Tasmanian Weather

After weeks of heat, the rain is most welcome

Truffle Lodge is a stunning property. It takes people’s breath away.

One tends to take most photographs in the sunlight, when the colours are striking. But is it just as beautiful when it is raining, with an overlay of mystery that is enticing.

This summer has had some record temperatures, with some days of extreme heat, and these were successive days, which is not usual here.

During this time we had bushfires, and while these did not impact Truffle Lodge much apart from a little smoke when strong winds went in the wrong direction (anything heading towards us being the ‘wrong’ direction), they put a dampener on the whole island, and we all watched our beloved island burning out of control in 4 major areas.

Then last weekend, the rains finally came, breaking the heat and giving the firefighters the support they so desperately needed.

Truffle Lodge takes on a whole new character in the rain. The sound of rain on the roof is louder than the watersong of the river and the birds fall silent. The fresh air takes on the lovely combination of wet leaves and dampened down earth. Everything seems cozier, and a great excuse for a fire, even if it is not particularly cold.

But last night, there was definitely call for fires. Out of the blue, in high summer, it dropped to 4 degrees here, and to sub- zero with snow higher up. A cold front had blown up from the south pole.

It caught us by surprise, so today we are unpacking the electric blankets and additiinal doonas, which had been stored until ‘the cooler months’ of autumn. Hope the guests slept ok last night with only the heaters in their tents.