and under it a brown creek pool that became the swim stop.

Autumn had the forest at its best, leaf litter deep enough to sniff through and the light coming in low through the gums.

Going yourself? The Wright Forest page has which tracks dogs can use, and where to park.