The wombat was crashing around again
We are in Adelaide, Australia now. We arrived yesterday, after a week in Tasmania. Tasmania does not have a whole lot of the things that I'm used to. As the absence of blog entries indicates, network connectivity was approximately zero. You could log in on "pielink" for 15 minutes with a two dollar coin. It typically took several minutes for a web page to load, so that was limited. There was nothing you could call good coffee. No one was open for anything on Christmas Day, making me glad for the Emergency Noodle Cup supply.
We stayed most of the time in a little cabin in Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park, in an area of Tasmania that has not been logged, mined, or otherwise ruined. The cabin had a little heater, which was good, but at night it got down to about 7-10 C., that is around 40-50 F. There was no toilet or shower in the cabin. That was available only in the "Amenities Block" across the way. That wasn't heated at all. Using the bathroom during the night meant putting on shoes and a jacket, and running outside into the freezing cold night. We only showered a couple of times, because even during the day it didn't warm up that much. There are no groceries for about 50 miles, so we brought all our food with us. That consisted mainly of healthy cold cereal, milk, juice, vegetables to steam, peanut butter sandwich makings, and noodle cups. Eventually we were reduced to something we call "Eat it. It's good for you." after what Matt said when I complained about it. Eat it. It's good for you. is a slice of whole grain bread with steamed vegetables on top and vegetable steaming water poured over it for warmth and added nutrition. I believe it needs no further description.
I find myself returning in my mind's eye to that freezing little cabin over and over, because we traded an en-suite bathroom and warm temperatures and a luxurious bed, and any coffee at all, never mind good coffee, for the family of pademelons that breakfasted outside the window every morning, for the glorious sight of Crater Lake set in its crags like a jewel; a sight hard-won up a long, steep trail, and for the wombat that tied my tongue the first time I saw him scratching himself by the side of the cabin.
Crater Lake
Pademelon, enjoying the delicious grazing to be found in the car park adjacent to the cabin.
I blame the wombat for the ruckus that woke me at 5:30 one morning. I went outside after much crashing to see him looking guilty next to the cabin. It may actually have been the possum's fault, but the possum wasn't there any more to be blamed, and that wombat does crash around.
The Wombat,fleeing the scene of the crime.
Was it worth the price in comforts to see these things? Aldo Leopold's said:
"Nothing could be more salutary at this stage than a little healthy contempt for a plethora of material blessings.
Perhaps such a shift in values can be achieved by reappraising things unnatural, tame, and confined in terms of things natural, wild, and free."
Tasmanian Devil - unusually, standing still.
We stayed most of the time in a little cabin in Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park, in an area of Tasmania that has not been logged, mined, or otherwise ruined. The cabin had a little heater, which was good, but at night it got down to about 7-10 C., that is around 40-50 F. There was no toilet or shower in the cabin. That was available only in the "Amenities Block" across the way. That wasn't heated at all. Using the bathroom during the night meant putting on shoes and a jacket, and running outside into the freezing cold night. We only showered a couple of times, because even during the day it didn't warm up that much. There are no groceries for about 50 miles, so we brought all our food with us. That consisted mainly of healthy cold cereal, milk, juice, vegetables to steam, peanut butter sandwich makings, and noodle cups. Eventually we were reduced to something we call "Eat it. It's good for you." after what Matt said when I complained about it. Eat it. It's good for you. is a slice of whole grain bread with steamed vegetables on top and vegetable steaming water poured over it for warmth and added nutrition. I believe it needs no further description.
I find myself returning in my mind's eye to that freezing little cabin over and over, because we traded an en-suite bathroom and warm temperatures and a luxurious bed, and any coffee at all, never mind good coffee, for the family of pademelons that breakfasted outside the window every morning, for the glorious sight of Crater Lake set in its crags like a jewel; a sight hard-won up a long, steep trail, and for the wombat that tied my tongue the first time I saw him scratching himself by the side of the cabin.
Crater Lake
Pademelon, enjoying the delicious grazing to be found in the car park adjacent to the cabin.
I blame the wombat for the ruckus that woke me at 5:30 one morning. I went outside after much crashing to see him looking guilty next to the cabin. It may actually have been the possum's fault, but the possum wasn't there any more to be blamed, and that wombat does crash around.
The Wombat,fleeing the scene of the crime.
Was it worth the price in comforts to see these things? Aldo Leopold's said:
"Nothing could be more salutary at this stage than a little healthy contempt for a plethora of material blessings.
Perhaps such a shift in values can be achieved by reappraising things unnatural, tame, and confined in terms of things natural, wild, and free."
Tasmanian Devil - unusually, standing still.