The Airwalk and Swinging Bridges were amazing. The day we went was Ellie’s birthday and she pronounced it 'my best birthday in my entire life' (she is now 6). The swinging bridge was her favourite, but she also braved the cantilever by herself a second time for Uncle Dazza and Pa to take photos.
We gave Anita & Paul a taste of bushwalking in Tassie by doing the Organ Pipe walk on Mt Wellington. Mum & Dad had taken the kids for the day, but we both happened to be at the top of the mountain at the same time!
We collected some mussels and oysters off the rocks at Bruny Island the day we left, and they proved to be a big hit with everyone after a hard day of sightseeing on the Tasman Peninsula the following day.
We did the historic site in our wet weather gear. Nathan’s favourite thing was the leg irons, and Ellie liked the flowers and the two-headed stuffed Tassie Devil at the gift shop (she thought we were
at a zoo!).
Here are some highlights…
very pretty. The boys hadn’t brought their cameras (because it was wet), but when we got back to the car the rain/snow had stopped so decided to go back and take photos. While they were gone there was another blustery snow storm.
A few days after that we drove out to Lake Pedder and the Gordon Dam. It was overcast for most of the day, but there was a sunny spot in the middle of the day that the photographers made the most of.
After two weeks in the Huon Valley we finally had a clear, sunny day on Wednesday for our planned walk to Hartz Peak… and what a beauty it was! National Parks have done a lot of track work, and the 
kilometres of boardwalks made this one of the ‘easiest’ walks we’ve done, even though there was 400m of vertical ascent. We had stunning views in all directions - out to the Southwest National Park, along the south coast, Bruny Island, the Tasman Peninsula in the distance, the Huon Valley and Mt Wellington. It was definitely worth waiting for the perfect day.
We spent most of our time marking at Bothwell, which was a friendly, quiet little town. Last week we stayed in Franklin for a few nights, and did some drives around the area. It was beautiful and green, in contrast to Bothwell, which was quite dry. The Huon River beckoned, but it was too windy to bother with the kayaks.
We’re now camped at Cockle Creek and are a stone’s throw from the water of Recherche Bay, with the calm, clear waters of Cockle Creek a few hundred metres away. Yesterday was sunny so we did the walk to South Cape Bay (nothing between us and Antarctica - and yes, the water was icy), knowing that rain was forecast for the next few days. It’s such a pretty spot that we’ll probably stay here a while, and try to do some kayaking and
fishing.
Yes, the “…” are there for good reason. This was the most tiring walk we’ve done so far. Starting with about 1km of gravel road that ascended over 200m was not a great way to ease into the day. A scramble up and around a rocky path for 700-800m did bring us out to a boardwalk, though, so we were settling in for a nice walk, with another climb up to K Col. It didn't last long, though, and then there were boulder, boulders and more boulders!
The first snow drift we came across was over medium sized boulders. It was melting in places, and we had no idea where there might be cracks and crevices under the snow, or how soft it would be. The intrepid leader did his best to skirt most of the snow and carefully stomp out a path across the narrowest section. It was slow going, but really pretty (he kept stopping in the middle of drifts to take photos!).
We had lunch at a fairly high point that looked south and west – Mt Weld, Mt Anne, Federation Peak in the far distance along with the Frankland Range, Lake Gordon and even Frenchmans Cap. We suddenly realised that we were less than one third of the way around the walk, but were presuming that it would be mostly downhill and not so much rock hopping, so ambled on. The back third of the walk was along spongy heath and was really pretty (although a bit soggy in places).
One snow drift looked nice and fun to slide down, but we didn’t want to use our raincoats and then have to carry them wet. As we walked down it, though, the track marker seemed to disappear below us. Then we noticed that there were some cracks in the snow where it had started to slide and we realised that the drift just suddenly dropped almost vertically! We backtracked and went along some rocks and then came down and around a bit further down.
We had five or six weeks of rainy, cold weather so when it snowed last week we weren’t really that surprised. Over the course of the afternoon we had strong wind blowing rain, small hail, sleet and snow against our van. Being camped beside a lake with no power we just had to keep cooking things to stay warm. Dinner was great that night, and even included a hot dessert!
Fast forward five days, and move a few hundred metres lower in altitude and 70kms south west. Add a warm front of air blown down from the mainland, and what do you get? A maximum temperate of 32 degrees!!
Yes, this is a big call, but we have both come to the conclusion that Mount Rufus has been our favourite walk so far. The walk is about 19 km, and rises 680 metres above the visitor centre at Lake St Clair, to a height of 1416m. There are a range of forest types, from fairly dry sclerophyll, to mossy wet gullies, to snow gums, to alpine heath above the tree line. On the way back down are pandani (like ‘bromeliad trees’) and scoparia plants, which are another variety of heath. There was still quite a bit of snow around with a few drifts across the path. That only added to the walk as well as the views. A combination of the great variety of landscapes, and the magnificent views from the top (and on the way up and down) made this an excellent walk. 
Since our last blog we also did a walk to Kelly Basin, at the north western end of Macquarie Harbour. It involved a drive along the old train line, which was often cut through rock or clung to the side of a hill, with a steep drop to the valley below. It was only wide enough for one car, and there weren’t many turnouts for passing, so we’re glad we didn’t meet anyone coming the other way! The track itself was mostly level, and was a very pleasant walk through wet forest along the Bird River. In a few places there had been landslip, and it looked like it wouldn’t take much for the track to slip further, into the river. At the end of the walk were the remains of an old township. We were amazed at how the forest had regenerated so much in less than 100 years.
We haven’t had many fine and sunny days over the last six weeks, but we have used them well. Mt Rufus was one, and the day we drove between Queenstown and Derwent Bridge was another. We did a number of short walks along the way, including one that looked out over Frenchmans Cap.
We’ve continued to have rain almost every day and are still coping quite well (although Dazz did have to get the silicone out today and have a go at the corner of the four seasons…). The other day we even went for a 10km walk in the rain to Montezuma Falls. There were many beautiful moments as rain – sometimes misty and sometimes quite heavy – fell through the trees. Unfortunately the camera is not waterproof. It did stop raining for a while why we were at the waterfall, though, so you can share with us the beauty of the falls, and the suspension bridge. And, yes, cable ties would be the obvious choice for attaching something to a cable.
