It is early morning and still a little cool, although the sky above the surrounding low hills is already pale blue, and flecked with wispy trails of light cloud. We walk along a shallow valley. Stands of box eucalypts, mixed with ironbarks, cover the hillsides and extend down towards a winding creek. An open meadow borders the other side where we walk. The light around us is clear, and the silence — apart from a low harmony of bird calls — is absolute.