A North South journey through Tasmania on foot
It is with deep joy and immense gratitude that Tim and I can report that we are back home in Sheffield, having completed our Island Traverse yesterday. We walked in to Cockle Creek, Friday 20 December, at 11 am on day 13, after 155km of mud, water, sand and surf, the last major section of our journey through Tasmania.
Continue reading “Island Traversed!!”
Day 33: 20 December 2019 (SCT Day 7)
South Cape Rivulet to Cockle Creek
As much as we enjoyed every day of the trip, waking on the last day we were exhilarated to be on the verge of completing the journey. The emotion was similar to my experience on the final day of our pilgrimage to Rome in 2011. The Trek group were the same and their guides laughed as they could hardly keep up with their fit and motivated crew.
Continue reading “Journey complete”
Day 32: 19 December 2019 (SCT Day 6)
Granite Beach to South Cape Rivulet
Our guidebook informed us that the trek over South Cape is another challenging day’s walk. Be well prepared, take lots of water, and don’t underestimate the mud and twisted tree roots on the track. tasmania.com website states: “Many walkers have to be rescued off the South Coast Track, and the South Cape Bay Walk is the very last section of this difficult hike. Make sure to bring plenty of food and water to share with anybody who may be distressed.”
Continue reading “Over South Cape”Day 31: 18 December 2019 (SCT Day 5)
Osmiridium Beach to Granite Beach
Tim has the capacity to avoid the worst of the mud so Justin and I followed him out and were relatively unscathed for the first 20 minutes or so of the day. Our destination was Granite Beach, just 9 km away on the western side of South Cape. So we anticipated a fairly easy day. The walking was pleasant through a combination of forest, just a moderate amount of mud and wonderful beaches. The addition to these later days is the steep descents and ascents to and from each beach, sometimes with stone steps and occasionally a rope. Each beach carried a warning to be aware of the tides and continue with caution or wait for suitable conditions.
Continue reading “Osmiridium and Granite”
Day 30: 17 December 2019 (SCT Day 4)
Little Deadman’s Bay to Osmiridium Beach
This special day marked 36 years of marriage. We laughed that we had not only stayed married all these years, but even survived the Ironbounds together. The recommended 36th anniversary gift is bone china, but my Sea to Summit eVent Quagmire gaiters were more highly valued, and Tim reflected that my presence on the trip was the best anniversary present he could have had (Awwww).
Continue reading “Quagmire Gaiters and Bone China”
Day 29: 16 December 2019 (SCT Day 3)
Louisa River to Little Deadman’s Bay
Climbing the Ironbound Range is renowned as the hardest day on the SCT. The track rises steeply on both sides to an elevation of over 900 m, and walkers are advised to avoid crossing in high winds or extreme weather. We had seen the first part of the track like a vertical thread disappearing into cloud as we approached Louisa River at the foot of the mountain range the day before. The weather forecast for this day, and the next week, was for clear skies, so we were hopeful of magnificent views from the top. We were not disappointed.
Continue reading “The Ironbounds”
Day 28: 15 December 2019 (SCT Day 2)
Point Eric to Louisa River
Heavy rain was scheduled for the day, which could potentially block our progress at Faraway Creek, Louisa Creek or Louisa River. Each of these had to be forded and we hoped if we left early enough we could get across before the water levels rose. Tim shared our thoughts with a couple of other groups who had also flown in on Justin’s plane and were camping at Point Eric.
Continue reading “Far Faraway”
The South Coast Track runs south from Melaleuca to the Southern Ocean at Cox’s Bight before heading east to Cockle Creek. The total distance is 85 km. Most people take around 7 days to walk it though there are those who can do it super-fast, like a couple of guys who wrote in the log book that they took 2 ½ days, or a trail runner we met later who was planning to do it in 1 ½ days. Then everyone needs to be aware of the possibility of flooded rivers holding up the journey. We read of groups in the last few days who had had to return to Melaleuca and fly out after camping two nights at Faraway Creek hoping in vain that it would become passable.
Continue reading “The South Coast Track”
13 December 2019
We were so glad to have scheduled a rest day at Melaleuca and have the opportunity to explore this fascinating place. It also perfectly coincided with the only day of significant rainfall so far. We had a lazy morning then wandered through the aboriginal heritage walk on the edge of the inlet. (Boardwalk…. bliss.) The Needwonnee people lived in this extreme environment for 35,000 years. Current decendents have created a well maintained and informative interpretative walk.
Continue reading “A well-earned rest”