The Walking

Expecting a 2 hour drive from Launceston and to get straight into our trek from Mt William National Park we were surprised to stop in Bridport for a coffee an hour in, but it was good coffee and a nice spot so we sat back and enjoyed. Regretted when we arrived at our starting point and lined up for one of a number of smelly drop toilets on the trip.

We covered about 40kms over the 3 days, ending at The Gardens. The terrain was diverse, from firm to soft sand; bush to road walking; long stretches of small loose rocks to monstrous boulders; and occasional traipsing through a range of waterways.

 

 

The weather was also highly variable, with our first day becoming progressively more windy and
wet, to the point where we could no longer see any of the scenery by the end and were soaked through. Still, we finished the planned walk, which was better than expected at the start where our guide, Chelsea, predicted we'd need to turn back after about 4kms. The beach shack at the end of the day was comfortable and, best of all, had a fire, fantastic cheese and great Tassie wine to warm us up. The meals were also great, fresh produce cooked well followed by comfy warm beds where we slept very well after a day of walking. 

Next day was drizzly for all 14kms but reasonable walking weather and enough visibility to enjoy a moody vista. Enjoyed the lighthouse at Eddystone Point and had lunch at a delightful little beach just below it.

 

  

 

The final day was mostly full sun, quite hot, hard work but the right weather to get the full sense of the spectacular environment which totally lived up to high expectations. Lots of soft sand, rocks and boulders, plants to rival Triffids (see my pants). It also became apparent with the harder work that our guide was a bit oblivious to the needs of some of our group, including one point where we lost the Scottish family (Mum, Dad and 11 year old daughter) and apparently it was our fault that they became separated even though they our guide had a habit of shooting ahead and waiting to see if we would all come out the other end. Of course between mum and me this induced indignation and made us cranky with the guide and ready to head off to the Taste of Tassie, so very good timing.