There are few places in the world more diverse, wild and enigmatic than Tasmania, Australia’s island state. Several years back I hiked the Overland Track, an 80-kilometre traverse of the island’s western mountains through the Cradle Mountain-Lake Sinclair National Park.

It was the middle of winter, and whilst the track is popular in the summer months, with some 8,000 enthusiasts completing the distance each year, we had the mountains to ourselves. Initially bemused by the solitude, we swiftly gained a little light on the matter as the path ascended and drifts of snow began to drown the way. What should have been a four-day stroll, ended up being an eight-day trudge through waist-deep snow and sub-zero nights, a mishap that gifted me with one of the greatest hikes of my life.

I could write tirelessly about the wonders of the Overland Track in winter – its curious wildlife, temperate rainforest and its majestic mountains – but will instead let the photographs and sketches do the talking, beginning with a Tasmania Wildlife Identification Chart.