A month or so back I won a travel writing competition. I was pretty excited about that. To enter you had to submit 150 words about your favourite travel destination. As per usual I wrote about 1000 then had to trim it down. So it ended up a little truncated however, it passed the test and I won.

TASMANIA’S MARIA ISLAND

Awash with ragged mountain ranges and sunburnt cliffs of gold, Maria Island is a melting pot of spectacular flora and fauna, dripping with rich Tasmanian history.

We arrived at Darlington, ripe and ready to discover the natural and historic sites on the northern island – the adventurous climb to Bishop and Clerk with breathtaking views of Freycinet National Park and the long bicycle ride to the isthmus and historic French’s Farm.

Historic sites abound, but truly memorable was the step back in time to Mrs Hunt’s cottage with its burnt orange armchairs in front of a cosy hearth.

Our tranquil exploration to the famous Painted Cliffs with their cream and ochre stripes, was accompanied by a sea of wombats, mobs of kangaroos, Cape Barren Geese squawking with wild abandon and wedge-tailed eagles soaring overhead.

Breathtaking is the only word.

Maria fills me with a yearning to be in this lavish land.

But then, I got to go and explore the Low Head Pilot Station for three days and write about it. And now the article I wrote is published. You can read it here. Again, I doubled the word count and had to shrink it – I dream of one day writing with no word count in mind. (Hang on… I’ve done that once already. I’d like to do it again!)

Pride is not something I feel very often, but when my writing gets published there’s a little glimmer of gold dust deep in my belly that is grateful for the opportunity and thankful I have the ability.