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 25: 11 December 2019 PDT Day 4
Today we hoped to reach Bathurst Harbour and row across the Narrows, the 400m stretch between Farrell Point and Point Joan. We were fully aware this was a potential place to get held up, as strong currents, winds, and tides often make the crossing treacherous and delay trips on the PDT. We aimed to reach the Narrows by 4 pm, as the fine weather was due to break overnight, and we needed to cross within an hour before or after low tide at 5:30 pm. The track, we knew couldn’t be worse than we had already experienced, now could it?
Continue reading “Row, row, row your boat”Readers Warning: if you are seriously considering walking the Port Davey Track please move directly to the next post – do not read further! The author accepts no responsibility for cancellation of planned trips on this track!!
Day 24: 10 December 2019 (PDT Day 3)
On the morning of our third day, the Trek group departed true to intent at 6:30 am and we did a slow but efficient pack-up ready to leave around 8 am. We had become interested in the concept of ‘time restricted eating’ and I had been following this principle for a month or so before we left. Tim agreed to give it a go too and with some apprehension we chose not to have breakfast on this trip but to wait until we needed an energy boost as we walked. (We would have returned to having breakfast if we needed to, and had plenty of our home-prepared dehydrated eggs if required.) One huge benefit from this was that our morning pack-ups were relatively quick and easy with just an Aeropress coffee maker to rinse.
Continue reading “Short Purpleflag”
Day 23: 9 December 2019 (PDT Day 2)
We had heard reports that the PDT was long, arduous and boring, and that only about 200 people walk it each year. We soon discovered what arduous meant, as we continued to encounter long stretches of deep, slippery mud and multiple creek crossings. However, boring it was not. Maybe others walked through in low cloud or were so intent on watching their footing that they missed the views. Unnamed mountain ranges, the Western Arthurs and Mount Robinson captivated us as we trudged, ever so slowly, through boggy peaty marshes all day. The wildflowers were spectacular and the foreboding skies created a menacing, brooding backdrop to the vista.
Continue reading “Crossing Crossing”
Day 22: 8 December 2019 (PDT Day 1)
On Friday 6 December, we headed to Hobart for a couple of days with Tim’s parents, as his mother Elsie recuperated from surgery. It was very special to have that time with them and to know that Elsie was recovering well before we left for the South West. We also had the opportunity to hear Madeleine sing as guest soloist with the Cygnet Singers for their Christmas concert. Our good friend Mellissa had us to stay on Saturday night and waved us off on Sunday morning before 6 am. We picked up Madeleine, grabbed a coffee en route, and soon were back on the now-familiar stretch of road through Westerway and Maydena. Less than a week earlier we had walked the entire Scotts Peak Dam Road, and here we were, ready to walk over the tiny rise at the threshold of the Port Davey Track that we first visited in October last year.
Continue reading “On our last legs”We are truly committed! Tim’s sister Barbie kindly dropped our resupply package to Par Avion airport this week, containing the food we require for the final 8 day section of our trip (and some chocolate and red wine). Par Avion have a great service for bushwalkers, flying people in and out from Melaleuca, as well as delivering food parcels for walkers who wish to do the 2 walks, Port Davey and South Coast Tracks, back to back as a continuous journey. Our parcel has been labelled for delivery on 12 December and will be very gratefully collected after we complete the muddy stretch from Scott’s Peak Dam and the boat crossing over Bathurst Harbour.
I am filled with both excitement and trepidation – cycling from one to the other on a roller coaster. Our packs are nearly ready to go, food almost finalised and we head to Hobart on Friday for a couple of days before being driven to the start of the trip by Madeleine, who will escort us for the first part of the day.
At this stage the cold and wet weather is due to clear slightly by Sunday, although we are prepared for extremes.
Justin is planning to fly in to Melaleuca and walk the South Coast Track with us. It will be a treat to have his company and expertise, and to share the final stages of our Island Traverse with him.
Next post will hopefully let you know that our Island Traverse has been completed …
Day 18: 28 November 2019
It is 12 months since we did a reconnaissance trip through the Florentine valley scouting our proposed X-Tas route. That was before major bushfires raged in this area over the summer. We are yet to see the full devastation that they wrought but got a glimpse of the impact today. We had assumed – an unhelpful attitude at the best of times – that nothing else much would have changed.
Continue reading “The other side of the Florentine”
Day 17: 22 November 2019
I could not contain a sense of joyful anticipation for this next stage as I worked on Thursday. Monday’s challenging walk, due to the distance we covered, was extremely encouraging, and the idea of getting to our destination is starting to feel real. There are also a couple of significant anniversaries this weekend. On this day last year, 23rd November 2018, we began our pilgrimage. The following day was the day of Tim’s cardiac arrest. Tomorrow we celebrate Tim’s “Staying alive” day with ambulance officers and friends who worked together to enable him to make a full recovery. It has been fitting to be continuing our pilgrimage this weekend as well.
Continue reading “A bridge too far”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 8th 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.
