Hills of Berkeley

Hey again, everyone - long time, no post, I know, but here I am with a new post.

So, things are getting seriously underway on the academic side over here, but that doesn't mean I'm not finding the time to get out and explore my surroundings.

As the weather cools down, in fact, it's easier for me to get out and about - For a few weeks when I arrived, it was a bit too warm for comfort, but now it's cooled down beautifully - just the right conditions for getting out and exploring the Berkeley Hills.

So, Geography lesson first: The East side of the San Francisco Bay consists of a fairly narrow strip of urban and suburban development, backed by a long chain of hills. Many of the suburbs here in the East Bay climb a way back up into the hills, but as you get further back from the water its mostly state and national parks.

I've been intending to get out there for a while now - I've spent over a month now living entirely in the city, and while I love being here where the action is, I'm still a hills boy, so I do occasionally feel the compulsion to get out into a less urban landscape. So I took a couple of longish walks out into the hills last weekend, keen on finding out what there was to see back behind the campus where I spend all of my time.

The University of California actually owns a lot of land in the hills back here - the Lawrence Berkeley National Labs (a Physics research centre - think syncotrons and the like) extends right back up Strawberry Canyon, the source of the creek running through the middle of campus.

I had almost forgotten how much I enjoy getting out amongst the trees. I guess it's not something you think about when you live next door to a forest, but I forgot how great it is to get out away from the concrete, at least for a little while.

And boy, it's spectacular up there. Strawberry Canyon climbs up and up until it reaches the highest point in the immediate area, Grizzly Peak (for reference, Grizzly Peak is around 1800 feet above sea level, so a similar height to Mt  Dandenong). There are groves of redwoods, which I've decided are my favourite species of tree (is it strange that I have a favourite species of tree?) - when you're out there in the late afternoon, the light streaming in can be so spectacular.

Apparently, the hippies(or cultists?) like it up in the Redwood groves too - check out the forest circles!

The other big attraction of getting out into the hills is the view - it was hazy when I went out there, but when it's clear, I bet you could see the whole Bay.

Looking down Strawberry Canyon, over the top of Berkeley to the San Francisco Bay - SF itself is obscured by the haze.

Looking down to the Campanile and the UC Berkeley Campus (note the Eucalypt trees in the foreground - they're introduced here in California, but it turns out they thrive in this climate)

Downtown Oakland through the haze

Downtown Berkeley, and its precisely two highrise buildings.

Well, that's more or less it for the time being - hope you're enjoying the occasional blog-age, I'm certainly having a good time putting 'em together.

As usual, all my photos from the past week or so are on Flickr.

'til next time!

Jono