Winter has arrived in all it’s glory! It sure has been cold the last few days. And it has absolutely beautiful up here too. The other day I watched the most magical sunrise I have ever seen. The entire Tyenna Valley was a glowing with a soft golden light. The distant hills and mountains outlined in pink. And snow was falling, soft and fluffy flakes of snow gently drifting down from the sky. Shining white against the golden backdrop. I watched in awe and was reminded more than ever of what an incredible experience it is to live up here.

One afternoon I was sitting enjoying the last of the day’s sun, on a rather warm winter day, when three yellow tailed black cockatoos flew by. Hmmm…. I thought… looks like it’s going to rain. Though, it seemed unlikely given how sunny it was. But what do you know…. Next moment clouds had gathered across the sky and it began raining. I had never been totally convinced on the truth behind the theory that seeing precisely three black cockatoos flying in a group means rain is coming. I thought it must surely be a myth. But I have found up here that it is true every time. I don’t understand why, but it is. If there is one cockatoo, or five cockatoos then it doesn’t mean rain. But three…. it always rains. Next thing you know it had gone from a sunny day to a hectic storm. All night the wind lashed against the tarp and the water gathered and pooled in puddles, precariously above my head, so that I had to keep getting up in the middle of the night to tip them out, lest they collapse the tarp. By the morning it was so cold my fingers felt like ice-blocks and the snow had joined the rain to make an icy slosh in the puddles.

The following morning, there was no snow but there was  a thick layer of frost, so that when I pulled my tarp open it didn’t make its usual crinkling sound, but instead came the sound of cracking ice. Outside on the deck I had to step very tentatively and carefully, as the platform was coated in ice and very slippery.

But in between the snow and ice there has been moments of sunshine. It is amazing how different the winter sunshine compared to summer. I love the way the air seems so crisp and fresh. And the colours seem so radiant in the forest. I was enjoying taking some photos of a little bird who was also taking advantage of the winter sunshine. I went inside to put the camera away, leaving the tarp open. I turned around and thought to myself…. what on earth is all that white fluff on my blanket? I stepped in for a closer look and suddenly I was covered in it too…. ah yes… it was snow and it has snuck in silently and quickly to cover my blanket within a minute!

If Thursday and friday were the days of snow. Then yesterday’s special feature would have to be the rainbow. I think I saw at least ten different rainbows throughout the day. Most were specatacularly vivid and bright.

I must apologise for not blogging lately. Although I have been having a great time enjoying the weather, I have also been having a very frustrating time dealing with technology and power. Oh, how easy it used to be in the city; anytime you want to charge something up all you have to do is go to the wall and plug it in. Oh, the joys of unlimited energy! Up here it is never quiet so simple. And the last few days have been some of the most challenging on this side of things. Every time I went to charge my computer there would be a horrible loud ‘beeeep’ emitted from the inverter. Usually an indication that the battery it is plugged into isn’t charged enough. So a very loyal supporter walked an hour in to see me carrying a very heaving car battery. Finally I have that all set up and am very excited to get the computer going again and get stuck into work. You would not believe how much I was longing to do some work. I was starting to feel jealous of all those people working in offices…. oh to be able to work and work and work on the computer, what a luxury! I sat down at my new desk, thinking about what I was going to write for my blog. And then all of a sudden….’beeep’….. Oh no! The new battery wasn’t working either. So that very same dedicated and loyal supporter came  back the next day, an hour in and an hour out, to deliver me a new inverter. I said, I better test this while your still here, to make sure that it is all working. Yep, all good. Soon as he was gone, what do you know? The terrible ‘beeep’ was back. A new inverter and a new battery… what could possibly be the problem now? I wondered if it might be the cold affecting everything? prehaps. For the third time my loyal supporter walked in again, this time to deliver a different battery and inverter. Thank goodness it has worked and I am finally back online!

It’s funny how the last few days have felt harder than most. I started to wonder: what on earth am I doing up here? Can I really keep going and for how long? I felt frustrated and agitated. I tried to keep myself entertained, but I got bored quickly. I have become so dependent on my computer in order to feel productive, I guess. When I can write my blog, communicate with supporters around the world, spread the word about the forests, keep up to date with what is happening for the forests politically  and keep on top of other tasks, then I feel positive about being up here. But it is easy to start to feel ineffective when those lines of communication are taken away. I guess that really is the amazing thing about the Observer Tree. The fact that I can be in this tree in the middle of the forest in Tasmania and be communicating to people across the globe about what is happening here. And hopefully all the people who have found out about these forests and about the destruction that continues to occur, have gone on to be inspired to take action. When I’m sitting up here on nights like tonight, where my fingers ache as I type because the air is so cold, I think about that and I know that it is worth it.

Well, I must say a big thank you to my support crew for their dedication and hard work in carrying batteries and inverters back and forth through the forest in order to keep me online. And thank you to all of you for your patience with the lack of blog entries. And especially a very big thank you to every one who is reading my blog, taking action and supporting forest protection – you are my inspiration to keep going up here!

Miranda