This winter a small team of experienced ANUMC bushwalkers will undertake the challenge of walking Tasmania’s famous Overland Track in a season guaranteed to avoid the maddening crowds of summer. The Overland Track is Tasmania’s premier long-distance (65km) bushwalk through some of the island’s most stunning mountain scenery. The track traverses ever-changing landscapes of diverse rainforests and alpine ecosystems. In winter the days, and especially the mornings, are often cold, crisp and clear (with an average maximum temperature of about 5oC) and much of the route is often (but not always) covered in snow, requiring the use of snowshoes. The short days (dusk is at 5pm) means considerable time will be spent each evening and night resting and drying out in the potentially deserted shelter of the bushwalkers huts located along the route. The plan is to arrive in Launceston on Saturday 5 July, commence walking on Sunday, 6 July and allow up to seven days to reach Cynthia Bay before returning to Canberra on Sunday, 13 July. This allows for an average of about 11km a day, together with a few spare days in case of blizzards or storms or, in their absence, to do various side trips. It’s the weather, not the distance or terrain that makes this a potentially hard trip. A couple of vacancies still exist on the team so if you’re interested in participating in this adventure contact the trip leader asap.