Saturday, June 22nd ....

It's been a cold week and Marilyn and I are back in Dilston for a little break. Every night in the past week the temperature in Deloraine has been below freezing overnight. On Monday it was -3.9 and on Wednesday -4, so we are now relishing the delights of modern heating in Jamie's house.

The temptation in Tasmania at this time of the year is to hibernate. The local ABC asked its listeners to make suggestions for surviving the winter but one woman rang in to say that the only thing to do was light the fire, get a good book, knit a jumper and wait for summer. There is one big event at the moment- Dark-MOFO. This is a celebration of the winter solstice, directed by Brian Ritchie of Violent Femmes' fame. Some reports say it had a budget of $4 million.

One of he highlights was a nude swim held at dawn this morning. More than 200 people took part including The Lord Mayor of Hobart. Apparently, it is a revival of an old pagan tradition. This is probably why there are so few old pagans living today.

Tomorrow, we see the Sky Whale in Launceston. It's getting another airing after being launched for the Centenary of Canberra and then shown in Hobart.