On December 22, Mom, Chris, Rooney and I flew to Launceston, Tasmania, picked up a rental car (a crappy Nissan Pulsar, to our unpleasant surprise, which barely held us and all our luggage), and drove to Mole Creek, south of Launceston.

	Here we are at Western Creek Retreat, at Mole Creek. It was a GREAT log cabin in a secluded location with all the amenities, sleeps eight, and costs only ~$100 AUD per night! Here, Chris puts on Mom's backpack (packed with stuff for weight) for the first time.
That evening, we drove to the Liffey Falls walk, where Mom tried out backpacking for the first time. The rest of us didn't wear backpacks, and we joked at how the other hikers would view us..."How horrible those people are, making that woman carry all their gear," etc. etc.
	...At left is a photo of Liffey Falls (shutter speed = 2 "), the destination of the trail. Mom made it there and back with little trouble...Little did we know that this was nothin' compared to the Overland Trek that we were to do in three days time!

Click on the frog to move immediately forward to more photos of our Christmas vacation in Tasmania.