What a privilege to again be embarking on an Overland Track adventure. This is the fifth time we've come t o Lutruwita / Tasmania to participate in this walk (which Sarah facilitates at the invitation of the Tasmanian Walking Company). The theme is Sacred Geography: A Pilgrimage Without and Within. Here she is a Melbourne Airport after an early departure from Canberra - looking particularly facilitatory!!!
A delight of the whole adventure is the opportunity to spend a couple of nights in Launceston before we embark on the walk, and Waratah on York, an old colonial building at the top of town, is our favourite place to stay. How's this for a welcoming front door?
Visiting the Du Cane Brewery (started a few years back by an Overland Track guide and named after one of the ranges we cross on the Overland Track) is another part of the pre (and post!) walk routine.
Great beer and pizza!
From Launceston it's a fifteen minute bus trip to Red Feather Inn in Hadspen, where we meet to brief, sort gear, share a meal and stay overnight in preparation for an early start to Cradle Mountain. There are so many gorgeous old buildings in Tassie and the Red Feather Inn is one of them.
What's not to like about this place?
Some of the crew chatting after dinner and introductions.
Mapping our path for the next six days.
It was a cold, wet and windy start, much like last year. Sarah shared John O'Donhue's For The Traveller with everyone huddled in wet weather gear and we set off for a mist covered Cradle Mountain.
First waterfall in a small rainforest gully. The first of many.
Cradle Mountain was mostly shrouded in mist but there were occasional glimpses of the flanks.
A wild weather safety pod. We have sought warmth and shelter here on a couple of our walks.
Later in the afternoon the weather lifted and Barn Bluff, affectionately known as Barney, came into view.
Scoparia flowers in various stages of bloom.
Lake Will, flanked by ancient pencil pines.
Lake Windemere with My Oakley in the background.
The enchanted forest. Keep your eyes peeled for elves and goblins.
Or maybe hobbits!!
Morning reflections on the helipad at Pine Forest Moor hut.
Sam and Dean, our trusty (cheeky) guides.
Entering a button grass plain.
Frog Flats - the lowest point in the track.
Pelion plains.
A few of our happy crew.
Cushion plants on the early ascent of Mt Ossa (1618m)
Gradually she revealed herself to us.
The dolerite walls of Mt Ossa.
A view from the top. In every direction all you can see is range after range of hills - no roads, no houses, no powerlines, no vapour trails from aeroplanes, sheer natural beauty - wilderness.
Looking back in the late afternoon.
Cathedral Mountain from Kia Ora hut.
Forest sentinels.
Moisture, moss, mud, roots and trunks beneath a high leafy canopy.
Sarah amidst the trees - a perspective.
Thickets of myrtle
flickers of green and light an-
tique contented world.
--SJB--
Stepping silently
I cross Du Cane again;
a quiet watershed.
-- NRM --
Crossing the Narcissus River.
This fella was there to greet us when we arrived at Lake St Clair. A fine specimen who kindly allowed us to share his bank.
A cleansing immersion to end the walk. A bracing blessing.
Unloading from the ferry at the other end of the lake.
All present and accounted for, and all in one peice!!
Thanks be for another great walk in this ancient, wild and wondrous world.
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