Its 3 am and I can’t sleep. I’ve been laying away for awhile writing blogs in my head. I didn’t want to get out of my warm sleeping bag to get the computer. I thought maybe I’d remember what I wanted to say by the time the morning came. But really that’s just an excuse to stay warm. I knew it would be like those times I wake up from a dream in the middle of the night sure that I will remember it the next day. It’s so clear and vivid in my mind that it seems impossible to forget it. Then sure enough the next day it is nothing but a fuzzy blur that seems to disappear like smoke every time you try to grasp a hold of it. Well, I didn’t want that to happen to my blog.. so I forced myself up into the cold and now I’m sitting wrapped in my sleeping bag, my hands poking awkwardly out the gap, my fingers stinging a little with every tap of the keys, red and numb from the cold.  Outside the wind is howling through the trees. Through the clear tarp above me the silhouettes of leaves are dancing a wild and frantic dance. The sway of the platform has become so natural that it is comforting to feel the tree moving gently with the wind. Though it is jolted violently out of rhythm every now and again by a sudden gust.

Why am I awake at 3 am? Well, it’s not really because I have something so important to tell you that it just couldn’t wait till the morning. So I’m sorry if you are waiting for the revealing of some spectacular mid night epiphany. In reality I just went to bed really early. I had planned to write you a blog last night, but I just wanted a little warmth in my cosy sleeping bag… and then it was just so nice and warm that I decided to stay.

Yesterday I woke up in the morning and it looked like it would be a lovely day. The sun was shining, the weather was mild, a slight breeze but nothing to worry about. I got a call from Bob Brown. He was on the midlands highway and was thinking of me up in the tree in such windy weather. Hmmm… didn’t seem that windy to me, but it gave me the feeling it might be coming.

The other day a  gorgeous little pardalote came and sat on the branch right next to me. I really wanted to get my camera so I could film it and show you. But I thought if I move I will frighten it away. So I decided to just stay and appreciate the moment. And I thought you would forgive me for supplying no images, just a description of how lovely it was! Well, I tell you this now because as I was sitting there thinking about the looming possibility of gale force winds, watching dark clouds appear over the mountains, a pair of rosellas flew over to the tree nearby. I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity. I am always meaning to film Rosellas,  but so often they seem to stay just below the canopy unless they are flying by quickly. They were so cute sitting there on the branches unfazed as they tree swayed in the wind. Take a look:

I was feeling super chirpy, the sun was still out, it was getting pretty windy but was still relatively mild, I had some cute Rosella footage for my blog… it was going to be a good day. Time for a spring clean, I thought. And I started to sort out all my boxes and bags of things. I have gathered a lot up here over the past four months. And some of the things people have sent up are not one hundred percent essential. You know those days when you decide to tidy the house, and then there comes a point where you have made it a lot messier…. the contents of the cupboards sprawled across the floor and you start to doubt whether it was a good idea? Well, that is what it was like, I had things laid out all over my swag. In fact it seemed a miracle that ALL of that stuff had actually fit into those bags and boxes that sat neatly at the end of the platform. And it was at this moment that it happened. The weather changed so quickly I hardly had time to react. The wind ripped through the valley with such violent force that I had to hold onto my ropes to keep steady. My tarp, getting a bit weathered now from so many days like this, submitted in one finally act of defeat as the eye lets ripped from their seams. My most beloved possession… my bio-snaky sprout garden was over the edge before I even realised it, only it’s lid remained teetering on the edge of the platform.  I was grabbing wildly at things trying to keep them from going overboard, while the tarp convulsed madly and the wind spat fat drops of rain onto my swag.

What a relief when I finally sat down, cosy and dry surrounded by a make shift tarp and woolen blanket combo holding out the cold wind. My clothes were dripping wet so I decided it was time for a dry jumper. I did my usual spider-check of the clothing before putting it on. But I didn’t see the spider fall quietly out onto my shirt. It was when I had the jumper half suspended over my head, my arms sticking half out the sleeves that I saw him crawling up my shirt. Now, I am starting to get used to these little buddies. You kind of have to up here. But that being said, I am still not quiet over my fear of tem. So you can imagine the chaos that ensued. I panicked and tried to flick him away. He disappeared… where? Down in my harness? My jumper had somehow been liberated and tossed aside and I’m frantically checking the crevices of my harness.  Then I see him. Or at least I think it is him, though I can’t be sure since there are a LOT of spiders here and they all look the same. He is curled up on the platform. He looks dead. Oh dear, for all my fear of spiders I still care about them and I feel awful that I may have accidentally flicked this spider to his death.

So, there I was feeling a bit miserable. I’d lost my biosnacky, inadvertently murdered an innocent spider and I was now shivering with cold (I was feeling a bit scared of putting my jumper back on, even though I’m pretty sure it was now clear of all spiders). And then it started to snow. Oh snow, my favourite thing! Well, I didn’t feel as enthusiastic about the snow as I did the last two times. And there was no soft gentle magic snow, just the slushy kind that plopped down with the rain. I thought about the time I’d been telling someone about the amazing experiences of it snowing at Camp Florentine, but instead of joy they expressed concern. I didn’t understand…. Don’t you like the snow? Well, yes. They said. But it’s nice to watch through the window from the comfort of your house! I didn’t understand this at the time. I thought that was crazy. Why wouldn’t you want to run outside and play in it? Well, I still want to run outside and play in the snow and (I hope) I always will. But sitting watching in plop plop plop onto my tarp, while the cold wind made its way through every available crack and gap in the tarp, I think I can sort of understand where they are coming from. I think I might just crawl back into my sleeping bag right now… my fingers are getting a bit icy typing on this keyboard!

Well, now it’s evening again. It was a beautiful day which started with an amazing sunrise. The snow-covered peaks of Mount Field glowing in a hazy golden halo as the sunlight sprawled into the mist.  I sat enjoying the view, with my camera and binoculars by my side, waiting for my little pardelote friend to come back! It was perfect weather for birds to be out and about. They love the early morning sun. I could hear them in the distance. But you know how these things go; they’ll only come over to my tree the moment I give up and put the camera away!

I have some exciting news to tell you before I go though. I have a special visitor coming to visit tomorrow. From Warren Macdonald. Now, I wont tell you too much about him…. I don’t want to spoil the blog for you! But just giving a heads up to all the Hobart folk – Warren will be doing a talk on Tuesday night at The Lark distillery. Here is a little blurb about it: