Still Walking?

Days 15 and 16: 17 – 18 November 2019

We have set aside 2 weeks prior to Christmas for the final leg of our Tasmanian Traverse, the Port Davey and South Coast tracks. But with only 3 weeks to go prior to our starting date of 8^th December, we have still quite some distance to cover and only a few short windows of opportunity. We grabbed the first of these on Sunday afternoon after repainting the laundry (Merran) and giving a sermon (Tim). In 2 cars we drove to Derwent Bridge for the next section.

The Sunday afternoon walk was a gentle 5 km stroll on the flat between Lake St Clair and Derwent Bridge. Highlights were seeing an echidna and catching the Tasmanian waratah in flower. From there we drove on to Tarraleah Estate planning to camp, but the campground was not yet open for the season. Much to Merran’s delight, a cheap room was available and we booked accommodation instead of pitching a tent, then enjoyed a very tasty meal at Teez’s Café, instead of our dehydrated food. No comparison, really!

It was a great decision as Monday’s walk was somewhat longer and more uncertain than the saunter the day before. Refreshed and quickly packed, we drove 50 km back to Derwent Bridge, hoping that the route through the bush would cut some distance off our return journey on foot. The map indicated that by walking under powerlines most of the way we should reach our destination in 30 – 32 km, which seemed quite doable with light day packs. The forecast was 7 degrees with rain and high winds. We needed to test out our walking umbrellas so were not too concerned about the rain and presumed that we would be protected from the winds by walking mainly through forests.

By 10 am we had covered nearly 10 km and were optimistic about a relatively easy day. However, according to our map, the track we were on headed off in the wrong direction then stopped. We therefore planned to cross a marshy expanse to meet the Stockyard Track further down Lake King William.  The lake’s water level was higher than usual and making our way through button grass, mosses and bogs was rather time-consuming and quite damp. When we finally met the first of several creeks we were already soaked and befriended by several leeches. After a waist-deep dip for Tim (missed photo opportunity) we realised that the creeks were much deeper than we had expected. We continued to try several crossing points before squelching a retreat to the safety of the treeline. We were now only a few metres along the road we had left 90 minutes earlier, and quite wet. We worried that we may have to abandon this leg and find an alternate route another day. But just in case the road we were on joined-up further down, we kept on walking, and sure enough, we were soon on the Stockyard Track running south along the eastern side of Lake King William. Maybe we could still make it through that day. Track walking was rather hard on the feet, as most of it was covered in chunks of bluestone, but overall we made good progress and had covered 15 km by lunchtime despite our delay.

We had decided to ignore the ‘Private Property – Keep Out’ sign at Derwent Bridge so were rather hesitant when we observed a couple of trucks and an excavator on the road ahead of us. We were not sure what reception we would receive, but as we greeted the workers we seemed to cause them some amusement as we turned up in the wilderness seemingly out of nowhere and declared our intention to continue to Tarraleah 20 km away. After some discussion of the route ahead, we wandered on. As the convoy caught up to us later in the afternoon they pulled to a stop and checked. “Still walking?” asked the boss. We confidently assured him that we were and after pointing out a magnificent waratah they roared off and let us continue in silence. We were totally committed now –  our only other option had vanished in dust.  

As the photos show, much of our journey this day was through dry sclerophyll forest. Stone canals, rough roads, overhead powerlines and choppy grey lake reflecting the overcast skies created a bleak outlook. However the touches of colour delighted us, the waratahs particularly. We were surprised by patches of rainforest – new fern fronds, orange-tipped new growth on established myrtles and several more echidnas. Birdsong as evening settled also encouraged us on our long trudge to the Lyell Highway, 15 km from Butler’s Gorge.

Rather footsore and weary we stumbled into Tarraleah alongside massive Hydro water pipes around 7 pm. We felt rather better for realising that we had managed to walk 39.1 km in 11 hours. But we still needed to get home. After collecting my car at Derwent Bridge and dropping Tim’s at Bronte Park for our next car shuffle we had  the long drive home over the highland lakes, covering over 220 km. 11 pm we were home and grateful to be served a hearty beef curry cooked by Alastair.

Out total journey from East Devonport to Cockle Creek will be approximately 550 km. To date we have covered approximately 230 km.  By the end of next weekend we hope to be halfway, culminating in a fording of the Florentine River – maybe!  We will keep you posted.