Melbourne Walks

Late afternoon scoparia by the boardwalk, Overland Track Day 1

Wow.  Have just returned from 6 glorious days walking the Overland Track, the classic Tasmanian, 6 day trek from Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair – right through the middle of Tasmania’s World Heritage listed wilderness. We had unheard of perfect weather for the entire trip – blue skies and 23 degrees – when the previous week it had been snowing!!  It really is such an incredible walk.  While the track itself is just over 60km, the terrain is very challenging, with lots of tree roots, rocks, bogs and ancient rotting boards to stumble over, in between the more modern duckboards (AUD$150 a metre, and worth ever penny to protect the fragile line swamps and grasses).  There are wonderful sidetrips to be done, to freshwater lakes and various spectacular dolorite summits – I can really recommend the long detour from Mt Pelion to Mt Oakleigh – despite the thigh deep bogs!  There was also plenty of wildlife to get up close and personal with: pademelons, wallabies, echidnas, wombats and plenty of snakes! But the standout for me was probably the flora – such unique variety: alpine button grass and cushion plant meadows, myrtle beech rainforests, snowgums, King Billy and Pencil Pines, and glorious end of summer colour of the scoparia.

Alpine cushion plants in the 'Japanese Gardens', Mt Doris, Overland Track

I am going to let my photos speak for themselves and just say, if you ever, EVER get the chance to do this incredible walk, grab it with both hands and shake every last drop out of it.  If you want to find out more about walking the Overland Track, including permits, bookings and equipment, click here.  I did my trip with Cradle Huts, who I could not recommend more highly.

Snowgums on the Overland Track, Tasmania