Colmslie Beach Reserve

There are many of excitement when you move to a new city, even if you move back to the city of you girlhood, cos stuff changes fast and what was there then is gone and new stuff is at every turn.

Our lovely girl Dibley Dog has been a bit discombobulated with the move. The Wee house is now where near as comfortable or interesting for her. She can no longer lie like Cleopatra on her high floor and survey her minion dogs in the park and then high tail it out to the front gate and give them a rousing barking off. She has lost all of her doggie park friends and I do believe she has been missing them. Oh sure we have tried to woo her with treats and extra cuddles but really there just isn't anything quite like going the big sniff of a dog's bum, if you are indeed a dog that is.

So we've been taking her just about everywhere with us, coffee and dinners are OK, but for house inspections even though she is a real consideration about what we can buy, well she needs to stop at home. I mean these places that have signs up saying 'Please remove your shoes.' Well it doesn't even bare asking the question, 'Are dogs OK' The agents would go into melt down and even though I would giggle at the sight, we don't want to push our luck. So at home she stays. She is not best pleased with this arrangement. As soon as I go to grab my bag she starts herding my up. She stands next to her collar and lead. She arse plants herself away from the back door and refuses to leave. It reminds me quite a lot of leaving a toddler at day care, except that when we get home she is absolutely all forgiving as she rushes at us all but knocking us to the ground.

So she has been our driving force in searching the local area for a play spot. Of course she was spoiled for choice at the Coast, even though all we doggie folk whinged about the lack of facilities. There was the park next door, the park around the corner and the best beach in the world. The big smoke is different, and not always in a good way.

The off leash dog areas are hardly parks. They are mostly small barren bits of yard fenced by chicken wire. They house a variety of agility type erections and almost no grass. Sure dogs can sniff and piss on the frames of the slides and stuff, but that just doesn't compare with a wide open space and a new stink under the shade of a lovely tree.

But as the Wee House has a pocket handky bit of grass, we have been scouting something lovely for her,and a couple of days ago we stumbled on The Colmslie Beach Reserve. It's a bloody marvellous place! It feels like it has been there a very long time with an avenue of beautiful mature trees reaching across to each other creating shade for us and sniff and piss interest for her. There is a field where she can play chase the ball, and there is a track along the river, the Brisvegas River and yesterday we were treated to the Tug and Pull of a big passenger ship being turned around and sent on it's way off to the open seas for another adventure. It was all a bit exciting.

I think we have found our place. Sure we have to pop in the car to get her there but she is happy and naturally that is our goal.