Veronika Wild

I took these photos a couple of weeks ago when I thought it was the last we'd see of the snow Now the weather gods have sent us a quick message that winter is not over yet. Road weather alerts, snow, hail, flood warnings, gale warnings, warnings for boaties, warnings for bushwalkers and sheep weather alerts. I shiver for those poor skinny sheep who've already been shorn. Today's news looks like this: Police rescue motorists stranded in heavy snowfall in Tasmania's south 12:56 EST Snow has affected some roads in Tasmania's south, prompting police to warn drivers to use extreme caution after a number of motorists were left stranded on Friday night. Wild weather for the Southwest 12:13 EST A strong cold front is moving across the Southwest bringing gusty winds, heavy rain and the chance of some severe thunderstorms. Heavy snow in Tasmania leaves motorists stranded south of Hobart While this can happen at almost any time of year ...

Some beautiful weather and the wattle is in bloom -it even smells like spring! OK I take it back. There is something to be said for footpaths. Meandered along The Margate Rivulet Walk a few days ago when the weather was delightfully springlike. For the most part it was very pleasant, having been cleared and maintained by the Green Corps and the Tramway Hill Landcare Group, but on the map it looked as if the track would continue further up the river. We struggled on for a while but were soon defeated by blackberries, swamps and fallen trees. We should have stayed at the wide grassy area which would have made a great picnic spot. Above it were postcard views across the rolling hills to Snug Tiers, replete with grazing sheep and contented cows. We also enjoyed a friendly encounter with frisky young goats and a friendly farmer (maybe that should that read, a frisky farmer and friendly young goats). Felt rather frisky myself but was still grateful for the strategically placed seat a...

Were Tasmania not generously endowed with spectacular landforms, these two at  suburban Blackman’s Bay, only about 20 minutes from the city centre would be famous.  The first is the Blowhole, just off the Channel Highway along aptly named Blowhole Road.  It is almost as deep as the Devil's Kitchen on the Tasman Peninsula and locals say they have seen the spray spilling out of the top. There is ample parking and should you get tired of the churning and billowing, the cliffs nearby and the views across the bay are spectacular as well. Just don’t bring your dog. It is also a bird sanctuary.  The Blowhole Another natural wonder is only a little further on. Follow the coast road south to end of the beach and take the right hand fork.   After you have left all the houses behind and it looks like there can’t possibly be anything else, watch out for a small dirt road on your left called Fossil Cove Road.   The track starts at the rough pa...

Goodbye Fairy Garden. This is what it looked like a few years ago. The little girls I met there called it that Then... The next two pictures show what it looks like now..... Sorry. I don't see this as improvement Obviously the people who did this don't have a romantic bone in their body and should be found some kind of occupational therapy that doesn't involve chopping things down or doing things with chainsaws and bulldozers.  Perhaps they had an unhappy childhood. Ask any child if they would rather have one of those ubiquitous plastic playgyms or a pile of dirt and some trees to climb and you know what the answer will be. There is plenty of native bushland in the background, so it is not as if the willows and ivy were doing much encroaching here either - at best they held the soil, but more on that later as I am also having an argument with one of my sons about the last post. Gone

Entrance to "The Valley of the Shadow of Death" Behind these grim walls just a kilometre or two from the CBD is the Cascade Female Factory, a place of correction for female convicts transported between 1822 and 1856. Together with 10 other convict sites it was inscribed in the World Heritage List in 2010. While Port Arthur is probably the best known of these and the work of male convicts is apparent in the building of infrastructure, clearing of land and the cutting of stone and timber, Cascades Female Factory is a memorial the 12,000 women who were transported to Van Diemen's Land. Most of them were guilty of only minor infractions - the theft of clothing, a pair of boots, a few coins, a bolt of cloth, a parasol or just  food, saying more about conditions in England than about the convicts themselves. Many had originally come from Ireland, which was experiencing the worst famine in European history. It was fitting that my daughter and I had come here on a cold ...

WARNING: NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT Only a shadow of its former self. The dense thickets have already been removed. Wish I had taken a photo earlier A few months ago, while hunting and gathering, I came upon a delightful spot near the river at New Norfolk.   There were several   banned species -willows arching over the banks, tall stands of fennel, a couple of wild fruit trees and a clutch of berries. A motley assortment of ducks swam towards me as I approached the river bank. Insects buzzed and fish leapt in flashes of silver. Another of those Wind in the Willows sort of places,  - for dreaming, sketching perhaps, having picnics, playing games. Definitely one to bring the little girls to, next time they came. I saw it again in the Autumn – a riot of golds and yellows with rich dark hawthorn berries   all around.   Then it happened.   I could hear chainsaws in the distance as the willows were brutally chopped down.   By the next visit,   ...

Snowbart Yes, I know it's laughable compared to  Northern climes - bit like a British heatwave, but this is the most snow that Hobart has seen in thirty years.