Category: Tasmania

We started a seven-day trek on the Overland Track, one of Tasmania’s most famous hikes. This hike is limited to 34 hikers starting each day and must be booked well in advance. I think we booked back in August. The first day was quite gruelling, with a steep climb up into the Tasmanian high country, but it offered beautiful views of Crater Lake and Cradle Mountain. Today’s hike was 10.7 km, taking about 4-6 hours.

We arrived at the Waterfall Valley hut for the night, only to discover that the fuel compartment of my Trangia stove was sealed shut due to pressure changes at the higher elevation. Fortunately, there was a ranger at the hut who seemed to be there to ensure everyone was equipped and ready for the next six days of the hike. After trying several strategies to open the fuel burner in his workshed, he found that good old WD-40 did the job.

Spent the night at a hostel in Launceston, Tasmania’s second-largest city. Just enough time to pick up a fellow traveller and stock up on supplies before the big hike. It isn’t a huge city, but it had a nice park to snoop around while we were there.

Flew into Hobart, Tasmania, for the first time, where I had a quick chance to snoop around the western suburbs before heading up the coast to visit the famed Freycinet National Park with some friends. Being farther south than the rest of Australia, we were able to enjoy very long days with late sunsets thanks to Daylight Saving Time and our greater distance from the Equator. I don’t think we even started looking for campgrounds until about 8 pm.

Freycinet National Park was very beautiful, with turquoise waters and bright orange lichen-covered rocks. We hiked a number of trails in the area to enjoy the views.

The next day we headed out for a hike down to Wineglass Bay and took the obligatory dip.