“… the trails I made led outwards into the hills and swamps, but they led inwards also. And from the study of things underfoot, and from reading and thinking, came a kind of exploration, myself and the land.” – John Haines, The Stars, The Snow, The Fire: Twenty-five Years in the Northern Wilderness. In mist, late in the day, the northern slopes of Tabletop Mountain in New South Wales can be daunting. Years after bushfires devastated Kosciuszko National Park it is an epic scene: twisted limbs of apparently dead gums, a place the autumn light doesn’t much reach, somewhere no-one would find you. But adjust your frame of reference and the scene appears different. It is, as well, a place of regeneration. There is a new generation of snow gums…
