The scare, as it turned out, was a false alarm, and Madam set off for a lengthy photographic ramble while I attacked the Pages app on the iPad. That took things through the dusk as I sat on the verandah tapping away and enjoying the changing light across the water, gazing at snow capped peaks which were about the right distance away.
As far as dinner was concerned, two slices of bread and a bit of cheese was more than enough, and it took me till well after eight thirty to finish off the Pinot Noir, sitting out on the verandah once again pondering what seemed to be shifting lights away on the other side of the mountain range.
I had a sneaking suspicion I was seeing some manifestation of the Aurora Australis because the lights certainly seemed to be changing, and it was well after sunset, so you could rule out the last embers of the dying day, but there was substantial cloud cover with just one or two gaps, so it was difficult to be sure.
And so, eventually, with the Pinot drained it was off to bed, knowing we were almost finished roaming the countryside. A southern ramble, possibly as far as Southport, in the morning would be followed by the run into downtown Hobart and three nights Fountainside. It was a prospect worth resting up for…