IN A WILD PLACE

YELLOW GUM, MYRTLE and megafauna. Lemon-scented boronia and ecotone. Understory, overstory and creeping strawberry pine. Gnarled pencil pines and twisted tarns. As Lou and Cody lead us through Mount Field National Park, I pluck words from their commentary because I like the way they sound – poetic and pleasingly self-descriptive – but the picture they build is of something remarkable.

I’m on a Wild Pedder adventure tour through Tasmania’s southwest wilderness, and day one sees our small group warming up with a bushwalk through ancient landscapes of lush temperate rainforest, alpine moorland and mountain lakes. In winter, the state’s oldest national park is home to popular ski fields, but by the time Wild Pedder’s season begins in November the snow has melted to reveal pristine scenery that looks much like