Take me to Tasmania!

After the rigours of Te Araroa it was time for some R&R - campervan time in Tasmania!
For a video sample of what this amazing Island has to offer click below - but be warned the song will get in your head and drive you nuts!

Click here for YouTube Video

After picking up the campervan in Hobart it was 3 weeks of wandering around Tasmania's beautiful beaches and amazing forests. The whole island is basically one big National Park - freedom camping (ie pitch up where you like and enjoy the view) is pretty universal here so you are free to wander to your heart's content!
The first few days were great weather wise so it was up the east coast - most famous for Wineglass Bay (top left in the picture below) but to be honest everywhere you looked there was a pristine white sand beach with no one on it - a relaxed attitude to freedom camping meant you could plonk your campervan by the shore - falling asleep to the crashing of the waves and breakfast outside the van with a view of the ocean the next day. - happy days!

Just got a glimpse of a Tasmanian Devil but plenty of friendly wallabies around...

Top left - Bay of Fires  - named because of the red pigment to the rocks. Bottom left - average Tassie beach :-) Bottom right - breakfast time on the beach

Occasionally ventured into towns for food and beer. The right hand picture is a shearer at work - he is not sexually assaulting the sheep (well I don't think he is...lol)

It was then inland to the lush forests and then the awsome scenery of Cradle Mountain National Park.

Beautiful Cradle Mountain - Meeting Wombats - Another idyllic campsite...

Cradle Mountain

It wasn't all paradise - I nearly stood on this guy...!

The island is compact and driving distances are not huge. The south of the island has some amazing historic sites on the Tasman peninsula - mostly connected with the transportation of prisoners to Van Diemens Land as it used to be known. Port Arthur is the jewel in the crown...

Flaming Galahs in the pic bottom right!

Some scary cliffs in this part of Tasmania so obviously I had to perch on one of them!

Tasman Peninsula is home to Port Arthur Prison - destination for the most hardened English, Irish (and Scottish!) prisoners who were transported here in the 1850's

Of course Tasman Peninsula has it's share of beautiful beaches too...

One of the best days in Tasmania was a visit to a traditional Tasmanian country show at Bream Creek - Tasmania's wood choppers are something else!

Top right cooking damper - a form of outback bread on the open fire. Bottom right - the prize pumpkin - 453.5kg!!!

Tasmania is famous for woodchopping - 2 months after this event the guy on the left, Daniel Gurr won the world championship!!

Then it was off to Bruny Island - wild coastal scenery, lots of craft breweries and artisan food manufacturers make a good mix!

So that was it for Tasmania - an amazing island and well worth tacking onto any Aussie holiday. It was also the end of my 2017-18 travels - another awesome trip - 'til the next time...WanderVet

                                                                

New Zealand - Te Araroa Days 50 - 59

Tramping Day 50 Feb 3rd 2018 Red Hills Hut to Hunters Hut 18km 

Left - Leaving Red Hills Hut in the mist... Right - This sign made me smile - sounds like a kid's playground - but it's adults only believe me!

The next few days are probably the hardest consecutive days on the TA -the Richmonds - from Red Hills Hut to Hackett - 80km - 5 days. Individually they are no tougher than other days I've had but it's the fact that they run together that is the challenge. 

Tough tramping over these river beds..

A good weather window is needed here - I got 4 good days out of 5 and no bad rain - I was pretty happy with that...people have to bale out of the Richmonds all the time...

Left - believe it or not this is the "track"!! Right - Hunter's in sight...

The tramp to Hunters has some hard terrain - boggy in places and lots of boulders to negotiate as well. Build in a lot of steep up and down and you have a tough one...

Tramping Day 51 Feb 4th 2018 Hunters Hut to Top Wairoa 18km 

A slightly easier day today - although low cloud and mist killed any views of the Tasman Sea from the tops. It also made navigating a bit trickier as it was difficult to see the next pole in the mist.

Big fat Kea on the track - the only one I saw in NZ that wasn't scavenging near a hut..

Right -Wonderful lichens and mosses on the trees - creepy in the mist... Left - meeting SOBO's tramping up from Top Wairoa

Left - you guessed...it's the "track" Right - Top Wairoa Hut

Always good to get a fire on...

Tramping Day 52 Feb 5th 2018  Top Wairoa Hut to Tarn Hut 11km 

The first part of this day was very slow going along the river to Mid Wairoa Hut - the 7km took me over 4 hours - the path is very narrow with a steep drop off to the river - there are a number of river crossings which were easy for me but might be difficult after rain.

Break of day over the mountains near Top Wairoa Hut

One of the many rivers to cross...

Then from Mid Wairoa it's up through the forest to the ridge - pretty steep - almost 1000m of ascent - Tarn hut is a detour off the ridge - but it only takes about 10 minutes  to get there

Tarn Hut

Tarn Hut's tarn!

Tramping Day 53 Feb 6th 2018  Tarn Hut to Old Man Hut 16km

The first part to Rintoul Hut is pretty straightforward and even the climb up to the top of Mount Rintoul was not as hard as I had expected. There is cellphone reception around Purple Top - take the opportunity to get a weather forecast...

Top left - Mt Rintoul - Bottom right - starting the ascent up steep scree...

The track is visible as a faint pale line up the left of the picture

On top of Mt Rintoul

The clouds were clearing and I had some magnificent views - if you have the time and the weather sit down for 10 minutes and take in the magnificence - one of the best mountain views in the world. Plus it's also worth taking a breather before tackling Little Rintoul!

Tramping doesn't get better than this ....

Superb views on the ridge between Mt Rintoul and Little Rintoul

Some very narrow sections on Little Rintoul  - a couple of spots will make your heart race and the adrenaline flow...not a place to be in bad weather - grip is everything and wet rocks and rain would make this section very difficult. Make sure your pack is tightened so there's no movement - double check every foothold and grip before taking the next step and you'll be fine...

Up the ridge to Little Rintoul

What us trampers call "sketchy" :-) Narrow crumbling track on Little Rintoul

Once over Little Rintoul it's pretty straightforward the ridge - you fly down this part as the relief of completing the most difficult part of the TA is huge - what an amazing feeling!  Old Man Hut is quite a way down from the ridge (25  mins) and then up again the following day (40 mins) plus it was full when I got there. 

In retrospect I should have pushed on along the ridge a bit and wild camped - would have saved an hour of tramping for no real benefit. (Although you would need to collect some water before you get up on the ridge)  If you have time push on to Slaty Hut (4 hours) but only realistic if you're starting from Rintoul Hut rather than Tarn

Old Man Hut

Tramping Day 54 Feb 7th 2018  Old Man Hut to Hackett Hut 19km

A misty start and I didn't see much along the ridge to Old Man - made 20km today and ended up at Hackett Hut. Quite a few river crossings but flow was low so no issues. 

Eventually the mist burned off...

Hackett Hut

Saw this sign as I exited from Hackett Hut - strangely there's no sign at Starveal Hut warning NOBO's! 

Tramping Day 55 Feb 8th 2018   Hackett Hut to Captain's Creek Hut 24km 

Another long day but I was determined to get to Havelock before bad weather set in. The weather report I'd picked up at Purple Top indicated that huge rain was coming in on the 10th...I needed to get out!
The route to Browning Hut was pretty straightforward but then came a storm damaged section - a km of track with huge trees all over it - pretty difficult to follow the trail and lots of huge detours round the trunks.
After you get to Rocks Hut it's easy going to Middy Hut but then it starts going up and down again before reaching Captain's creek.

Captain's Creek - the last hut for me on the TA NOBO

Tramping Day 56 Feb 9th 2018   Captain's Creek Hut to Pelorus Camp 16 km 

It's a pretty easy walk out to the road end -  beautiful views of the Pelorus River and some great swimming spots if the weather is good. I got to the Pelorus Bridge Scenic Reserve and joined the tourists who do the tiny tramps in the local area - 1 or 2 km! - how the other half live :-)

Pelorus River

Fieldmouse Roadblock

The joy of towns - high calorie food and beer!

Due to time restrictions and  incoming weather issues I opted not to walk the 20km to Havelock from Pelorus Bridge and hitched a ride. Heavy rain kept me in Havelock until the 12th.

Tramping Day 57 Feb 12th 2018   Anakiwa to Cowshed Bay 26km

The rain cut down my time on the Queen Charolotte Track from 4 days to 3 so I decided to skip the 17km roadwalk from Havelock to Anakiwa.

QCT is easy peasy cruisey tramping after the rigours of the TA - well made tracks and stunning scenery - a nice end to the TA NOBO. The rain had cleared and I had 3 stunning days...

Lots of  tramper traffic on these tracks though - after weeks of hardly seeing a soul it was weird to be meeting people every 10 minutes.

Cowshed Bay camp was pretty busy though - wish I'd pushed onto Black Rock Campsite which was much quieter.

Tramping Day 58 Feb 13th 2018   Cowshed Bay to Masden's Camp 31km
More blues skies, easy tramping and stunning views....

Stayed at Masdens Camp  - Tony is a really nice guy - there's a small beach to chill out on and a mussel bed to gather your dinner!

Mussels steaming in the pot!

Tramping Day 59 Feb 14th 2018   Masden's Camp to Ship Cove 17km

Last day on the TA - I had arranged a pickup from Beachcomber Cruises (office@mailboat.co.nz  $67 pay on the boat) from Ship Cove to Picton  (SOBO's get it for $50 -no discount for NOBO'S!!)

I had to be there by 3pm - the tramp was 17km but I flew it in about 4 hours fuelled by a mix of adrenalin and high emotion... 

You know you're back in the world of the day walker when it takes 2 minutes to walk 20 metres!!

The signboard at the entrance to Ship Cove - the jetty is the first thing you see...the end of the track...

Boots off and a sit down...

This is what it's all about - one tired but elated tramper standing by the Cook monument  - 1300km from where I had started!

I walked 1182km in 59 days - an average of exactly 20km a day. TA South island is over 1300km long - the discrepancy is due to the fact that I got rained out of Goat Pass and failed to complete the Deception and Harper River sections (about 100km) and then due to further rain I had to hitch a couple of road sections near Havelock (40km) So my TA South Island Tramp was not a "Pure Thru Hike" as I had intended - I was a little disappointed by that but the NZ weather had it's own way - nothing I could do about that...

The total ascent over the 59 days was more than 32,000 metres - or going up Everest 4 times - and as the tramp started and ended at sea level I also descended Everest 4 times!

Below are the elevation profiles - south bound _ - I did the reverse - as you can see NZ is a series of up and downs!

 

With all the side trips off the TA my total NZ distance was just over 1500 km or 934 miles

With all the side trips off the TA my total NZ distance was just over 1500 km or 934 miles

 I lost quite a bit of weight even though I was eating a lot - over 10 kg!

 Unsurprisingly my boots ended up in Kiwi landfill!