Where did February come from?

That's a rhetorical question. Not so much a request for information about the Roman or Gregorian calendar as it is an observation that time flies when you're battling depression and Centrelink.

They've been harrassing my family for months now. On Friday I rang Julia Gillard's office, since she's the local MP... to recite the list of threats, letters, errors and unecessary penalties, and was asked by the staffer: "So what do you expect me to do about it?"

This is only the welfare and mental health system in a country with the highest per capita rate of suicides on the planet, in a low socio-economic area where more than the average one in five suffer from mental health issues.

But yeah. It's February and my analytical/synthetical/political typing fingers are beginning to itch.

Yesterday I was looking through the Parks Victoria site, perusing some of the forests, reserves and parks available within an hour or two of here... There are caves, bushwalks, bike trails and mountain biking. Most of the camp sites are free.

Hepburn regional park includes Mount Franklin and the mineral springs near Daylesford.

Langi Ghiran is a large area out the other side of Ballarat toward Ararat. There are caves as well as MTB and other trails. There's substantial Aboriginal art in this area. Looks like the separate parks aren't going to load by links here, so you'll need to use their java list to find them if you want more info.

Brisbane Ranges is near the You-Yangs and Anakie gorge, on the road between Bacchus Marsh and Geelong. That's a flatter but gorgeous area with some rock climbing.

Mount Alexander is a bit further north of Mount Franklin, with MTB, rock climbing and caving. The mountain is called Lanjanuc by the locals and is an important high point. A large area of former pine plantation and gold fields is being rehabilitated and added to the park.

Mount Buangor's a 2400 hectare park 60k west of Ballarat, so not as far as Langi Ghiran. There's a few aboriginal sites remaining. Walking trails extend into the national forest next door. There's caving and waterfall walks as well as rock climbing and MTB.

Lerderderg is just west of Bacchus Marsh, and also includes climbing and MTB with the added bonus of kayaking and rafting. Woohoo!

Mount Eccles and Mount Napier are further south and west of Melbourne on theHamilton-Port Fairy road, toward the coast. They're located on old lava flows so there's caves and aboriginal sites. Mount Napier is north east of Eccles and is an extinct volcano. This is an exception to the list as camping fees apply in the Summer season.

There's also Werribee Gorge, the Organ Pipes, and the You-Yangs, but you can't camp in any of those.

So with the exception of the volcanic sites at Mt's Eccles and Napier, these are all free to camp, have great opportunities for cycling and exploring and they're withing an hour or so drive from here! Mts Gambier and Arapiles are further away and are not free to camp, but they're very, very worth it if you're looking to rock climb. Mt Gambier would probably be fantastic for MTB too. Must revisit there sometime soon.

This comprises my "to do" list for the next few months.

I'll bring back stories and photos. Promise.