Walk a Mile - or two - in my shoes ...

Tasman Island from cliff edge

After having a pleasant stroll up onto the lower slopes of Mt Wellington, Di and I thought it would be good to follow it up with something a bit more extended.  Two immediate choices came to mind: Mt Field West or the trip out to Cape Pillar. While a lot of folks do these two walks as overnighters, we've become quite enamoured of covering ground quickly via lightweight day hikes, and both walks work quite well as day trips. We find that by travelling this way, especially during daylight savings time, we get the best of both worlds in that we can savour the bush as much as we like and experience the joy of movement that is missing when one is carry more weight. The downside is that we don't camp as much as we might otherwise, but our old joints don't mind the trade-off, especially not carry the extra weight needed if you're camping.

My bad ankle was a bit sore after the walk on the mountain so I thought it might be prudent to avoid the scree hopping required by the Mt Field West walk, even though it is significantly shorter. Cape Pillar has the advantage of being a bit flatter as well. So that settled it: Cape Pillar it would be. Here's a look at the route we intended to take ...

Fortescue Bay to Cape Pillar

Setting Off

It takes about an hour and a half to drive from home in Hobart to Fortescue Bay, where the track starts. We got out of the house a bit after 6:30, stopped at Sorell for breakfast and were on the trail by 8:20 (light traffic allowed for a bit of speedy driving 😉). Trail runners or lightweight hiking shoes work really well for this sort of endeavour ...

Speedy blue shoes

The start of the track is clearly marked ...

Heading towards the light

A warm overnight meant that the temperature when we started was in the mid teens, so we warmed up pretty quickly. A few hundred metres after the start a Green Rosella, endemic to Tasmania, flashed through the trees in front of me.

A little further along we walked past this absolute beauty of a mushroom ...

Delicious but we're in a National Park!

The track rises gently to begin with, so we were in shade to begin with, keeping the temperature comfortable. A good-sized wallaby bounced along the track in front of me but wouldn't stop long enough for a photo. 

Zipping along through the eucalyptus forest, we were at the end of the access track and at the major T-junction that leads Three Capes walkers towards Munro hut and the route to Cape Pillar ...

Track Junction: turn right for Cape Pillar

Towards Munro Hut and Cape Pillar

 A couple of hundred metres along the track there is a station for disinfecting footwear of the Phytophhera cinnamoni disease ...

Doing the right thing

From here it is about another kilometre and a half to the Munro accommodation complex ...

Viewing deck, outdoor food prep area and main kitchen/dining area

From the view deck on the left, which faces north, there is a great view across to Cape Hauy ...

View towards Cape Hauy

The first time we saw Munro - almost exactly a year ago - we were staggered by the luxuriousness of it. Here's another view of it ...

Munro meals and mingling area

The accommodation units, consisting of  conjoined four and eight bed rooms, are hidden behind.

By now we were about 9 ½ kilometres into our projected 32 kilometre walk. After a short break chatting with the resident Parks Ranger we were back on the track. Boardwalks have been used extensively in areas where the ground underneath is sensitive to erosion or compaction. Occasional artworks have been inserted to add a bit of quirkiness and break the monotony of the boards ...

Eye wide open

Colours of the rainbow

Feelers?

The vegetation along the way alternates between dry eucalyptus forest, copses of Banksia marginata and coastal heath. At one point as we were entering a section of mixed scrub from open heathland Di got me to pause so she could photograph some large Tea Tree shrubs still in flower ...

Tea Tree in flower

Soon we were on the edge of earth, high above the sea below. We were greeted by more artworks ...

Arrrrh, Matey!

Ever to be remembered ...

... and soon thereafter our first glimpses of Tasman Island ...

Tasman Island and The Blade

While this view is pretty good, the really spectacular vista is from the top of The Blade (which can been seen to the left of the island in the photo above) ...

Tasman Island from The Blade

After spending a few minutes drinking up the scenery we headed back along the track to find a quiet place to enjoy our lunch. Along the way there are great views to the west, looking down onto the Trident, across to Crescent Beach and Mount Brown, and the cape that's missing from the Three Capes Track ...

Looking west

The grand vistas are wonderful, but occasionally one's attention is drawn to something rather innocuous but nonetheless rather beautiful ...

Young sprout?

Lunch ... and a bit of a Detour!

With our stomachs growling, we decided to just plop ourselves down trackside at a flat rock in a bit of shade and tuck into some food ...

Ahhh ... Lunch!

Revitalised, we hit the trail again. There was the occasional banksia flower adding a bit of colour ...

Banksia flower

... and great views to the north towards Cape Hauy, with Maria Island and the Freycinet Peninsula visible in the far distance ...

Views to the north

We paused again at Munro to have another bite to eat and fill the water bladders in our day packs. By this time we were more than two-thirds of the way through our journey and pleased with our progress. We were a bit curious about Retakunna, the next hut north along the Three (or is that Two?) Capes Track and discussed the idea of making the short detour north to have a look at it. As we were still feeling pretty frisky when we got to the turn-off we decided to head along that way to have a look ...

Retakunna signpost

Retakunna accommodation block

In the backs of our minds, both of us rationalised that it wasn't that much farther to keep going and do the loop to Fortescue Bay rather than head back along the way we'd come. Besides, if we continued onwards we'd be on some track we hadn't walked before. It didn't take more than a couple of seconds for us to decide to head into new ground and go the extra distance.

Some very pleasant walking followed, on a mixture of boardwalk and hardened ground. After a couple of easy kilometres the track started to rise more steeply. Some fantastic track work has been done along here, with excellent series of steps making for easy climbing.  Mt Fortescue, the high point of the entire Three Capes Track is an indistinct peak that levels off at just under 500 metres. Once the track reaches the top some excellent views appear back towards Cape Pillar and Tasman Island behind ...

Cape Pillar and Tasman Island

We normally think of our wonderful endemic Black Currawong, with its unique clinking melody, as a bird that prefers our higher mountains, but every once they surprise us. As we were walking through the forest at the top of Mt Fortescue we came across a cheeky fellow that let us get quite close before flying away.

There is some more traversing along cliff edges and at one point is another quirky bit of art ...

Ten Thousand ... Whales???

The track descends fairly steeply off Mt Fortescue, again utilising some excellent runs of steps - two of which you can make out if you look closely at the next photo ...

Man ferns and steps

After descending for a while through this small, beautiful area of wet sclerophyll forest we emerged into more dry terrain again. Before we knew it we'd passed the junction of the track that leads out to Cape Hauy and were heading northward towards Fortescue Bay. Di spotted a couple of our favourite birds - the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo - and tried to get a picture. Moving that bit too close she prompted them to take to the wing but did get some evidence of their presence ...

Cockatoo in flight

Despite being in the home straight after covering quite a lot of ground and looking forward to sitting as opposed to striding, we were still appreciative of the jewels of nature that presented themselves from time to time. Here's an orchid that Di spotted ...

Orchid

With our destination getting quite close we encountered this tempting rest spot ...

Are we there yet?

... but Di soon had me up and moving again. 

And, just a few hundred metres further along the track at this new installation, we saw the familiar, always beautiful beach at Fortescue Bay camping area beckoning ...

Nearly!

We only had about a kilometre to go and, as we always do, we finished with a burst. (In this case, it helped that it was downhill the rest of the way!) 

When we got to the car, Di's phone said we'd covered exactly 37 kilometres (she actually didn't start recording until we were a few hundred metres along the route!) and were moving for 7 hours and 13 minutes. For what it's worth, my watch (which always tells me I've travelled less than what both my Garmin and my phone say) recorded the journey as 36.1 kilometres.

Anyway, here's the actual route we hiked ...

The southern extremities of the the Tasman Peninsula

(For reference purposes I've zoomed out so that you can see Cape Raoul as well. It's the cape at the southwest extremity of the map. It makes for a great walk in its own right and was meant to be one of the "three capes".)

And for any of you readers who are techno geeks here is a graph produced by my watch, showing elevation vs time, with the gaps represented time when we weren't moving ...

... and if you're really geeky, here is a link with more data on ascent/descent, speed and other useless information. 

All said and done and techno geeky stuff put to one side, it was a magnificent day out and about in the land of cockatoos and kangaroos. Thanks Di for coming with me on yet another excellent adventure.

A Sortie South for Di and Doug

The Boss and I had been discussing some trips we could do, combining a bit of riding, doing some Island Dreaming and making use of our Freedom Machine. A short trip we thought might be fun would be to do a bike/drive relay to Southport one day, have a hike day two, then ride/drive back on day three. On Monday evening,  after having a look at the forecast Di said, "What about going to Southport tomorrow?" "Okay," says I, and we started packing.

Day One: Cycling Relay ~ Hobart to Southport

I asked Di whether she wanted to ride or drive first up. She said she wanted to ride down past Dover through to Southport, which meant that I got the first cycling leg. We decided that the best spot for the changeover would be the lovely town of Franklin. Here's a screenshot showing the route and its cross-section ...

Home to Franklin

... and a few photos I took along the way ...

Apples ripening in the Huon Valley

St Cuthbert's Church in Ranelagh

Huon River at Huonville

Boats at rest south of Franklin

Passing the baton to Batten

My turn to drive

Di's ride was just a bit longer than mine, but with slightly less elevation gain. Here's her route ...

Di's ride from Frankin to Southport

Along the way Di took this great snap of Adamsons Peak as she was leaving Dover ...

Adamson's Peak

... and this lovely snap of a clutch of boats tucked into a very quiet spot near Esperance ...

A quiet corner

While Di was nearing Southport I set up at the the camper on an unpowered site at the caravan park, and when she arrived we locked the bike's under the bed ...

Home sweet camper

We had a quiet afternoon drinking beer and reading. Then it was dinner and early to bed ... always early to bed in the camper!

Day Two: Walk to Lion Rock with a side trip to the Whale

The first thing to do was drive to Cockle Creek, where the South Coast Track finishes and the return journey to South Cape Bay begins. The latter is one of the 60 Great Short Walks of Tasmania and has, justifiably, become very popular. (BTW, the list of walks with directions, maps, etc is now available as an App from iTunes.)  Here's what the route to Cockle Creek from Southport looks like ...

Southport to Cockle Creek

South Cape, that narrow bit of land jutting out into the sea at the bottom of the map, is the southernmost point on the Tasmanian mainland.

From Cockle Creek it is about 7 ½ kilometres to Coal Bluff, which overlooks South Cape Bay, and about another kilometre along the beach to the campsite at the other end and Lion Rock. This little corner of paradise is a popular destination for intrepid Tasmanian surfers who like their adventures away from the madding crowds at more popular beaches. there were four young lads with their tents tucked in behind the dunes at the other end of the beach when Di and I arrived and sat down to have our lunch.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Here's a look at the route into South Cape Bay ...

Cockle Creek to South Cape Bay

Unfortunately, as you can see from the satellite image, there is a fair bit of clear-fell logging taking place right on the edge of the World Heritage Area. We - well mostly Di - took a few photos along the track ...

A Trio of Currawongs in a dead tree at the mouth of Cockle Creek

The sign for the track is a little way into the bush ...

It's this way ...

Initially the track is through mixed regrowth forest, but then gets into buttongrass and low scrub, where duckboards help keep one's feet dry when there has been a bit of rain about ...

As the coast gets closer, the soil becomes sandier and you get into some forest, with a couple of creek crossings ...

When we arrived at Coal Bluff, where the track bursts out of the forest and the ocean becomes visible, there was a group enjoying an early lunch ...

South Cape Bay

It was fairly overcast and across the bay Lion Rock looked somewhat menacing  ...

Looking across to Lion Rock

... but almost immediately the sun came out and cheered things up. The waves breaking over the rocks below the bluff made for a pretty scene ...

South Cape Bay with Southwest Cape in the distance

... and Lion Rock itself became much more benign ...

That's better!

We walked along the beach to the other end where the rivulet comes out and enjoyed the view back towards the bluff ...

Looking back to Coal Bluff

... and had a closer look at Lion Rock ...

Lion Rock

Apart from the four surfers who bobbed up out of their campsite to say hello, we had this end of the beach all to ourselves. it was a pretty pristine and peaceful scene ...

There was a mysterious old piece of machinery lying in the sand that we hadn't seen on previous visits ...

What can it be?

After lunch we headed back to the base of the bluff where Di took a couple of photos of isolated bits of vegetation growing in cracks ...

Up the new, sturdy rock steps (which have replaced the rickety ladders) we went and back along to the start of the track.

Not quite fully done in, we thought it might be good to walk the kilometre or so along to the whaling memorial. Just a little way along the road there is a huge old flywheel which was used in the sawmill that once operated on the spot ...

A reminder of the early logging days at Southport

The purpose of the flywheel was to generate enough force to allow the saw blade to cut through the dense timber of the mighty Swamp Gums that once covered the landscape around Southport.

The site for the whaling memorial is quite picturesque and I really wished I had a good camera with me to better capture the scenery. Here is a view looking over to Adamsons Peak, which looks very different from this angle ...

Adamsons Peak in the distance

Swinging one's view slightly south and westwards, one can see the wonderful Pindars Peak and the Coxcomb Ridge on Mount LaPerouse ...

Pindars Peak

The whale sculpture is quite lovely ...

Once, this spot teemed with whales ...

... and I couldn't resist taking this close-up of its eye, barnacled eyebrow and all ...

Take a closer look

According to Di, by the time we got back to the car we'd walked 19.5 kilometres in a touch over 3 ¾ hours so we thought we'd probably earned a rest, a beer and an afternoon snack.

Day Three: Cycling Relay ~ Home to Hobart

It was my  turn to take the baton. With a fair bit of wind overnight the canvas on the camper was good and dry so pack up happened nice and quickly. I had about 55 kilometres ahead of me, which I was quite looking forward to as I hadn't ridden the stretch of road from Southport north to Dover for perhaps 20 years. Unfortunately the wind had swung around to the north, meaning I was going to have to ride into it for the whole distance to Franklin. With cool temperatures, shade on the road and a climb of about 4 kilometres - albeit at a relatively benign gradient - to start with I felt it hard to hit my rhythm. Here's a look at the route ...

Southport to Dover

At least there wasn't much traffic on the road and the last part of the ride was relatively level. With the headwind I didn't feel much like stopping for photos but wanted to  get a snap of this old Combie Van at the bodyworks on the southern edge of Geeveston ...

By the time I got to Franklin Di had her bike off the back of the camper. She wasn't quite ready to go so I continued up the road for a bit before looping back ...

Along the Franklin waterfront

With the biennial Australian Wooden Boat Festival - purportedly the largest wooden boat festival in the Southern Hemisphere - happening in Hobart over the past weekend and the Wooden Boat Centre located in Franklin, the town was quite busy both on both days we went through. Di was ready to go when I got back to her so I rode north about a kilometre with her to see her off then doubled back to the car again.

There has been an upsurge of apple growing in the Huon Valley and through to Cygnet, partly in response to the opening of of Asian markets and partly due to a growing appreciation of apple cider. A number of boutique cider producers have sprung up, including Frank's Cider in Franklin ...

Free Tastings!

At 45 kilometres, Di's ride home from Franklin was the shortest of our tour but the hardest as it had the most elevation gain. Here's what it looks like ...

Di's ride home

She was pretty happy by the time she got home, partly because she set a number of personal records, including some demon descending on the tight bends of Strickland Avenue ... and partly because I'd managed to park the camper on the shed (more difficult than usual because of a car awkwardly parked on the street) and get everything in from the car by the time she'd arrived. 

And of cockatoos and kangaroos? Well, sadly the only marsupials we saw were dead on the road, particularly a proliferation of potoroos on the drive from Southport to Cockle Creek. On the other hand we were in a part of the state where Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos abound, and heard lots of them calling around our camp in Southport and on our walk to South Cape Bay. And as I was leaving Southport a couple of them landed in a tree beside the road to farewell me.