Happy New Year from Melbourne, having come full circle around Tasmania. Since our last update we progressed westwards from New Norfolk, stopping firstly at Mount Field National Park. There we had a super day, cycling up from the campsite to Lake Dobson, a three-hour-15 km uphill through Eucalyptus rain forest, moist and cool, then through mixed forest, where the air was fresher and the mighty gum trees allowed a few other plants to share the light. As we climbed higher, sub alpine plants appeared - shrubs with minute leaves, dusted with scatterings of tiny white flowers. Finally, we reached the open alpine region, where hardy little heath plants huddled, with their roots in water and their tops pruned by the wind; tough enough to withstand sun and snow, drench and drought. At night the campsite came
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