Overland Track 2006

Here is a picture of Julia in the "Customs House Hotel" just before setting off on the bus trip to Cradle Mountain.

http://www.customshousehotel.com/

We took the backpacks from Hobart to Cradle mountain, at 7am. Somewhat unexpectedly, the entire journey took almost 8 hours!

This is the bus. Check out the classy socks of the busdriver...

This is Queenstown, one of the stops on the way to Cradle Mountain.

The adorable Queenstown post office.

At Cradle Mountain Visitors' Centre. Julia is picking up the Overland track passes.

This is the recommended equipment you need to take with you on the Overland Track....

This was a local that we saw at the campsite (Cosy Cabins) where we stayed before setting off on the trek. This wombat made a loud snorting noise behind the tent and then tucked into some tasty grass shoots just next to where we were camped.

This is the profile of the whole track. As you can see, it starts at Ronny Creek and continues another 60km until lake St. Clair. The overnight stops are marked with blue dots. In general, people walk the track over six days and five nights, although it can take more or less time depending on how you want to walk it.

DAY 1: RONNY CREEK TO WINDERMERE

Here is the walker registration shack. A very historic point on the walk.

Julia signs us in.

The proof: we started!

This is what the track was like on the first section heading out from Ronny Creek. The weather was not too bad at this stage, only a bit wet.

This is a little further along. You can see that we had decided to keep our rain gear on at this point. Apparently, it had been raining solidly the previous three weeks, and the path was quite muddy for most of the walk. This photo shows what the state of the track was.

A short interview with Julia about the conditions. It's fun!

Click on the photo to watch the video clip

Our first break was at Kitchen Hut. Our heavy-duty rain gear had come in very handy at this point, as the wind was very strong and it was raining hard. We decided not to do the Cradle Mountain side trip as the peak was covered in cloud.

As the weather was so terrible, we had a short break at Waterfall Valley before pressing on to Windermere hut for the evening.

Here, Julia arrives at the Waterfall Valley hut. Left, you see the toilet they have at the huts. It was still raining as you will see when you watch the clip!

DAY 2: WINDERMERE TO NEW PELION

On the second day, the weather had improved a little, so that it rained on-and-off, but it was occaisionally sunny. The wind was still very strong.

This photo shows some typical Overland Track scenery.

Landscape around New Pelion Hut.

Landscape heading towards Pelion Plains.

We had some blue skies at this point.

At this point, we were walking along some of the plains area heading towards Frog Flats.

Climbing a rocky path.

Beautiful orange flowering shrubs.

Stopping for a handful of nuts, a sip of water and a photo...

Some of the rainforest that we passed on the way.

The plains to New Pelion Hut.

Some small lakes on the plains.

Here is an example of a "cushion plant community". These groups of plants look a lot like cushions, and can contain up to four different plant species in the cushion itself. Alpine sundew carnivorous plants also grow on the cushions.

We found this look-out point on the way to New Pelion Hut. It was nice and sheltered from the rain.

Close-up of some flowers on the bushes in the previous photo.

Pausing again in some rainforest.

Eeeuw! That's muddy!

A Tasmanian pademelon, it's not a fruit!

Interesting fungal fruiting bodies.

Some fungi snacking on a tree.

Typical Tassie "Buttongrass moorland".

Pieter tried to take advantage of sunshine whenever possible.

Pieter likes this photo...

Pieter: "...indeed, I like the green grass that grows in the pool, it contrasts with the forests behind it...".

We recommend taking a Swiss Army knife for jobs like these....

Walking past some large tree ferns.

DAY 3: REST DAY AT NEW PELION HUT

This is the inside of the New Pelion Hut. Actually, we never slept in the huts but they were useful as a place to cook out of the wind, and to dry clothing. We decided to wait out the bad weather for one day here. You can see the oh-so-cosy gas heater just behind us. You might notice that Julia has sport tape on her ankles. She was not injured; it is part of her blister prevention strategy.

Here is a photo of the facilities; the pit-toilet and the New Pelion Hut itself. The rainwater tanks are just visible to the right of the hut.

These natives also found the weather a bit on the nasty side! That is one wet macropod.

View across the Pelion Plains.

In the New Pelion Hut.

DAY 4: PELION TO KIA ORA VIA MT OSSA

The weather had cleared up a bit at this stage, so we continued. We went on the side trip up Mt Ossa, Tasmania's highest peak at around 1600 metres above sea level.

This photo shows some of the forest we walked through to get to the Mt Ossa path.

This photo gives a good impression of what the forests in Tasmania look like on a typical Wednesday morning. Try full screen (click on the photo).

The path to Mt Ossa was very rocky, and we had to clamber over boulders for a lot of the walk.