M-whY

"Sorry, but we can't pump gas right now. We don't have power, and we're not sure when it's going to come back."

The weather was bad, but it didn't seem bad enough to knock out power...

"And the next gas station is in Queenstown?"

"Yep. About 40kms away."

We had a long drive ahead of us. Hobart was where we wanted to end up that night. Every minute counted. Who knew when power would be restored? All I could hope for was a straight, level, road to Queenstown.

My prayers went unanswered as we snaked our way through winding roads. Several times on hilly terrain, the gas gauge indicated empty, only to crawl back up a couple millimeters as the road flattened. By the time we found the next gas station, we must've been running on fumes.

They say western Tasmania cloudy for most of the year. I have yet to verify this with any reliable references, but from the few days I've spent here, it certainly seems to be the case. We arrived at Lake St Clair in the midst light rain. There was no point in doing any walks in this kind of weather.

On our way out, we ran into the Scottish couple again. They too were just stopping for a quick look before moving on.

"So what's your next stop?" I asked.

"We're probably going to Franklin Gordon National Park tonight."

"Oh, we're headed to Hobart. I guess this will be the last time we run into each other!"

Four out of five days we had come across each other. Pretty incredible I think.

We continued on to Mt Field National Park to see Russell Falls, one of Tasmania's best known attractions. Personally, I was getting tired of seeing falls. I mean, it's just water running over an edge. I must've seen dozens of them so far, and other than Huka Falls in New Zealand, I wasn't impressed by any of them. Further down the track, we came across Horseshoe Falls. Same thing. More water falling over an edge. Big deal...

The stopover wasn't a complete waste though. I got the chance to add padamelons to the list of creatures I've seen in the wild. If wallabies are miniature kangaroos, then pademelons are miniature wallabies. About the size of a very large rabbit, they were quite common at Mt Field National Park. We must've seen four or five of them up close, and several more darting across the road as we drove.

By nightfall, we reached Hobart. While I settled down and did some writing, I noticed I had reached my 50th day milestone. Well, too late to celebrate now, but maybe I'll do something tomorrow!

Thanks to everyone for their support and comments! Knowing people are reading keeps me motivated to continue the updates!