M-whY

Rain was falling when we left Bicheno, spoiling what might've been a pretty view at the Bay of Fires. Highly disappointed, we started driving towards Launceston. We drove through some dense forests, from which it was evident a strong storm had passed through overnight. Swerving to avoid fallen branches on winding roads in heavy rain made for difficult driving conditions. Distancewise, we didn't have far to go, but crossing those couple hundred kilometers was time consuming.

There was no hurry to get to Launceston anyways. The whole town shut down on sundays, like many places I've seen. (I'm beginning to think, maybe I should just designate every sunday as a resting day.) Yuki and Chieko embarked on a futile search for some coffee. "We give up," they conceded after we walked past blocks and blocks of closed shops. We checked in at a hostel, where I went upstairs to take a brief nap while they conjured up a fancy meal of chicken marsala on rice with a side salad. Sure beats the ramen dinners I'm so adept at making!

The weather improved enough after dinner for us to visit Launceston's most famous tourist attraction, the Cataract Gorge. Lit by floodnights every night until 9:00pm, I got a chance to show off my superior photography skills. Okay, okay, out of the dozen or so shots I took, only that one turned out well. Along the way, I heard some movement in the trees. Whenever I hear some noise in the bushes, or the call of a bird nearby, I always turn to see if I might possible catch a glimpse of some native wildlife.

This time, I saw a possum. I called Yuki and Chieko over to share my discovery. The poor animal must've been scared silly with all the flash photography we put it through.

"We're going to make it blind!"

Wouldn't have been funny if it lost it's balance and fell out of the tree? That would've really made my day!

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