The Overland Track

Wed January 2- On this cold Tasmanian day (Harry even lit up the fire place), we prepared for our Overland trip. We went to the store, prepared our food and packed our bags. In the late afternoon Adrian - 'our landlord'- returned home from his seven weeks of work as an officer on a boat (huge oil tanker.) Great to meet him (again) and his girlfriend Sarah. Mieneke, Wilma and Gary came over for dinner and in later in the evening Fred and Liz stopped by as well.

Cradle Mountain

 

Thu January 3- Maurits was pretty sick during the night. Most likely the same potent bug that had infected Laura Beth and Henny before ... but luckily in the morning Maurits was feeling well enough to go to the Overland Track - a 6-day 80km trek from Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair in Central Tasmania. Maurits walked the track 15 years ago (1998), when he lived in Tasmania and loved it! Around 10 am we were in the car with Wilma and Gary on our way to Cradle Mountain. Wilma and Gary were taking the ferry back to Melbourne and were very nice to drive us to the start of the trek. It was a beautiful day, pretty warm: the start of a heatwave. We had lunch with the 'pe(c)king ducks' in Perth and around 3pm we arrived at Cradle. After saying thank you and goodbye to Wilma and Gary, we setup our tent at the Discovery Holiday Park just outside the National Park. Nice campsite with luckily a couple of fridges so we could protect our cheese, salami and chocolate from the heat!

On the summit of Cradle

Fri January 4- Day 0 Overland Track- Day hike to Cradle Mountain summit (12km)

Not a great night of sleep... A possum tried to get into our backpacks; he/she was after our food! Maurits smacked the possum in the head a couple of times, but not until we moved our large backpacks into our little tent were we left in peace. The next morning at 8am we were on the shuttle bus to Dove Lake for a day-hike to the summit of Cradle Mountain. It was a very hot, crystal clear and windy day. Via Marion's lookout and Kitchen Hut, we climbed to the summit of Cradle. Not an easy climb with a lot of rock-scrambling and boulder-hopping. We had lunch on the top and enjoyed the view - we could see for a 100 miles! On the way back it really started to heat up, with temperatures around 35C (high 90's F). We walked back via the Face Track and Lake Wilks, and of course the camp store for some icecream on such a hot day. We picked up our Overland Track pass, had a shower, a cold beer and dinner.

Later in the evening we heard from Maurits' parents, who were in Sydney for a short trip, that huge bush-fires had sadly devastated large areas in the East of Tasmania. Many homes had been burnt down on the Tasman Peninsula where we had been just days before. There were luckily no fires near the Overland Trek- but there was a complete fire ban for most of our trip so we had to cook on special fire platforms or in a hut.

On the way to Waterfall Valley

 

Sat January 5- Day 1 Overland Track- Ronny Creek to Waterfall Valley (10km)

Rain at 6am! A short-lived shower that gave us a wet tent to carry.. Bizarre.. As soon as the rain stopped it turned out to be another spectacular day; sun, no clouds and windy. We packed up and rode the shuttle-bus to the trailhead at Ronny Creek. The first section of the Overland Track followed more or less the same trail as yesterday, but after the turn-off to the summit of Cradle Mountain we were on new terrain. The track was fairly easy going; lots of boardwalk, but also plenty of uneven rocky stretches. We decided not to climb Barn Bluff, a distinct peak next to Cradle Mountain. Yesterday had been hard enough and the climb would have been more difficult than Cradle Mountain. We arrived at the Waterfall Valley hut and campsite around 2pm. The scenery included a lovely valley, very picturesque, lots of Wallabies, loud Tasmanian Hens, Currawongs (a raven look-a-like) trying to steal our food and beautiful plants and flowers. Luckily no snakes! We setup our tent, relaxed and enjoyed the sunny afternoon.

Wallaby with Joey

Thirsty!

Sun January 6- Day 2 Overland Track- Waterfall Valley to New Pelion (24.5 km)

We woke up to a dewy and misty morning in the valley which turned once more into a crystal clear day. Like all the mornings on the track we got up at 6, had porridge for breakfast, packed up and around 8 we were on our way. Today we walked mostly through a beautiful open landscape with great views of the mountains. It got hot early on and we were happy to fill our water bottles at Windermere - the track was very dry and the little creeks were not running. We wanted to camp just before the forest of Frog Flats (a local tip from Wilma and Gary), but there was no water nearby so we continued to New Pelion. The last stretch was hard-going; we were tired, very hot and the tree-rooted/rocky/muddy trail did not help. Around 5:30 we were happy to arrive at the New Pelion hut/campsite! We setup camp and had a much needed wash to clean the sweat and smell off. Pelion hut is beautifully situated with a lovely view of Mount Oakleigh. We made dinner on the hut's veranda and enjoyed the warm evening. As all the nights, we left our backpacks with food in the hut. This way the possums left us alone...

The permit system limits the Overland Track to 60 people per day. In general it was fairly quiet and there was always plenty of room to pitch our tent. Most huts hold about 30 people and have 'bare' bunks where you put your own mattress and sleeping-bag on. The huts did fill though - on a first come first serve basis. We found that quite surprising; it gets so noisy with people snoring and rolling over, and a bit smelly without showers- we prefer the tent!

Morning mist

LB at Lake Windermere (Mountains Oakleigh, Pelion East, Ossa and Pelion West in the background)

 

Mon January 7- Day 3 Overland Track- Day hike to Mount Oakleigh (8km)

We had a warm and clear night with spectacular stars! We were wondering why we brought our heavy and hot sleeping bags... Since today was a 'rest' day, we did not pack up our tent. After breakfast we climbed Mount Oakleigh - across the plain from New Pelion. The climb itself was pretty easy, but the hot sun (even at 9am) lack of breeze and the spiderwebs made it a tough 2 hours to the top. The view from the top was excellent on this clear day. A lovely overview of where we came from and where we would be going. Around 1pm we were back at the hut for lunch. We saw some big mud-holes close to New Pelion (Tasmania is known for its muddy walking conditions) and we saw some 'purists' walking through the waist-deep mud. We decided to walk around the hole... In the afternoon we went for a swim in the river at the Old Pelion hut, a 15 minute walk from New Pelion. We jumped in with all our clothes on and gave ourselves a good wash! Great to cool off and refresh a bit after all these days of heat!

Mount Oakleigh from New Pelion Hut

On the summit of Mount Oakleigh

Tue January 8- Day 4 Overland Track- New Pelion to Kia Ora (11km)

The day the weather changed! Our day started with sun in the forest going up Pelion Gap. We could see the weather-front coming though... On top of Pelion Gap we decided against going up Mount Ossa (Tasmania's highest peak) - it was very windy and we did not want to get caught in the approaching rain. Instead we went up 'nipple' mountain (Pelion East) - a short 2-hour return trip. As we got close to the summit the wind picked up ferociously! Getting to the top required some serious rock-scrambling. With the crazy wind we decided against this and returned to Pelion Gap. Around noon we arrived at the Kia Ora hut/campsite. We setup our tent just before the rain started. While we lunched in the hut it poured outside! And it got pretty cold.. What a change to yesterday! The rest of the day we hung out in the small and relatively older hut. It got very busy in the small space - we guessed about 32 people slept in the hut that night! With all the campers in the hut as well trying to cook on the limited table-space... Pretty chaotic! We chatted with a lot of people including some guys from the Australian Air Force who had the biggest blisters we had ever seen- LB even helped bandage their feet with some blister packs and all purpose duct tape. Around 7 we were happy to be in the quiet of our tent. And this night we did zip up our sleeping-bags all the way!! Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!

LB on Oakleigh with Ossa in the background

Maurits on Oakleigh (Pelion East is the little stump on the left)

Wed January 9- Day 5 Overland Track- Kia Ora to Narcissus (19km)

A night filled with wind, rain and wet snow - cold! As we got out of the tent we could even see snow on the peaks around us! Crazy... We had now left the open plains and entered the forest and temperate rainforest. It rained and drizzled constantly on this chilly day, but the rain did add a nice touch to the lovely forests we walked through. We had lunch and warmed up with a hot drink at the brand new Bert Nichols hut. A massive hut compared to Kia Ora. After lunch we continued in the rain to Narcissus. A welcome change to walk in the cool weather; all in all an excellent day for bush-walking! We setup our tent and hung out in the Narcissus hut (small like Kia Ora). It was good fun hanging out in the not so busy hut - talking to the people we had gotten to know in the last couple of days.

The weather is coming in...

Snow on Pelion East!

Thu January 10- Day 6 Overland Track- Narcissus to Cynthia Bay (17.5km)

Only 1 in 4 Overland Trackers walks the 5 hours from Narcissus to Cynthia Bay. The majority take the ferry... but not us! The weather was cloudy with some drizzle as we set out on our last leg. The track was pretty hard going with lots of slippery tree roots and fallen trees. After eating our last food at Echo Point, we arrived at Cynthia Bay at 1pm. Harry, Henny and Marieke had also just arrived and they had brought a delicious lunch! Fresh bread, fruit and orange juice :-) A great finish of a great trek!

On the way back to Hobart we saw quite a few burnt areas. We did not pass the major burnt area on the Tasman Peninsula, but we did see many acres of burnt land. It had been a massive disaster last weekend, with temperatures reaching 42C (110F) in Hobart.

Back home in Margate, Adrian had been diving for abalone (a shell fish). We had a high class gourmet sea-food dinner on the barbie!

View from Echo Point

The finish at Lake St Clair with Marieke and Henny

 

Posted with Blogsy