Tasmania is wet wet wet but I can't complain, they need the rain. It's been a drought summer in some spots. Also the downpour didn't start up until I was about an hour from the end of a 3-day hike, so the timing's not too bad. I'm a bit wet around the edges but have a nice warm hostel to stay in tonight. I was in a comfy dry bed last night listening to the thunder, kaBOOM! That's not such a bad thing.
Overall I like it here pretty well, the critters I want to see are mostly bold and the critters I don't want to see (snakes mostly, the spiders here aren't so bad) are shy. I had to shoo a wallaby off the trail yesterday so I could get by. Facilities are underdeveloped, crowds are few, and people are relaxed and friendly. Tasmanian devils are nocturnal so I may never get to see one, although I think I've already been visited. It gets rural here mighty fast: one step off the main highways and I'm cruising down red dirt roads through eucalyptus forest.
I had a great month in New Zealand after I got off the Ice, got to spend time with friends and did a couple of great hikes. The weather mostly obliged but I did have an uncomfortable night sleeping in a rental car after discovering that my bivy sack isn't waterproof any more. Oops.
I want to do some more hiking here but will wait and see what the weather is going to do. Tas is big enough for different weather systems in different parts of the island but this storm appears to be universal.
I'm planning to be back in the States in early April. See yous all soon,
-Sarah