In The Backyard. By Geoff Murray

My wife and I are fortunate to live on a 10 acre bush block in southern Tasmania. From our front verandah, we can see two mountains to the south-east, Collins Cap and Collins Bonnet, both a part of the Wellington Range. Collins Bonnet, in particular, is a fine-looking mountain and it is currently dusted with a good covering of snow and ice, so it seemed like a suitable destination for a short sharp trip.

I left home around 1 pm. It’s only about 40 minutes drive from our home to the car park where a track leads to the mountain. After an hour climbing up through pleasant rainforest, I popped out onto a fire trail which I then followed to a location that I had found on Google Earth. It looked like it might offer a good tent site, but this was a real act of faith as it is not really possible to know whether it was suitable or not.

This time I was in luck. A short wander through the bush and I had found my clearing. It was mostly filled with clumps of pineapple grass, but there was one clearing that was a perfect size for my Dragonfly tent. I stamped a flat platform in the snow and set up camp.

Conditions were pleasant rather than spectacular, but I still found a nice bit of light towards the evening before cooking dinner and slipping into the luxury of my sleeping bag. It wasn’t a cold night, only just dropping to -1°C.

I was up at 6.30 am for the sunrise that didn’t happen; then it was time for breakfast. After breakfast, I packed my pack and walked back to the car. I was home by late morning.

A brief trip in the backyard that I really enjoyed.

By Mont Ambassador and wilderness photographer Geoff Murray

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