Rugged life "up top"

Life's tough for trees and bushes on the high-country plateau of Tasmania - that heart-shaped island at the nation's Southern extremity.

The weathered old tree in the foreground (above) is a sort of pine, and it is quite closely related to the Sequoias (in the United States) and which are said to be the tallest trees on Earth, the pine is just one of the stars of a small protected lake/swamp area on the way to the island's Great Lake.

Dorothy and I did the boardwalk tour there on a trip last month, and learned a lot about how life can continue in an ultra-harsh environment. The bushes there have tiny, close-packed and folded leaves, the nearest thing to grass on the swampy soil is close-packed, and wild-flowers there are tiny and tough.

We've driven past this site several times in past years, but this was the first time we were encouraged to stop and look. Normally there's rain there, or a howling, icy gale, or rain.

This is not, generally, a friendly place, way up on the top of Tassie.

But we go back every year.