Saturday and Snow!

We left Strahan in the north west corner of the island on a cool and rainy morning for our journey back to Hobart.

We headed east, intending to visit Lake St Clair on the way but as we ascended the winding mountain road it started to snow and visibility worsened.  The temperature had dropped to 0C so we binned that plan and continued driving east towards the Central Highlands.

It seems that an unseasonal blast from the Antarctic had blown in across the west of Tasmania.

Tasmania's west is sparsely populated and we drove for a couple of hours before encountering any signs of human habitation. There was a rustic Wilderness Hotel by the roadside in splendid isolation and the girl behind the bar seemed surprised to see us walk in. Hot coffee and carrot cake set us up for the next couple of hours continuing south east back to civilisation. 

We did stop off on the way to visit an artist's gallery, called The Wall. He has spent a decade painstakingly carving huge wooden panels depicting the history of Tasmania. His work is very impressive but sadly no photographs are allowed.

We were relieved to find when we arrived in Hobart that the temperature here was a balmy 9C and no snow.

Our last night is in a lovely old colonial house with charming period features. Our friends, who have organised the whole trip for us, certainly did a good job.

We spent our final evening in Hobart enjoying a very good meal and a couple of glasses of wine in a restaurant overlooking Hobart's Tasman bridge.