True Wilderness: The Tasmanian Overland Track

I had for some time been considering doing a multi-day hike. It had been years since I had done one- the last one was Mount Kilimanjaro in 2011. As you can imagine, after severe altitude sickness I was put off walking for a while. But still, I am an avid hiker- having done lots of multi-day hikes in my teens and still doing weekly hikes. So in Australia, I had considered the Great North Walk, but I thought perhaps spending some time in the Blue Mountains would be better. Then I thought of doing the Alpine National Track, but I would not be able to do the food drop offs prior to the walk. Then there was the Tasman Overland Track from Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair, which covers Australia's largest mountain and deepest lake. It would take me 6-8 days covering 85km roughly. So when I found myself fired, I lacked the level headedness not to make impulsive decisions, so I booked a flight down to Tasmania and headed for the Overland Track.

Day One

After hitch hiking from Hobart to Launceston, I spent a few days there before bracing the wilderness. I took a bus from Launceston to Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair National Park, to begin the track. It was actually a tour bus, but you could get a one way pass for walkers. It was a miserable day in regards to weather, but we had half an hour stop in Sheffield which is a lovely country town. They had muriels on every building and whilst the others took pictures and explored the town, I stuffed myself full of pastries and coffee in a cafe.

The first day was only 10km, but it was quite mountainous and was supposed to take 5-6 hours. So when we finally got to the registration, it was about midday. The weather was slowly getting worse and visabilty was awful. The walk started with button-grass before inclining my way up the mountainside, through temperate rainforest, before reaching Crater Falls. Further on my way, I reached the Crater Lake. I thought to myself, finally a bit of level walking, but alas it wasn't for long. As I reached Marions Lookout, I really had to scramble my way up- not easy with a heavy backpack! I crossed the Cradle Plateau, but I couldn't take the side trip to the summit as the weather was too poor. Reminded me of the UK at least. I crossed the Herbfields and arrived at the Waterfall Valley at about seven o' clock. I had dinner and went to bed about nine, but I couldn't fall asleep for a while as I had strained my shoulder and my sleeping bag was wet. I ended up wrapping myself in my tent to keep warm instead of my sleeping bag.
Day Two

On the second day, I woke up with a lot of pain in my right shoulder, but otherwise fine. Porridge with chocolate for breakfast- with a long black coffee of course. The weather was a little better today and there was only 7.75 to walk, so I took a 3km side trip to Will Lake which was brilliant. The best part of the track was walking through the wild flowers- I should have brought the book about wild flora in the area.

I bumped into some people on a day trip who told me I was 'like the guy out of Into The
Wild.' I told the couple in question that I'm sure I had got a lot chocolate than the guy in into the film. Nonetheless, I was increasingly surprised about the amount of people who remarked on the fact I was doing the track by myself, as if I was crazy.

I reached the Windermere Hut about 2pm, so making much better time than the first day. I ate bits and pieces of the food I had brought. It had been raining all day so I made a hot water bottle and eavesdropped on the conversations in the hut. An Australian couple were playing hangman and some young German people were playing card games.

17.75 km tomorrow!

Day Three

The third day reminded me why it is important to bring comfort food on hikes like this, but at least it is done. Once again, I woke up from a fairly awful nights sleep. The hut was very cold so it was hard to remain asleep, let alone brave the cold once you get out of bed.

As always, I started the day with porridge and coffee. I didn't really have the apetite for it, but I managed to keep it down. The first part of the track was relatively easy today. After about 4km, there was a small side trip to a lookout one could see the whole of Forth Valley. The sun shone for a little while so I put my feet up and had a snack there and take it all in. By the time I got back to my bag, it was already trying to rain. I bumped into a couple of Germans who were also going to take a break there.

I crossed Pelion Creek and by the time I reached an area called Frog Flats, the weather had improved slightly, but it was still trying to rain slightly. It took another hour to reach the New Pelion Hut. Shortly before I reached it I slipped and fell over rather badly. It was quite close to the hut, so it wasn't the worse place to fall but my legs felt rather swollen and a couple of toe nails had turned blue. I wasn't sure whether the blue toe nails were from the rainy and cold weather or bruising from the fall.

Despite my fall, spirits were quite high in the hut that night. I spoke to an Australian couple for a while and came to the slow realisation almost all the people on the track were in couples on a romantic getaway of some sort- and I was there by myself with my blue toe nails. I also spoke to the park ranger briefly, who told me that the toe nails will eventually fall off. I guess I will not be wearing sandals for a while.
Day Four

Today was probably the best morning so far. I woke up about half six in the morning, to the cold and the sound of snoring. At first I thought I ought to try and get back to sleep, but then decided I would rather brew some coffee, make another hot water bottle and watch the sunrise over Mount Oakleigh. The sky was still a light blue as I put the stove on. I sat outside and watched the mist at the bottom of the mountain turned pink and orange. After a while, everyone got up.

I checked on my injuries on my legs and feet. My left leg had swollen a lot and now had a purple marks all over- bigger than my head. Naturally, I showed it to anyone willing to see it. The other leg was only a bit swollen with a few minor cuts.

I was in a good mood when I left the hut about 10 am. The weather was warming up, so I wore shorts so everyone could see my battle scores. From New Pelion I walked through rainforest via Douglas Creek- much of the ground was water-clogged and slippy. When I reached the top of Pelion Gap, the weather was much better. I decided not to climb Mount Ossa as a side trip on account of my sore legs. The sun was shining and I prefered to walk through the brilliant wilderness and descended down to Kia Ora for the night. I spent the evening outside bathing in the sunshine whilst it lasted, drinking coffee and eating chocolate- fabulous for a hiker, better than food at any fancy restaurant. The Germans spoke about the Aurora Australias perhaps being visable that night if it was clear and cold enough.

Day Five

Today was 'waterfall day.' And a tiring day as well. My feet were bleeding, swollen and even bluer. Despite being quite painful to walk, it has been quite a nice day. I woke up at quarter past one in the morning. As the others had been talking about the Southern Lights, I went outside to check if they were visable, but I couldn't even see the stars it was so cloudy. I was just curious, I wasn't really expecting them to be there. I went back to sleep for a while and woke up to a beautiful, warm day with the mountains in the background and the sound of a waterfall in the background. Every time I looked up, I was astonished about how beautiful the area was.

Shortly after beginning my walk to Bert Nicholls (Windy Ridge) I came across I disused hut. I looked inside and decided, although it was quite charming, I wouldn't want to stay there. It was called Du Cane Hut. After another short walk, there was a side trip to Ferguseon Falls and D'Alton Falls. The next side trip was to Hartnell Falls, which was stunning.

The whole day was pretty much in rainforest. I decided to take the ferry instead of walking my way around Lake St Clair. After walking about 70km, I feel that I might have a rest. It was quite surreal realising that would mean I would finish the next day.

Day Six

Finally, the last day! It's very odd because the whole experience went by so quickly. You anticipate the walk for so long and then it is finished before you know it. I can't deny that I was looking forward to a real bed and fish and chips. The whole day I spent thinking about chips.

It was only a short walk to Narcissus Hut, where the walk met Lake St Clair and the jetty where you could get the ferry. It was all quite flat today which I was glad about, but there was a tricky suspension bridge which made me feel like I was going to fall off to never be found again.

Lake St Clair was very beautiful, but a bit on the moody side. It stretched for ages, so I was glad to have missed out on the extra 17km it would have taken to walk around it. When I got to the end of the Track I felt ecstatic- tea, fish, chips, showers, electricity! The luxuries were endless.

All in all, I loved the Overland Track- it may have been difficult, but it was probably one of the best things I've ever done. Whether doing it by yourself or with people, remember to bring something like chocolate to make you warm on the colder days. It is almost guaranteed to rain whilst you are there apparently. I would love to do it all again- to see all the wildlife again, from wombats to wallabies, with a book about the flora and tea in a waterproof bag.

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