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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Saturday, May 01, 2004

Hobart R&R, Salamanca Markets

Today was Salamanca Market Day, so after breakfast, I went down to Salamanca Place to check it out. It was a big market, the whole of Salamanca Place was taken up, and the stalls were packed in tightly. There was handicrafts, second hand books, food, fruit & vegies and musicians. I bough myself a second hand Tom Clancy novel and some food. After this, I went to an internet café to email and to burn a CD of my photos, so I could clear the card ready for the Tarkine trip – Good value - 150 photos for $8, a lot better than film!

After lunch, I went to the cinemas and saw Starsky & Hutch. It was a moderately funny American takeoff of 70's cop movies.
I then spent a while sorting what I was going to take into the Tarkine and packed everything for an early start. I had a cheap but good take away green curry again for dinner.

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Sunday, May 02, 2004

Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 1 - to Wombat Flat

Today was the start of the Tarkine guided walk with Tiger Trails. I got up at 6:15am (ouch), and quickly packed my sleeping gear and headed for the Tiger Trails office, which was just a block from the Pickled Frog Hostel. Out the front of the office was a 12 seater minivan, with trailer. I went up to the office, and there were several people inside busily packing and checking gear.
I was given a fabric bag with some group food in it, a bag of scrogin, a bag of muesli bars, and a block of chocolate. I was considering taking my own one man tent, mainly so I would know I'd get good sleep, but the guide convinced me to use theirs.
We dumped the packs in the trailer, and soon set off – there were 9 people in the minibus, with our guide (Darvis) driving, and Jarrah as the alternate driver, who would return the van to Hobart.

As we drove north toward Launceston, it became apparent that the weather was not terrific – there was a very strong wind which was throwing the bus all over the road, and the occasional rain squall. I was hoping that my pack wouldn't get too wet as the trailer didn't have a tarp over it.
At Launceston, we picked up another passenger, and near Devonport, we stopped for fuel and some food, then again to pick up more passengers. On the way, everyone was fairly quiet, which was probably due to not knowing each other, being tired from the early start, and from the warm air in the bus.

Turning inland near Burnie, we went past the Gunns woodchipping mill, which is the largest in the southern hemisphere, yet only employs 12 people full time. It is the one pushing ahead the logging of Tasmania's old growth forests, like the Tarkine. After the mill came Tasmanias largest private landholding – a Gunns plantation forest.
At Waratah, we stopped at a park with a shelter shed which we used to pack all the extra gear which hadn't been packed yet, e.g. stoves, pots / billies, fuel, extra food. There was a view of a pretty waterfall from the park, and the decaying remains of mining equipment from last century in the valley below.

While we were packing, the wind was very cold, and when we were nearly finished, it suddenly started hailing. In the tin roofed shelter shed, it was very noisy, but the hail soon changed to rain.
About 10 minutes drive from Waratah, we came to the trail head – just an unmarked dirt 4WD track off the sealed main road.
After putting our packs on, we said bye to Jarrah. It was about 12:30 when we started walking. The track lead off into low eucalypt forest, and then went past the only piece of buttongrass on the track.

After less than two kilometres, we came to a creek. It had a very dodgy bridge consisting of a pair of slippery logs. I asked Darvis (our guide) whether we'd be getting wet feet later, and he said we would, so I just forded the creek, which was about thigh deep, quite deep and fast flowing.
Paul slipped, and almost went for a swim whilst fording the creek and got a little wet. Natalie slipped on the logs of the bridge and landed on her bum on one of the logs but didn’t go into the water.
Immediately we had to cross another creek to the first night's campsite. Everyone who had used the bridge took time to take off their boots and pants to ford the creek.
The campsite was where an old house had been from the mining era, and was called Wombat Flat.

It had been sprinkling rain, and just after we got our tents up, it started hailing again. We put up a tarp to cook under, and Darvis proceeded to organise dinner. Whilst dinner was happening, we did an introduction session, then a "pass the avocado" game to help us remember everyone's names.
Apart from me, there was:

Darvis (Mark Davis)	Guide and Co-founder of Tiger Trails.
Chris	A nurse from South Australia
Ben, Paul & Natalie	Have been working on the streets of Hobart for The Wilderness Society. Paul and Natalie are from the UK, Ben is Australian
Brendon, Zinta	Learning to be Tiger Trails guides for the next season. Brendon is a musician, Zinta has been travelling and cycling in Tasmania.
Noboru	Not your average Japanese tourist, has been travelling / protesting for quite a while, and did a peace walk from Perth to Melbourne with Ben
Chelsea & Rob	Activists for Tasmania's forests Chelsea has a radio show.

It is interesting that virtually everyone is in their 20's, which is different from the usual clients of Tiger Trails, who are around 50. Also interesting is that several of the group already know each other, and almost everyone has been recently active in the fight to save the tarkine. Hopefully I can make a difference too, possibly with photographs.

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Monday, May 03, 2004

Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 2 - to Mt. Ramsay

Getting up early seemed a bit of a waste, as unlike my solo hiking, we spent a few hours leisurely having tea, then some hot porridge, then packing.
The floor of the tent was not at all even water resistant, and although there was a thick black plastic groundsheet underneath, the bottom of the tent, and hence my mat and sleeping bag were a bit damp.

The rain started early, and continued on and off all day. We recrossed the creek to the 4WD track, then followed it south for the rest of the day.
Apparently the track used to be very overgrown, and barely recognisable as a vehicle track, as no vehicles had used it in decades. That was up until last year, when the Launceston 4WD Club came in and drove through. They cut away scores of fallen trees (some very big), cout down saplings on the path and completely trashed the track, so that now the track is often eroded badly, and there are numerous big muddy holes.

The track travels up and down some small hills, alternating between old-growth forest (Myrtle), and regrowth where mining had taken place. Tiger Trails had cut some rough foot pads around some of the deepest and longest mud holes caused by the 4WD's. We would walk a short way into the old growth Myrtle forest to get around the mud. On one of these detours, we had lunch, consisting of Mountain Bread wraps, with a variety of fillings – cheese, carrot, cucumber, sun-dried tomato, salami, mayonnaise, chutney, and more – They were good eating.
The lunch spot was very pretty, a small flat spot on the forest floor, with big Myrtles, Leatherwoods and lots of moss and fungus all around.

The track continued through similar forest after lunch, and was in a similar condition, with similar weather.
After some time, we came to an ascent, up the flank of Mount Ramsay. The track only went partway up the mountain, before contouring around it and descending. The descent was very beautiful, with very big Myrtles in old growth rainforest, and a mist caused by the rain. Just before camp, there was a fallen tree over the track, above head hight.

The campsite was very pretty, a clear area of forest floor with big Myrtles all around and above us. Ben and I ended up with a very damp tent site on the main track, with water pooling right beside the tent.
I discovered that my sleeping bag had gotten wet – Fortunately it was only the foot area which was wet. Due to the continual rain, my pack was pretty wet, despite the pack cover.
We had a hot drink I hadn't tried before – Chi – it was very nice.
During the night, there was very strong winds whooshing through the forest, and steady rain as well. I was hoping that a tree wouldn't come down on us.

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Tuesday, May 04, 2004

Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 3 - Mt. Ramsay to Huskisson River

A tree didn't fall on us in the night, and apparently several others were thinking the same thing. A tree did however come pretty close – during the night, several of us (me included) heard a loud thud, and we found a fresh dead tree across the track, only 5m from Darvis, Brendon and Noboru's tent. If it had fallen the other way, it would have squashed them like bugs. The tree smashed into several bits and was extremely soft and wet.
I had woken up with warm feet despite the wet sleeping bag, since I put a garbage bag between the sleeping bag and my liner sheet. Unfortunately the tent floor and ground sheet didn’t keep the water out, and there was literally a puddle of water under my sleeping mat, soaking the bottom of the mat. My sleeping bag also got damper. I was wishing I'd brought my tent, which is very waterproof.

Today we were going up Mount Ramsay. Brendon and Natalie decided to stay behind, since the rain and cloud appeared to be closing in.
We went back up the track, the way we'd come yesterday, till we got to the highest part. Darvis took a compass bearing from the map, and I volunteered to lead us up the mountain. The bearing was to a marked foot track near the summit. Following the bearing was often quite difficult, since, although there were some open areas on the forest floor, there were also areas with thick bush, and many big fallen logs blocking the way.
Part of the way up, it started hailing. There were several short spells of hail during the time we were on the mountain. With the help of faint foot pads going up the mountain, and the compass, I got us straight to the track near the summit, which was marked with pink ribbons.
We followed the trail for about 10 minutes through low scrub and came out on top of some rocks where there was a view over the valley below. Unfortunately the view was half obscured by the low clouds. While we were there, it started hailing again, but the hail briefly turned to snow, so we turned around and headed back down. The top of the mountain was shrubs , head high, and further down, was the rainforest.

When we got back down to the main track again, we took an alternate route through the rainforest back to camp. It went through the magnificent tall old-growth rainforest, then through a section filled with Horizontal (a tree which grows with tangled horizontal limbs) which was quite difficult to negotiate. Shortly before we reached the camp, we came back into the tall open rainforest, and it started snowing – big fluffy flakes, which were being swirled around by the wind. It was quite pretty.
When we got back to camp, Brendon and Natalie had kindly prepared lunch for everyone. We ate lunch, then packed our stuff, and headed off.

The track descended steeply down to a creek crossing, the muddy slope was very slippery. We crossed the wide creek by rock hopping, then headed up the hill on the other side. Part way up the hill we came to a big log across the track, which was the furthest point that the Launceston 4WD club had reached, before Darvis and Brendon had stopped them, and turned them back. Quad bikes had gone further, but they had ver little impact on the track compared to the 4WD's. The track from here on was very overgrown, with small trees growing down the middle, so that it felt much more like just a foot track. There were many places where we had to go around big fallen trees.
After another slippery slope, we came to the crossing point of the Huskisson River – it was raging, very high and fast water, due to all the rain. It had been raining and hailing on and off all day. We would have to cross it either tomorrow or the next day. A short walk from here was our campsite.

The campsite was again in tall old-growth rainforest, but this time it was gigantic Eucalypts instead of Myrtles. Dinner was again yummy, although it has advantages and drawbacks doing a communal dinner, as it means staying wet and cold for longer, but is good for socialising.

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Wednesday, May 05, 2004

Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 4 - Camped at Huskisson River

We had done extra distance yesterday, which meant that we could stay at the Huskisson River camp for two nights and just do a day walk in the forest today.
We had a leisurely breakfast, and after a while decided to set off down the river. We walked through the trackless rainforest, trying to stick to the ares with an open forest floor, and few fallen trees (quite difficult). We kept the river on our left, and after a while came to a river bend, where the river ran against the bottom of a ridge line.
The forest consisted of lots of smaller and medium sized trees with heaps of ferns and tree ferns, and lots of moss and fungus covering everything. There was an amazing variety of moss and fungus – even on a single tree. Interspersed in the forest, were occasional (every 50 – 100m) enormous Eucalypts, which towered above everything else – leading us to wonder why they grew so tall, as even their bottom branches were usually above the tops of the other trees.

We decided to climb the ridge, which was not too difficult, as it was fairly open at ground level, although it was pretty steep in places. At the top, it was a little drier, with more of the giant Eucalypts,and not quite so much moss and ferns. We decided to delay lunch till we got back to camp, although we'd brought it, and started contouring the ridge back toward the campsite. We came across a huge Eucalypt which had recently fallen. It left a massive crater where the roots had been. Climbing on top of the trunk, we walked down the length of the intact part which was probably 40 or 50 metres. It gave a good sense of how truly huge the trees around us actually were.
We then descended off the side of the ridge, through tree ferns, and lush forest, descending very steeply - we were often sliding rather than stepping, making it difficult to stay standing. Almost everything I stepped on in the forest seemed to be spongy to sme degree – the moss, matted roots, mud, and especially fallen, rotten logs. Several logs I stepped on collapsed and left my foot partly inside the log.

Amazingly, we arrived right back at the camp with no searching at all. The walk had been very nice - getting off the track, and into virgin rainforest, which had probably never been explored by white people was pretty cool. The forest was truly beautiful, it would be horrible if it were chopped down to be chipped for paper.
After a late lunch, we lazed around the camp till dinner.
As it was getting dark at dinner time, we noticed that Rob had still not returned from a solo wander he had gone on. We started coo-eeeing and shortly heard a faint reply. A few minutes later Rob arrived looking a bit sheepish, as Darvis had earlier told us a story about a guy getting lost at this very camp. Rob said he'd wandered into the forest to be alone for a bit, and was fairly sure, but not 100% sure of the way back, but our calling confirmed it for him.
There was a fair bit of talk about the river after dinner, since tomorrow we would have to cross it. The river had gone down about 10cm during the day, but it was still ragin, and as powerful and deep as any river I'd crossed, but much wider, at 50 metres wide. Everyone was a little aprehensive.

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