Snow – Our Other Blog: Two Sisters and Two Points of View

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Cold

Winter in Tasmania

It is almost summer here so this week’s photos will be mostly reruns.

Compared to the weather some of my blogging friends experience in winter ours are pretty mild. Although mountainous areas get snow in winter low-level snow is rare enough that we get a bit excited about it. If we get some it usually isn’t a lot and doesn’t last long. Here are a couple of pictures from snowy days in 2015 and 2017. In 2015 we had some very heavy falls that came below 300 metres which meant that bus services to Hobart were restricted for a day or so. I was traveling to see David in the hospital during this time and the second photo was taken on one of those trips.

Untouched snow. This is about as heavy as it usually gets in Geeveston although higher altitudes will get more. Near Geeveston 2017

What we mostly get in winter though is rain, frost, and fog. The damp and the greyness of almost everything is what makes it seem colder than it probably is.

We get a bit of fog here, especially in winter time.

It rained almost continuously when we went to Strahan for a weekend. During a stop on our Gordon River cruise, our guide soldiered on regardless telling us about the flora and fauna and while Bruce and I took as many photos as we could.

Bruce taking photos on our Gordon River cruise.

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Chilled

Chilled

This was a tricky subject for me this week. Winter is long gone and compared to the winter that those of you in Europe and the USA have been experiencing I feel a bit of a fake for calling our winter cold at all. On the other hand it has not been hot and summery this past week either so no nice photos of ice chilled drinks and swimming pools.

Here are a few snow pictures from past winters. The first couple of photos are from last winter and were taken on a quiet road just outside Geeveston, the next one was taken from the bus during the big snow we had in 2015. The last two were taken nearly ten years ago while I was staying in Oatlands minding Naomi’s house while she was on holidays.

Bad Photo Monday: Almost Perfect

Ah, the trees, the snow, the water, the burned out cars….

This was the scene a few kilometres out of Geeveston where a friend took me to take some photos of the snow. I don’t really mind the wrecked cars but they do kill the romance of the scene a bit.

Which Way in the Snow

Although Cee is not hosting the Which Way Challenge at present I could not resist posting these Which Ways as I have been waiting to post snow photos for a long time.

A friend was kind enough to take me for a drive to the outskirts of Geeveston late Friday afternoon. It had been snowing since the night before but was now starting to melt away. These were taken on one of the roads that lead out to the forestry areas. We were not in a four-wheel drive so we stayed on the main track, a good graded earth road where there was snow on the verges. The tracks that lead to the various coupes are 4WD only and they had a lot more snow. It actually did start to snow while we were out so at least I can say I have been snowed on for the first time in about ten years.

Snow on the verges.

Tracks in the snow

One of the forestry tracks.

Untouched snow. This is about as heavy as it usually gets in Geeveston although higher altitudes will get more.

Snow Day 2017

Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge -2015 – Week #34

Which Way – The Southern Outlet

Last night the weather forecast was for more snow down to the 300 metre level so I expected that there might be a bit on Vince’s Saddle where I took some photographs recently. I had to go to Hobart today but as the snow was not forecast until later in the day I thought it would be OK to make the trip. Although I was not expecting to take photos at the last minute I picked up the camera bag.

It was a cold wet morning and as the bus travelled through Longley on the way to Hobart I could see that the hills above the township had fresh snow. The rain changed to hail and by the time we reached Kingston which is 11km from Hobart it was hailing very hard. From Kingston the bus travels on the Southern Outlet to Hobart and as we continued the hail turned to sleet. Suddenly I noticed that the road was white, we slowed right down as did all the other traffic. I saw cars stopped at the side of the road whose owners didn’t want to continue in these conditions.

I was quite surprised to see how bad this was

Normally after the morning rush traffic on the Southern Outlet is not heavy especially going away from Hobart but now cars were banked up as everyone tried to negotiate the icy road and make it down to Hobart safely.

The upside of this was that as we were going so slowly I was able to take photos out of the window without the usual problems of trying to focus.

I made it safely to Hobart but was concerned about whether I would be able to get home again later so after visiting Hubby I rang the bus company to check. The weather had improved by then and all the ice and snow I saw on the road on the way down was gone on the way back although we did have more hail.

Despite being a bit anxious about getting home I was pleased on the whole because now I have a “Which Way” for this week.

Cars bank up as the weather turns bad. This is about 4km from Hobart.

Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge 2015 – Week #31

Which Way Vince’s Saddle

I have missed a couple of Which Ways lately because I’ve not really been anywhere except to Hobart and back. Earlier this week we had some big falls of snow right down to sea level and the buses didn’t run for two days because of ice and snow on a section of the Huon Highway. It didn’t snow much at my place so I was champing at the bit to get out and see some snow; and to take Hubby his clean laundry of course.

Vince’s Saddle is the highest point on the Huon Highway at 376 metres. I’ve seen snow up there before but only once since I’ve lived here has the road been closed because of it. It was not a nice day, there was drizzle, fog and in patches it was still snowing but the bus made it up and over the hill and down into Hobart. A lot of the snow from the previous two days had melted by this time. I took a few pictures from the bus. Please excuse the reflections.

Mount Wellington was so completely obscured by cloud that if a giant had come and taken it away we would not have known. I had to go to Hobart again the next day with more laundry and the clouds were gone. Mount Wellington was still there!

Mount Wellington taken from the corner of Argyle and Liverpool streets Hobart 6/8/2015

Snow Day

Those of you in the northern hemisphere who suffered through a hard winter may be wondering why we’re all getting excited about a bit of snow.

http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/snow-to-fall-in-city-roads-set-to-close/story-fnj4f7k1-1227464293442

Despite what people in mainland Australia think, snow in Hobart and the suburbs is still rare enough to generate a lot of excitement. The climate has changed in a generation. People who have lived here all their lives tell me that it used to snow more often and that during winter Mt Wellington would stay covered in snow for much longer than it does today.

All last week forecasters were warning of major snowfalls all around the state today to as low as 100-200 metres which meant that it could snow in the Hobart CBD. I have been trying not to get too excited about this because I’ve only seen snow on the ground at our place once in 13 years of living here. August 2004 to be exact. It lasted just a few hours. Friends who live in elevated parts of the area around Geeveston get more snow but theirs doesn’t last long either.

Make that twice. This morning I got up to find a smidge of snow in the garden. Not as good a coverage as 2004 but it is snow. It’s been heavy elsewhere and the Huon Highway is actually closed from Franklin 10km north of us all the way to Hobart. Facebook friends have been reporting up to two inches of snow.

8:00 am

My friend Allyson just rang up. She has snow at her suburban home a few kilometres north of Hobart and is very excited. She was only a year old the last time it snowed in Hobart. Most people I know are pleased or excited except for the one friend who is flying overseas today and is going to have a major problem getting to the airport. Many places in Geeveston will be closed today, the schools and some of the businesses. The garbage men have not been round yet, they have to come from Huonville. I will take a punt and say that the Rustic Shed will live another day because the guys may not be able to get through until the road opens and the bus is delayed so I may not get to town to see Hubby today. I did warn him about that though.

I asked Ally if I could use some of the photos she and Matt took so here they are courtesy of their Facebook pages.

Snow Day 2015 Photo by Matt Clark

Matt -Hobart snow day 2015-Photo Ally Clark

Ally enjoying the snow – Photo by Matt Clark

Snow Day 2015- Photo by Matt Clark

Snow Day 2015 – Photo by Ally Clark

It really did snow in the suburbs.Photo by Matt Clark

9:30 am

About an hour ago I went for a short walk as far as Sacred Heart Catholic School which is on a rise and gives a better view of the surrounding area. As the school is closed today I took Cindy who thought that it was great fun to go for a walk off the leash. The low hills near our house had a light cover of snow but by this time it was already starting to melt. Looking out my window now I can see that it is almost gone already. The sky is very black. We had a lot of rain yesterday and it looks as if we’ll have more. It is very cold but probably not cold enough for more snow. Here is how things looked at our place at around 8:30 am.

The old shed won’t be coming down today.

View from the front porch.

Snow on some of the low hills near our house.

10:00 am

It’s cold, it’s raining. I don’t know if I’ll get to see any more snow today but if I can get out of the house I’m certainly going to try. If I do there will be another snow day post later.

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Tag: Snow