Boabs and Birds

Some more photos from the Gregory National Park trip. On the way home we spotted the bush turkey. They are really tasty apparently. The other bird was from a trip we did to Nitmuluk Gorge a few months ago.

Gregory National Park

The blog is back. After some hard lessons learnt we decided to have a break from it. But we still needed a place to share our photos and stories. So we've decided to continue our current blog. It will focus mainly on our travels as usual.

Our blog started off as a record of our travels around Australia. We only got to do NSW, VIC, low end of NT, SA and TAS before running out of money.

Now we're working up north, which is another adventure all in itself. We have some opportunities to see the beautiful places relatively close to where we live and work. And we hope to see more of the top end - Cape York, Arnhem Land and the Kimberly. Right now it's weekend trips to nearby destinations such as Bullita stock route in Gregory National Park.

LIfe is a Rainbow

South Coast Track December 23-29th

After experiencing the Overland track I really wanted to do some harder walks in Tasmania. After some research and help from cousin Mark we decided to do the South Coast track. It’s an 85km walk between Melaleuca in the west to Cockle Creek in the east. To get to Melaleuca we have the option of boat, walking or flying. We chartered a light plane and flew in on a tiny single engine Cessna 172. It managed to get in a few good photos from the air, including Hobart and the Ironbound ranges we were going to have to cross on day 3

Day 1

The flight was at 11.30am but kept getting delayed due to wind. We eventually got up at about 5pm and got to Melaleuca at 6pm. Howling wind and a bit of sideways rain we walked the 3 ½ hours through buttongrass plains to our campspot along the beach. Bits of fishing rope, buoys and whale bones it was a scene out of Gilligan’s Island.

Day 2

A good walk with a lot of mud and a few rivers to cross. Wet boots from now on! We were extremely lucky to spot a Tasmanian tree frog, which is endemic to Tasmania.

Day 3

Today we had to get over the Ironbound ranges. It took all day. Very steep – 900m ascent over 6km, then back down again in very muddy conditions. So not many photos. It was Christmas day. We were so tired. There were a few other walkers at this spot. I managed to fall head first into the creek.

Day 4

It was to be pancakes for breakfast being Christmas and all, but it just didn’t work on the little Trangia cooker. No butter, no cast iron frying pan and no spatula. So I had pancake mixture instead. Today was a short easy day walk. There was mud. Prion Beach is 4kms long with huge ribbons of leather kelp washed up to shore along with bottles, ropes, fishing stuff and random rubbish. We saw a big rubber thing with a light in it. I later found out it was a piece of deep sea equipment used to measure seismic activity. We also saw a dead seal washed up and half eaten. Teeth like a dog. At the end of Prion beach we crossed the lagoon with the provided boats. It took about an hour and the whole time it was hailing and raining on us. The photo with Anthea in the boat has Precipitous bluff in the background. I hope to come back for it another time. We set up in the rain and we were completely soaked. We had to cook in the tent.

Day 5

This day was an extremely long day (about 4 hours walking) and we were feeling pretty lazy and wet by then. We decided to camp at Surprise Bay which is probably the best spot on the track. In the distance are little islands, I think Flat Top and Round Top islands. . I managed to capture one beautiful sunset. The light and colours are amazing. It’s not always like this, often being overcast or spitting.

Day 6

We had a huge day ahead of us. We walked to Granite Beach about 2 ½ hours. Then it was off to Cape Rivulet. It ended up being a 10 hour day all up, which included about 4-5 hours of mud. Serious above the knee depth mud. We got to Cape Rivulet and a man we had chatted with (then known as the poet) was having a naked swim in the beach. We had to cross the rivulet near the beach because it was the shallowest section. But he was getting out of the surf and we were worried he might want to chat with us without putting his clothes back on. We waded through the rivulet up to the waist and Anthea nearly got swept away. So much for being shallow! The poet did put his clothes on and had a chat with us. The campsites were busy and a few surfers were around. We looked around for a flat spot but came across a big black snake so we decided to get out of the place. We ended up having to walk for over an hour to the next campsite called Lion Rock.

Day 7

The last day. About 3 hours walk. We set up the SPOT PLB (personal locator beacon) so we could send a msg to Mark & Esther saying we were on our way out. We passed a lot of walkers on their way in for a day walk and heard about QLD floods & Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

When Mark picked us up we headed for a café for a hamburger with the lot. Later that night we had T-bone and a good sleep. Hopefully we’ll get back to do a few more walks in the area. It was a challenging walk but not too hard. Beautiful, undisturbed, and rugged.

Tasmania - Hobart, Kettering, Port Arthur...

We’ve been in TAS since December 1^st. After the Overland Track my cousin called me and we’ve been staying there pretty much ever since. Mark & Esther took us to Bruny Island one day, and we drove to Port Arthur on Tasman Peninsula and spent a few days around there. Tasmania is beautiful. It’s quiet. People don’t care too much about making money. Everyone is friendly. You can park 5 minutes walk from the main street without having to feed the meter. Everyone knows everyone. We ran into some people we met on the overland track. We did all our xmas shopping in one day at Salamanca markets! Staying with my cousin & his family has been awesome. We met Kealy who lives in Sandy Bay (the oldest) then Grace who comes home to do her washing (just finished school) and Ben who is a nonstop talking machine who loves music! Esther has been teaching Anthea about growing vegetables & cooking and me and Mark have had time to catch up since there wasn’t much time last time we saw him at the wedding. We also did a 3 day walk with his son Ben in Douglas Apsley National Park.

Mark & Esther live on a hill above the bay at Kettering. 9 acres. Dogs, cat, ducks, sheds, wood chopping and all that. Spectacular view of Bruny. Unpredictable weather. We got hailed on yesterday, and it was sunny! But not cold. Haven’t had to get out the thermals. Sun light from 5.30am to 9.30pm.

Tomorrow (23^rd) we’re flying in a little Cessna with Tasair to Melaleuca – Australia’s most southern point (besides Antarctic territory) to walk the South Coast Track. It’s a 7 day stroll back to civilization weather pending to Cockle Creek where we’ll be picked up on 29^th December. We’ve just spent most of today shopping, preparing and packing. We’ve got pancake mix and lemon & sugar for Christmas day somewhere on the track.

Merry Christmas & we’ll update you not too long after we get back!

Photos:

1. Cooking lesson from Esther

2. Port Arthur

3. Lime Bay coal mine for Port Arthur prisoners

4. Maingon Bay

5, 6, 7. Port Arthur.

8. Esther & Mark doing the Toyota jump (my dad started it)

9. Anthea at Salamanca Markets

10. A chocolate moment at Douglas Apsley Park with Ben

11. One-Man Tent

12. Ben & Mark on Nichols Cap with Nichols Needles in the background

13. Ben jumping into the pool at Heritage Falls (it was freezing)

14. Us doing the Toyota jump!