Dramatis persona*

helenhead Helen Chick

I've always wanted a bumper sticker that said "I'm a female, LDS/Mormon, Scout leading, geocaching, piano-playing, bicycling, mathematics educator with a PhD in maths ... and I VOTE"!

I think this makes me a minority group of cardinality 1!

* Since there's only one of me and "personae" is plural (I think), I've gone with dramatis persona.
March 2024
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Visits since May 2016

Recent visitors

12 of 12, September 2020 – Falling water

There is a little waterfall on Mt Wellington which I have been wanting to visit for a while and today seemed a good day to choose to do so. I borrowed my brother, who I thought would be interested in exploring as well, and so we headed up to O’Grady’s Falls first which I have photographed […]

Liffey Falls and Mt Paris Dam

During a few days in Launceston visiting relatives, the kids and I did a day trip out to Liffey Falls and Mt Paris Dam. The morning was crisp and cool, and there was plenty of water tumbling over the two sets of falls that are just a short walk from the car park. I’d taken my […]

Cape Direction

Some days things go stupidly wrong, and yet you end up getting a surprisingly good outcome. I’d been attempting some astrophotography recently with my good camera and new telescope, and in order to do this I had the camera on manual mode … and, of course, I forgot to change it back before heading off on […]

Putting the “outing” back into “Scouting”

COVID-19 restrictions have eased a little and permitted activities now include socially distanced outdoor gatherings with people outside of households. We can’t yet have camps, and we’re not yet able to meet back in our Scout hall, but today we could have a Scout hike. The kids were so excited to see each other (and so […]

A winter afternoon stroll to Shag Bay

It has been really challenging to get much exercise; working at home means I don’t get the incidental steps that help me to get my step count up. I have to make a conscious effort to get out, and I’m lucky that, within COVID-restricted acceptable distances from home, I have some reasonably interesting walks I can […]

Last day of the school holidays

It was the last day of the school holidays and, having managed to sort out most of the back-to-school errands, we decided to indulge in a little recreation. I had hoped to do more activities over the summer with Imogen and Josh but I’ve also been working on getting their old home ready for sale … […]

Champagne Falls and Bridal Veil Falls

After completing my circuit of Dove Lake, I started heading back towards Launceston, but with a plan to take a detour to find a couple of waterfalls I’d heard about. A 4WD track departs from Lemonthyme Lodge, tucked away in the Moina bush, and heads up a ridge for a kilometre or so before dropping steeply […]

A walk around Dove Lake

I’d really only come to Cradle Mountain to do the canyoning trip, and didn’t have time to stay for very long, so this morning I got up early, broke camp, and took the shuttle bus to Dove Lake to do a quick circuit. The weather was overcast, which reduced the spectacularity of the views, but it […]

Wet and wild canyoning

As a thank you gift for services rendered, one of my now-graduated PhD students very kindly gave me a voucher to go canyoning in the Cradle Mountain area. The original plan was to do Dove Canyon, but heavy rainfall in the day or so preceding the planned trip meant that the location was changed to Machinery […]

With the wind in our sails

My sister and brother-in-law have a small yacht, and invited Imogen and Josh (and me, possibly as part of a package deal!) to go for a day of sailing together. We set off from Kettering, with my sister—dubbed First Mate Gill—taking the helm for the journey, while Captain Pete took up his post in the Beanbag […]