The New York Times | May 2006
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KNEE deep in the middle of Southwest Tasmania's swampy Loddon Plains, en route to the white quartzite peak of Frenchmans Cap, it occurs to me that some people pay good money to be covered with mud of this quality. I have not come to the far side of the planet for a mud bath, but that's part of the price of admission for a true wilderness experience.
I am following a trail — more of a creek bed, really — into the heart of one of the world's largest intact temperate rain forests, a wonderland of unique flora and fauna that has attracted trekkers the world over to this heart-shaped island in the Southern Ocean. ... [continue reading here]