Not quite the Point to Pinnacle

"Good morning and welcome to the Point to Longley!" boomed the man on the loudspeaker at the start line of the Point to Pinnacle event this morning, to a mixture of cheers, boos and laughter from the crowd. I had found out half an hour earlier from one of the friendly registration people that due to ice and snow on the last 4km of road leading to the top of kunanyi / Mt Wellington, we would be using the alternate route to the Longley Pub. It was not considered safe for all the support buses to get to the finish line.

While it looked sunny up on the mountain from Hobart, I had seen the piles of snow on Sleeping Beauty as I drove in, and as we walked closer to Fern Tree, the wind was very icy and waves of rain were passing through - so probably snowing at the top. You can see the rainbow over the mountain in one of my photos below. All along the route local residents came out to watch and cheer, some playing music (see the couple on the bagpipes at Fern Tree below!), some handing out snacks or water and others offering high fives. It was pretty incredible seeing the runners come past. There are some super fit folk out there.

Completing the Point to Pinnacle, a half-marathon length walk (for me anyway), has been on my bucket list for ages, and despite finishing the course today in 3 hours and 1 minute, I still haven't done it! Now I'll have to try again next year. You just never know what the mountain is going to throw at you.

Finally, snow

Winter has left her run late this year. Despite several forecasts of snow down to 700, 600, 500 metres, until last night we'd seen no more than a few flakes mixed in with rain. So with only a few days of winter left, we finally had a nice covering of snow to wake up to. And one of my photos featured in this ABC Hobart news report on the snowfalls. Nice!

Signs of spring

It has snowed three times in the last two weeks at our place, most recently this dusting that we woke to on Sunday.

Still, there have been many signs of spring appearing. Buds on the fruit trees. Birds are more active. The days are longer (no more walking in the dark before 7am) and the light is different. Daffodils are popping up in the front paddock.

It was a gloriously sunny start to spring today, but still chilly. We woke to a thick frost, but glad not to be down in the thick fog in the valley.

Once the fog cleared, the blossoms down in Franklin village looked so pretty against the blue sky, I had to stop and take a photo.

The real winter

It was a fresh zero degrees this morning. Yesterday's snow had frozen into slippery ice. My chickens had a snow roof over their temporary chicken run in the orchard. Winter started mildly, quite warm and dry for June. But now the real winter is here. The forecast for the next week includes a few days with sub-zero starts. We are wearing polar fleece socks inside our gumboots and enjoying the log fire in the evenings.

Fleeting snow

The forecast was for snow down to 400 metres. We settled in on the lounge to watch a movie (Hunt for the Wilderpeople - highly recommend) and by the time it was over the flakes were falling thick and fast and the garden furniture had a lovely dusting of snow. This afternoon, the snow is melting and clumps of it are falling off the roof with a great thud. The first snow of the year won't last long but it was pretty! And the dogs love it.

Mount Wellington: vistas for visitors

It was peak tourist time at the summit of kunanyi / Mount Wellington yesterday when I went up with our three visitors from Britain to check out the view. As we drove up, cars heading down featured the traditional small snowman or pile of snow on the bonnet. The car park was almost full, with bus and car loads of people from around the world. One woman lay on her back in a small patch of snow making snow angels while her friend took photos. The kids were having a blast. One of my visitors inhaled deeply, amazed at just how fresh the air is. The cloud cleared long enough for us to grab a few nice photos. We'd spent the morning strolling around Salamanca Market, with a couple of coffee stops on the way, while the mountain lurked in the background with a little snow still visible on top. Going up Mount Wellington again has got me excited about exploring more of the tracks up there soon.

P.S. Hello uncle John!

Winter in the hills of the Huon

It's powdery and soft and has coated everything. Snow was forecast down to 150 metres today and looking at the much lower hills across the Huon River from us, I'd say that's what happened.  It is just so pretty, I can't help but slip my warm gloves off to take more and more photos. My gloves are supposedly touchscreen-friendly, with a small metallic tip on both forefingers, but I have to tell you it doesn't work. But it's worth frozen fingers for this. There's always a toasty wood fire to warm up near after our snow excursions.

Icy, icy

The water coming out of our taps is pre-chilled, you could say. No wonder, when our very full water tank looks like this:

It's great for adding to a refreshing cordial or when the shortcrust pastry recipe says 'add iced water'. Not ideal for washing hands and faces, it must be said!

Snow Day

Today was a 'snow day'. Usually that means kids get to stay home from school (and some people can't get to work) so you play in the snow, make snowmen, cook, read, bicker, sit by the fire and get cosy. Everyone gets excited about a snow day. But it's school holidays this week, so a little different I guess. It's the first decent snow we've had this winter, after last year's record dump. I got up early to put some bread in the oven. After breakfast and before work, it was time to head out into the snow with the dogs. You can spot their Swiss heritage. They absolutely LOVE the snow, even old Baerli skips like a puppy in it. They lie in it, eat it, run, leap and play. Snow day for dogs, you could say.

A bird's eye view

Our neighbours are fantastic property photographers and run the Tasmanian franchise of Open2View, a nationwide real estate photography and marketing network. Shortly after we moved here, they acquired a telescopic pole on a trailer that they would tow to client properties to take elevated shots of the property. Now, technology has moved on and it's all about drones. The photos they can take are amazing. During last week's snow, our neighbours drove past our home just as the sun came out and flew the drone to take some photos for us. How nice is that! I just love the photos.

The logistical challenges of snow

Our minds last week were preoccupied with snow logistics. How to reverse out of the garage without sliding sideways down the driveway, for example. Or if we got out and down the road, how would we get back? Would Vinces Saddle (the highest point of the highway between Hobart and the Huon Valley) be closed or have black ice? Maybe we could walk down the hill and get a lift or catch the bus? Who gets to take the 4WD?

I am certain that the people I mentioned this to thought we were pathetic mainlanders* or just making it up. It last snowed a few days ago and down in the valley life has returned to normal. It has been sunny and warm(er). But up here, very little of the snow has melted. Instead, overnight frosts and sub-zero temperatures have turned it into hard, slippery blocks of ice.

So this afternoon I drove the two-wheel drive car back from Hobart in the glorious winter sunshine. As I came over the last hill, there was our place, still completely white! I stopped the car in the driveway and David made a couple of attempts to get the car in the garage for me, but the ice was too slippery. We parked the car and started to unload the shopping, when the car started moving! It slid backwards down the driveway to its current resting place in front of the water tank. There it will have to stay until the ice melts.

I think our caution and conservatism on snowy roads is a good thing. As I ventured into Hobart on Wednesday afternoon, only a few hundred metres down our road we encountered a woman in a two-wheel drive Camry who had slid backwards into a ditch and was unable to get out. What was she thinking? And to all those people whinging about the road to Mt Wellington being closed at Fern Tree - get out and walk if you'd like to see snow. It will be safer for you and your family.

* A term used by Tasmanians to refer to Australians who live on the 'north island' :-)

The big snow

Our friend Ursi from Switzerland arrived on Saturday afternoon to stay for a couple of days, and today we have about 20cm of snow, the most we have seen since we moved to Tasmania. Even Hobart and Kingston Beach have had a good dusting today. The ABC TV news bulletin is saying the snow is down to the lowest levels since 2005. It might not make the news in Switzerland, but it does here. Ursi was supposed to fly back to Sydney this afternoon, but some of the roads between here and Hobart are closed. So we moved the flight and instead we're spending the day playing with the dogs in the lovely, powdery white stuff and thawing out by the fire. It will be a cosy evening ahead, with chicken, potato and saffron soup and perhaps a glass of red or two.

A good dusting

Yesterday morning we woke to a good dusting of snow - for the second time in a week - and it isn't even mid-May yet. David drove (carefully) down the hill towards Grove for a business breakfast meeting. I played with the dogs in the snow (fun), then butchered two roosters destined for the pot (much less fun) before hitting the desk for work by 8.30am. Not exactly a typical morning, it must be said. By midday, the rain was back and the snow was gone. It's so wet here, we had a temporary creek running past the vegetable garden.