This old girl has seen a few Monaro winters and it seems she now has something to cuddle up to.

This Snow Gum on the side of the Monaro Highway between Cooma and Nimmitabel always catches my eye. I wish I'd stopped a couple of months ago when there was a run of bright, brilliant, red bark down the side, mixed with fresh green and steel grey.

At least I think it's a Snow Gum, based on the changing colour of the bark I've noticed over many years. The big hollow that faces east bound traffic is a real feature. National Parks and Wildlife say hollows of this size take between 100 and 200 years to form.

It seems I am not the only one to pay this tree some attention. As I fly by at 100 clicks I always hope to see a face pop out of the hollow - looks like the perfect escape from the Monaro chill. Today there was a face! I am impressed, how did they do that? Was it planned? Would love to find out.