Choose a diary entry31/03/2004 - Retrenched! 02/04/2004 - Farewell Lunch 03/04/2004 - Preparation 1 04/04/2004 - Preparation 2 05/04/2004 - Packing 06/04/2004 - Sydney to Hobart to Mt. Field NP 07/04/2004 - Tarn Shelf, then into the Southwest 08/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 1 - Up Alpha Moraine 09/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 2 - Lake Cygnus 10/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 3 - Lake Oberon & Square Lake 11/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 4 - Lake Oberon to Lake Cygnus 12/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 5 - Lake Cygnus to Junction Creek 13/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 6 - out to Mt Field NP 14/04/2004 - Back to Hobart for resupply and on to Southport 15/04/2004 - Southport, Hastings springs, Cockle Creek 16/04/2004 - South Coast Track - Day 1 - Cockle Creek to South Cape Rivulet 17/04/2004 - South Coast Track - Day 2 - South Cape Rivulet 18/04/2004 - South Coast Track - Day 3 - back to Cockle Creek, then Hobart 19/04/2004 - Hobart to Lake St. Clair 20/04/2004 - Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 1 - to Vera Hut 21/04/2004 - Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 2 - Tahune Hut and the Summit 22/04/2004 - Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 3 - Tahune Hut to Vera Hut 23/04/2004 - Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 4 - out to Derwent Bridge 24/04/2004 - Derwent Bridge / Lake St. Clair to Hobart 25/04/2004 - R&R in Hobart 26/04/2004 - Hobart, buying a new Camera 27/04/2004 - Hobart to Port Arthur 28/04/2004 - Port Arthur Historic site, then to Fortescue Bay 29/04/2004 - Tasman Trail Hike - Fortescue Bay to Eaglehawk Neck 30/04/2004 - Eaglehawk Neck to Hobart, Targa 01/05/2004 - Hobart R&R, Salamanca Markets 02/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 1 - to Wombat Flat 03/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 2 - to Mt. Ramsay 04/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 3 - Mt. Ramsay to Huskisson River 05/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 4 - Camped at Huskisson River 06/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 5 - Across the Huskisson 07/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 6 - Out, then to Strahan 08/05/2004 - R&R in Strahan 09/05/2004 - Dissapointing Gordon River Cruise 10/05/2004 - Strahan, R&R, Preparation for Overland Track 11/05/2004 - Strahan to Lake St. Clair 12/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 1 - Lake St. Clair to Pine Valley Hut 13/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 2 - the Labyrinth and Acropolis 14/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 3 - Pine Valley Hut to Kia-Ora Hut 15/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 4 - Kia-Ora Hut to Mt. Ossa to Pelion Hut 16/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 5 - Pelion Hut to Windermere Hut 17/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 6 - Windamere Hut to Cradle Mountain Village 18/05/2004 - Sick!, Cradle Mountain to Launceston 19/05/2004 - Recovery 1 20/05/2004 - Recovery 2 - Doctor, and Cataract Gorge 21/05/2004 - Recovery 3 22/05/2004 - Recovery 4 23/05/2004 - Recovery 5 24/05/2004 - Launceston to Bicheno 25/05/2004 - Freycinet Hike - Day 1 - the Hazards to Cooks Beach 26/05/2004 - Freycinet Hike - Day 2 - back to Bicheno 27/05/2004 - Exploring Bicheno 28/05/2004 - Bicheno to Launceston 29/05/2004 - Exploring Further in Launcestion 30/05/2004 - Cataract Gorge 2 31/05/2004 - Launceston to Liffey Falls to Deloraine 01/06/2004 - Trowunna, Devils Gullet, Walls of Jerusalem National Park 02/06/2004 - Walls of Jerusalem Hike - Day 1 03/06/2004 - Walls of Jerusalem - Day 2 - Out, then to Hobart 04/06/2004 - Mt. Field NP, Styx Valley & on to Triabunna 05/06/2004 - Maria Island - Day 1 06/06/2004 - Maria Island - Day 2 07/06/2004 - R&R in Launceston 08/06/2004 - Flying Back Home

Tasmania Diary

 

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Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Strahan to Lake St. Clair

Today I was headed for Lake St Clair again. As the bus didn't come till 11am, I slept in a little, then packed my gear up. After getting some breakfast at Banjo's again, I went to the hostel and waited till the bus came.
The bus took about an hour to get to Queenstown, where it stopped for two hours. I got some lunch, and was in the process of writing a text message to Zinta, telling her when I'd be able to do the Walls of Jerusalem with her, when I got a text message from here. I rang, and she said she was interested in doing the overland with me too, but couldn't talk as she was in a meeting.
After wandering around Queenstown for a while, I got back on the bus. We went up through the bare, denuded hills as we left Queenstown, and the road wound around the bare hillls for quite some time. Eventually, we came out of them near a dammed lake, after which we entered the national parks.
I got a brief view of Frenchmans Cap from the road, and soon we were coming into Lake St Clair. I got a backpacker bed ($25), and had the room to myself. After cooking dinner, I packed all my stuff for the hike, so I could be ready to go early.

Before dinner, I had rung Zinta again, and had told here we could meet up if she wanted, on the track, as she had some stuff to do for a couple of days. She said she might be able to make it to Kia Ora Hut as I suggested, but wasn't sure.
During the night, I left the convection heater on, which was dumb, since I did the same thing at Strahan, with similar results – halfway through the night I woke up sweating.

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Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Overland Track - Day 1 - Lake St. Clair to Pine Valley Hut

I got up at 6:45 and packed my sleeping gear, then went around to the visitors centre to register for the walk. There was a thermometer next to the registration bench which read just 1°C – Nice!
I eventually set off about 7:30. The track went into forest, initially Eucalypt, but later Myrtle. The track was amazingly rough for Australia's premier track, with heaps of rocks and tree roots, and parts where people had formed mistake side tracks which looked like the main path.
I stepped on a wet tree root (foolishly) only about an hour and a half in, and my foot of course slipped off. I pitched forward, stumbling to my hands and knees, but was OK. As I was dusting myself off though, I realised the waist belt of my pack wasn't right, and discovered that one of the stabiliser straps had ripped out. My pack was now a fair bit more unstable and uncomfortable to wear. Just what I wanted on the first day!.

It took about 2 hours, 45 minutes to get to Echo Point, where there is a jetty and a small hut. I was very sick of the tree roots by the time I got there, and had also had a couple of very brief off track excursions, where the open forest floor had many mistake sidetracks.
Another hour and 45 minutes, and I arrived at Narcissus Hut, where I had lunch. The duckboard section just before the hut had great views of Mt Olympus. I had lunch just outside the hut, then continued on for an hour to the Pine Valley turnoff.

On the track to Pine Valley Hut, there were some good views of Mount Gould, and as I neared the hut, after 1.5 hours, there was very lush Myrtle forest again. It had been Eucalypt from Narcissus Hut to this point.
The views from the hut's helipad were very good. Some others arrived, back from day walks, and we started the coal stove, which they got glowing red hot. I had some dinner and went to bed early.
The weather had been overcast, but came out sunny in mid afternoon. It was a long day's walk, of about 26km, with a very heavy pack.

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Thursday, May 13, 2004

Overland Track - Day 2 - the Labyrinth and Acropolis

Today I was aiming to go to both the Labyrinth and the Acropolis.
I left the hut at 7:45, and climbed up toward the Labyrinth. The climb was fairly steep in parts, and first went through Myrtle, then into Snow Gums, with Pandanii and Fagus. The Fagus was interesting – One of Australia's only deciduous plants, they were all yellows and reds.
A little before I reached the crest of the ridge, cloud closed in. I stopped and sat down at the ridge, to see if the cloud would lift. After an hour, nothing had changed. I decided to continue on to the first lake, to see if I could see anything. Things seemed to be improving, and I continued a bit further, and as I got to the turnoff for the lookout, above Cyane Lake, the clouds started lifting.

I climbed to the lookout, which was further than I expected, and from the top, there were some excellent views emerging from the cloud, of the lakes and mountains of The Labyrinth and, across the valley, The Acropolis. I stayed at the lookout for about an hour, as the cloud lifted, then decided I better head back if I wanted to do the Acropolis, as it was already later than I'd intended going back.
On the way back, I had a quick closeup look at one of the lakes. It took quite a while to get back to the hut, and I arrived at 12:50. I ate a very quick lunch, and was off again for the Acropolis at 1:05pm.

The Acropolis track went through rainforest for a few minutes, and came to Cephissus Falls, which were fairly pretty. After a littler more distance on the flat, in lush rainforest, the track started ascending steeply. The ascent continued for quite some time in the rainforest, before changing to Eucalypt, and then briefly to Fagus. There was a section of Fagus, where the ground was carpeted with yellow leaves.
The track then reached the ridgeline, and there was sparse Eucalypt, and great views of the imposing Acropolis.
After walking alon the fairly flat ridge toward the Acropolis, I started climbing the foot of it. There were small patches of snow around, and on the track. The snow was getting more prevalent as I ascended, and after climbing the foot of the mountain, the track contoured for some time, through mostly snow, with some rocks. The snow was quite soft and fresh in places making the walking a bit difficult.


Finally the track headed up for the top, and was hard going, as there were sections of snow over vegetation, which collapsed underfoot, or grass under snow, which was very slippery. Therew was one slightly sketchy rock part to climb, and eventually gained the summit ridge, and it was only about a 100 metre scramble over rocks to the summit.
I reached the summit right on the turn-around time I'd set myself, of 3:15pm. As I came up to the summit, a breathtaking vista to the north greeted me – Mount Geryon, which has a sheer Dolorite face composed of rock pillars. It was right there, very imposing. Also visible, was almost all of the Labyrinth, and many other mountains like Falling Mountain, and also Lake St Clair.
I only got to spend about 10 – 15 minutes on the summit, since I was past my turn-around time, before I started on the descent. There were several sections where I slipped and slid down the snowy track, as it was very hard to get reliable footholds. I had gone up virtually without pausing, and the descent was the same.

When I got into the forest, it was sunset, and as I got into the rainforest, some parts were quite dark, with the trees blocking the light. I got back to the hut at 5:10pm, and wouldn't have wanted to have got back much later.
One of the couples in the hut stoked the coal stove up during and after dinner, and the temperature went up to 26C! Unfortunately it wasn't very nice when we went to bed, since the temperature dropped so far.

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Friday, May 14, 2004

Overland Track - Day 3 - Pine Valley Hut to Kia-Ora Hut

I packed and had some breakfast at a leisurely pace this morning, and it was a lovely 3°C in the hut.
I left the hut at 9am, and walked back to the Overland Track. There were quite a few puddles and ponds which were frozen over.
Walking along the Overland Track again, I was going through more Eucalypt, and eventually came to Windy Ridge Hut, which is a small emergency only hut.
The track climbed sharply for quite a while, still mainly in Eucalypt, and eventually reached Du-cane Gap, which had limited views of the surrounding mountains through the trees. The weather was great – clear blue skies, and I had some lunch in the sun just after Du-cane Gap.

After lunch, the track descended slowly through Myrtle forest, and I came to the Harnett Falls turnoff. I dropped my pack, and walked the fairly flat 10 minutes out to the falls. The power of the falls was impressive, as there was a lot of water going over, however, the view wasn't great, since you could only see the very top of the falls, where the water went over the edge, and the river flowing away in a deep narrow canyon far below.
After walking back to the main track, I continued on to the turnoff for D'Alton and Ferguson Falls. The track to the falls went down steeply, I went to Ferguson Falls first, and it was a very impressive sight. I was able to scramble down onto a rock near the base of the falls, with the water roaring over the falls right in front of me.
D'Alton Falls were also quite impressive, as they were very high. The track was above a very deep canyon, into which the water was pouring, and unlike Harnett Falls, the entire falls were visible.

After a little further on the main track, I came to Du-Cane Hut (it seemed a lot further than my book said). Du-Cane Hut is a historic slab hut in a clearing beneath a big Dolorite mountain – quite pretty. The whole hut is on an angle, with the floor and walls leaning downhill.
I walked on through forest, and after another 40 minutes, came finally to Kia-Ora Hut. Kia-Ora Hut has some great views of the surrounding mountains, and the Doloroite rock faces were lit red by the setting sun – it was very pretty.
After dinner, I went to get some water, and was looking at the stars – a huge number were visible, making normal constellations hard to find. I also saw about four satellites pass over.

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Saturday, May 15, 2004

Overland Track - Day 4 - Kia-Ora Hut to Mt. Ossa to Pelion Hut

After packing my gear, I left the hut at 8am.
Everything had frost and ice on it – every leaf, every blade of grass, the track, everything. Mud holes on the track were frozen solid.
The track went down slightly into forest, then started climbing. I popped out of the trees into a wide plain, sloping down a little, then up, to Pelion Gap, with great views all around of massive mountains, like Mt Pelion East, and Mt Ossa.

Climbing up to Pelion Gap, several sections of split wood duckboard were covered in a veneer of ice, making them amazingly slippery. I got to Pelion Gap, where there are tracks to Mt Ossa and Mt Pelion East, and packed some stuff into my small bag, and started up toward Mt Ossa.
The track went up Mt Doris for some way, with several more icy step sections, then skirted around Mt Doris to the south, where there were several small snow drifts. Descending slightly into a saddle, the track then climbed very steeply up Mt Ossa itself.
Swinging around the south side of one of the buttresses, there was suddenly a lot of snow on the track. It was now mostly hard packed snow with occasional rocks. The track traversed across a steep snow slope, which was a little dodgy with no ice axe or trekking pole, then clambored up a rocky and snowy chute to a ridgeline.
From here, the track descended slightly, before ascending steeply again, but only briefly before reaching the flat plateau top, and the summit.

For a little while, I was the highest person in Tasmania. There were great views all around, including out to Cradle Mountain and Barn Bluff. I couldn't see Frenchmans Cap, as it was hazy in the distance, especially in the west, where there were dark clouds moving in. It had only taken 1 hour and 10 minutes to reach the top. Descending was not as bad as I'd feared it might be, and took about an hour.
Back at Pelion Gap, I had lunch and decided to try to climb Pelion East as well, despite feeling a few drops of rain.
The track up Pelion East was much less formed, and there were many deep muddy sections. I got about 15 minutes up before it started raining properly, and looking around, I realised that I wouldn't see anything from the summit, so turned around. By the time I got back to Pelion Gap, Mt Ossa had completely disappeared in cloud, and the summit of Mt Pelion East was also shrouded.

I put my pack back on and walked onward in the rain. From Pelion Gap, the trail descended through Myrtle and Eucalypt forests. The Eucalypts looked stunning in the rain, as their bark was intense shades of red, yellow, orange and green.
After what seemed like ages, I came to Pelion Hut. It could hardly be cauld a "Hut" as it sleeps 60 people. It has a gorgeous view, across Pelion Plain to Barn Bluff, and other surrounding mountains. Everyone sat on the veranda and admired the view, until rainclouds came in and progressively covered the mountains.

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