C....c...c...cold...

Hobart, sunlight and temperatures over 5 degrees seem a long time ago now; it's something of an effort just to get my fingers to flex enough to type. Nonetheless, and not even being bloody-minded, I'm having a good time. In Cradle Mountain national park in Tassie's northwest; have stayed here and at Lake St Clair at the southern end of the park over the last few days, doing walks every day, seeing gorgeous scenery - craggy, snow-dusted peaks (first snow I've seen for 18 months); dark, chillingly deep lakes; rain-sodden, moss-coated forests at the lakeside and elsewhere the tree-carpeted valleys you can see all over this state. The rest of Oz has had major drought problems for the last 2 years; you could safely say Tasmanians don't have too much to worry about in that regard. Back to the mainland in a few days to bid farewell to friends old and new, then like the Pet Shop Boys I'm going West...