This is one of my favourite views of an Island – which is to me one of the most special places in Australia. It is Maatsuyker Island which is about 10 ks. off the south coast of Tasmania.  The Department of Parks & Wildlife send caretakers the the Island and in 2005 I was lucky to be there for three months. Since then I have been working with the Friends of Maatsuyker. We are a subgroup of Wildcare in Tasmania and work to promote the Island and raise funds for works required and when possible assist Parks to care for the Island. this first view is of the Needles, the group of rock/islands to the south of the main Island.  The photo is taken from the road, from just below the helipad where you arrive on the main Island.

Further down the path, visitors emerge from under the wind swept vegetation. The house sits in one of the windiest parts of Australia right ahead and below that is the Light tower.
I will add more to this story soon – as I speed up the new technique.

This is Wednesday – On Monday a good friend called me at 7.00pm.  I was just settling down for the evening alone. Thank goodness for good friends. Amanda lives in Taroona and the winning yacht  Alfa Romeo was just entering the Derwent River. From the deck of her house, we watched it with its flotilla of admirers coming up the river.

By car we reached the Taste of Tasmania – it had only opened that evening.  We had a great meal at a table outside. Before long, people were standing on the tables cheering as Alfa Romeo crossed the finishing line. I am glad to say there were no Occupational Work and Safety Police to call us back to the floor.  We walked round to the dock and had a prime view of the new platform as the honours are presented.

The next morning, I had to take Robert to a friend’s house at 7.30 am. so that he might get his lift to the Falls Festival.  Coming back through town I stopped at the docks and saw the yacht Loyal, with its celebrity crew arrive at the finishing line.  I also took what I consider a pretty speccy shot of Alfa Romeo. Now it is time for bed !

Time for a good coffee.  It was hot so we opened the car so Molly would not overheat. I thought about the absurd new road law that says we must totally lock our cars if we walk more than 10 ft. from them. Everyone has been talking of the absurdity of such a rule with pets.  Then we all had a glbal warming surpise! We were inundated by the most amazing horizontal rain storm. Robbie nobly rushed back to the car and shut the back and all the windows,  but everything was already soaking.

When we arrived at the Matilda (the caravan) Robbie produced  decorations and a branch from our christmas tree gathering day. It looked  festive with the special addition of the Beetles in cube form!  Little figures made from cardboard – which Robert had been cutting and folding while we were on the in Ferry.

By morning Santa had come and brought Robert a giant imitation match lighter which he donated to Matilda and a stash of chocolate  money - eaten fast! We had our presents – various absolutely correctly chosen books and DVDs.  Molly and Neika gave me “Love over Scotland” just in case I needed to be reminded ot Caroline and Andrew and all in the frozen North. The mobile rang – “Happy Christmas” from James and Edwina. Nick arrived from across the field and we tucked into a hearty bacon and eggs breakfast.  I had decreed a brisk walk to earn our Christmas Feast.

Nick has been working on clearing the track to the Lagoon – about a 30 minute walk.

Over the last couple of years the way had become impassable by 4WD because of  shrubs turned to trees, fallen branches and puddles a mud health spa owner would have been envious of. His recent work has transformed it into a stroll in a park.

At the shore of the lagoon it was good to see Molly enjoy sloshing about dreaming of catching a black swan for her Christmas lunch while Rob rested on a log.

On our return Molly had an aberration.  Yes! old Dogs have dementia too!  Two thirds of the way back up the track we find one of the mud spa puddles, such an ideal treat for a long coated dog. Rob and Nick were striding on I hovered nearby in case she did what she did last time – go back the way she had come. She did! and with such speed. She thought we had left her. Like a dog demented (she is) she headed back to the Lagoon. Deaf too – so no call will get her back. Thank Goodness Robert turned too and ran after her, but he was back at the lagoon before he caught her. Now Robert had earned his Christmas dinner.

Back home we adjourned to Nick’s tower.  He had gone ahead and set a fire in the washing machine liner BBQ and wrapped our bird in copious amounts of foil. Potatoes – sweet and regular were done the same way. The starter was an enormous oyster Nick found by the lagoon, smoked salmon and dips. We were prepared for fire with the old Karingal back pack spray while the wine cooled in a red water bucket.

Such a feast – followed by a break in which I took a walk on Cloudy Bay Beach and then Christmas pudding in Nick’s main room. Later up in the van we enjoyed our new reads by candle light. It may not have been a meal of enormous elegance but it was delicious and certainly my first proper bush Christmas after 34 years in Australia.

However we had to have a tree for the house.

This is an annual ritual. Each year we drive to Seven Mile Beach near Hobart Airport and cut our own Christmas Tree. Parks and Wildlife aid their weeding program and make us feel clean and green by giving  a permit on a  map for the cost of $5.00. Off we go and cut a tree  from the feral trees growing around the airport and the beach. We take the dog – so even she thinks this is a fun excursion.

The actual choice of tree is now decorated in our sitting room.

I have also been carol singing with the Hobart Orpheus Choir at Glenorchy Shopping Centre.

It is always a fun day and this year was no exception with appreciative adults and children.

The third Christmas event of the last few days was the Hobart Walking Club Christmas lunch.  Twenty eight of us met for a shorter and as you will see in the photograph, a reflective walk

around Margate.

This was followed by a longer lunch at the Brookfield vineyard.

Sorry folks – I seem to be having awful trouble with the images in the post – I will have to try later !

Mine run wild against the fence under the wattle tree and there is no netting. It is a challenge to get in amongst them and I emerge with sticky weed seeds all over me.  Today I fought my way through the broad bean plants and picked the last of their pods. Then there was a jungle of potato plants which I certainly did not plant! I pulled a few and tiny little pink potatoes appeared. Good for salads but I am not sure that they would qualify as quality pink eyes, the brand which gardeners in Tasmania feel justly proud.

But,  I am proud. When I got into the raspberry canes, which are growing rampant and spreading up the hill to the wooden bench under the Banksia Rose, the canes were bent over with the most luscious quantity of fruit. Within no time I had filled the metal bowl I carried.  Back in the house I weighed it – 1.200 kg.  And this is the second picking. Four days ago, I picked some  that were accessible from the lawn, at a guess there would have been 800 g that day and there will be more.

These let-wild raspberry plants remind me of  Scotland where the raspberries grow wild in the hedgerows. In late summer cars are stopped  at the side of the country roads and the occupants can be seen bent over as the put the berries in buckets.  I remember the little balsa wood punnets of my childhood, filling them in the garden, where the raspberries grew in neat lines.  My brother-in-law’s dog Whisky, a black and white spaniel had a passion for raspberries. I once saw her between the canes her head cocked up and a raspberry just disappearing into her mouth beneath her black nose.  The whole action was very delicate and there was a gently sucking noise as the berry vanished.

Late summer two years ago I walked with my brother and sister to the loch which sits in the hills above the land which our father once farmed in the borders in Scotland. We scattered Mother’s ashes at the far end of the loch, where there are the old ditches from an ancient fort. The view there is superb. These people knew where to live with a strategic view.  Was it Picts Scotts or Romans or earlier Hunters and Gatherers who first enjoyed this view?  As we walked up the road to the loch and back again, there were masses of raspberries red and yellow, this was our walk refreshment and nothing could have been better.

It is remarkable that a bowl of raspberries can prompt so many ramblings in the mind.

We arrived through a lovely fern glade. It reminded me of being under the trees on Maatsuyker Island – an experience I will write about here one day. We reached the falls and Lady baron seemed to be OK!  We passed  moss covered the tree stumps which looked like soft green contemporary sculptures. Moss hung from a branche like a suspended animal and it even coated the fern leaves.

I have been a member of the Hobart Walking Club for around 16 years and over that time I have displayed varying degrees of fitness.  Now, encouraged by retirement from my time as an employee of the University and so able to control my own hours of work, I am able to walk more regularly. After many years of being, what the president once described as, a swinging walker I seem to have settled into Tuesday walks. This does not mean that I will not continue to swing between the days if there is a destination or walk which attracts me, just that at the moment the Tuesday group with their less frenetic pace than the Thursday group and their later start than the Wednesday group, seems to suit me best.  It sounds  a bit like Goldilocks and the porridge!

There was some trepidation on my part as, earlier in the year I had made it to the top of Cathedral Rock, (876m) but decided not to continue on the walk – I was definitely LAST on that occasion and the day was hot.  Perhaps Trestle Mountain would defeat me. On the other hand, I did climb it on my birthday 8 or so years ago. It was early February and hot with a smell of bushfire smoke in the air.

In those days the summit was approached through a chimney 0f rock. I remember reaching the base of the chimney  with another walker who also celebrated his birthday that day (he was some years senior to me). We were the rear party and both decided to stop and have our lunch.

The rest empowered me and ten minutes later, not to be defeated, I ventured up the chimney to join the rest of the group.  Ten minutes after that, Barry’s head also appeared at the top of the chimney, it was a good moment.

So back to this walk: it was pleasantly cool and as we climbed from Mountain River, we were sheltered from the winds which lashed Hobart. The waratah and the pandani were in flower as were many others, which made the side of the path at the saddle look as good as any native botanical garden.

The Summit was windy as we experienced some of the wind that the city was receiving. The view to the south was laid out like a patchwork, while to the views to the north and west were craggy mountain landscape with swirling clouds as far as we could see.  The walk back down was cruisey and allowed me time to dawdle with the camera till the camera battery was empty. Now I cannot wait for another really good climb.  Lets just keep it cool!           Click on the images to see them larger.

So, I managed to make contact with the owner and returned with her to the site.  This time it was a hot and glorious day.  Three huts are still available, two three room huts 12 x 3 metres and one two room hut 7 x 3 m. The owners had intended to keep the two larger ones and transport them to a block of land – but then realized they did not have a block of land! Then the local vandals then got into hut 2 and burnt a sofa.  It is now very smoked inside with a hole in the floor.  This makes it a real bargain! I attach photos of the two larger ones. The smoke damaged one is in better order from the outside than the other one, which has a side verandah and was being lived in until quite recently. The full back view shows that they are still in pretty good nick.  Phone calls have been made to the crane/transport company to see what vast amount might be charged to transport them. I have posted more photos on facebook for the son to see, so that he can see how straight they are !  Then I will have to make up my mind as to whether this will become my “Grand Designs” project for 2010!