The Cobb Valley and Lake Sylvester. What a way to spend the first day of 2015! This has to be one of the most breath-taking, yet accessible, Sub-Alpine/Alpine treasures I have ever come across. Sure, the drive in is a little hair-raising, depending who you meet coming the other way. But a relatively short uphill slog, transports you to a completely different world to the one in which you left your car. Every metre ascended sees towering beech trees slowly shrink to become a mythical miniature forest of bonsai-sized beech, and pillows of moss (apparently quite prickly pillows). Soon after, forest becomes tussock, littered with delicate alpine flowers, and a final push off the marked track takes you up again to the scree and jagged rock of Iron Hill. It is a big, but achievable, day trip and one I highly recommended. If you're anything like me, you'll want to pack your 'big' camera.
