The South Coast Track

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The South Coast Track is an 86km(about 50 miles) track across the South Coast of Tasmania which is out of any mobile range, has no road access until the end of it at Cockle Creek and has some very very muddy (waist-deep in many parts) sections. There are some very basic camp-sites (that are sheltered areas with just a pit with a wooden lid which is the toilet!!) but otherwise, it's the middle of nowhere!!!!!

Wednesday the 24th January - we set off for the airport to catch a flight in a very small aircraft to a place called Melaleuca in the South West of Tasmania. It can only be accessed by plane, as there are no roads there. It is a famous spot for the orange bellied parrot - of which there are only 200 in the world. Ivor and I were lucky enough to see one feeding at a special feeding post.
The flight was good fun and the scenery was magnificent though I was quite surprised that I actually suffered from travel sickness - which is something that I have never had before.
When we arrived at Melaleuca - it was actually very Scottish-like. There were a couple of huts and a toilet. I had a shocking experience when I went to use the "drop-toilet". I lifted the lid of the toilet - and it was literally teeming with flies and very full of poo !!! I ran out - and it was a while before I plucked up the courage to go back in (though by the end of the trip, we were both pooing in holes in the ground - in the bush!!!)
The walk to the camp-site on the first day was very easy - over boarded paths and boggy plains - to a beach-side camp site. The weather was very sunny, though I had forgotten to put sunscreen on the backs of my legs and consequently got very badly burned in the powerful Aussie sun.
We came across a crashed plane on the beach. Nobody had been hurt (as we also came across the occupants). The plane had landed on the beach and basically sunk and tipped over in some soft sand - bending the propellor and smashing the wing. Ivor found the whole thing very exciting!!
Our first night was very comfortable - and we were joined by a group of 5 blokes who were also doing the track.

Our second day was from the beach at a place called Cox Bight to the Louise River - notorious for flash flooding in bad weather. Unfortunately we seemed to have seen the last of the good weather and the whole of the rest of the trip was punctuated by bad showers and even hail stones- weather that came straight from Antartica.
There was a bit of an up - and the ground was very boggy- but we did get some good views. The Iron-Bound Range loomed in the distance - we knew that we had to cross that the next day and were seriously hoping for some decent weather. When we reached the river - it was fortunately low enough to cross safely and we set up camp for the night. We bumped into quite a few people who were going in the opposite direction. Plus, later that night, three people - a couple and her mother - turned up, having walked straight from Melaleuca. Little did we know that we and them would join forces in a bit of a dilemma near the end of the track.

The third day was the climbing of the 1000m (3500ft) Iron Bound Range. We had been a little anxious about this - however- the weather wasn't too showery (apart from on the top where it was hail-stones and severe gales- very nasty!!!) and we actually got to see quite a lot of fantastic scenery.
Coming down off the range was horrible - deep bogs and tree-roots on a steep descending path. Very difficult to cross without hurting ankles - however, we managed it - and after a very boggy route through the trees - where 4 leeches attached themselves to my boots and waterproofs - we arrived at Deadman's Bay and a very nice little camp-site under the trees. There were 9 people from a Northern Tasmanian walking group already camped (having crossed the range the day before) and the 5 blokes who we met the first day. The couple and mother also arrived - several hours after us!!! There was one of the few "allowed" camp fires here and it was very cosy and sociable standing around the fire with everybody else - swapping stories from the track!!!

The fourth day we managed a very long day - across to Surprise Bay (8 hrs trek). This involved a long walk along a beach and a boat crossing at The New River Lagoon. We ended up at the crossing at the same time as the group of 9. You are supposed to cross the (very big) river 3 times. Once to get another boat from the other side, once to bring it back to the side you set off from - and then one last time to reach the other side - leaving a boat at each side of the river(if that makes any sense!!!) However, Ivor and I were very lucky as the group of 9 did all that for us and we cadged a lift over with them - just once. We walked up through more forest and then down onto some massive sand-dunes and a deep wade through a lagoon further along. When we finally arrived at the camp-site, it involved another creek crossing and a climb up a small cliff path to a cliff-top campsite -very pretty - and very very cold!!!!(was this supposed to be summer in Aus??!!).We were later joined by the couple and her mother. The couple (Craig and Jasmine) had actually been walking for 4 weeks- from the top of Tassie- before the track, Jasmine's mother joined them just for the track

The fifth day was horrific. The whole day was bog and swamp-ridden. Neither Ivor or I had ever walked such a dreadful path. Most of it was also through dense forest so it was also very gloomy, wet and miserable- another 8 hours of relentless wading, falling, slipping and sliding. It didn't help that we were also pretty shattered from the last few days hefty walking. What made it even worse was that at the end of the day we were greeted by the South Cape Rivulet - a river that meets the sea. We thought it might be a problem to cross and, indeed, we were right. It was high tide and we couldn't cross it. We watched 3 people JUST make it across and were frightened to death. Effectively, you had to time it to wade across when there was a break in the waves at the mouth of the river. If you timed it wrongly - you would most certainly be swept away into the stormy sea. We had missed our chance and would have to wait until low tide. We sat for 3 hours in the cold, until 8pm, watching the waves and having our evening meal, before deciding that we should try and find somewhere to camp that side of the Rivulet. Craig and Jasmine and Jasmine's mother turned up and were also stranded (which actually made Ivor and I feel a bit better, as were not alone) and they also found somewhere to camp for the night. The problem was that Ivor and I had to catch a special bus at 1,45pm the next day back to Hobart - if we couldn't get across the Rivulet, first thing - we would be stranded in Cockle Creek - the middle of nowhere.

The next morning, at 5,30am, Ivor went to look at the river - high tide again. Fortunately, however, things looked a bit more promising at 8am. We were joined by the 3 and we all stood and watched the waves for a while. Where you cross, there would be a lull and you could see sand either side - but occasionally, 2 huge waves would arrive from different directions, causing a huge swirling, engulfing swell to roll right up the river from the mouth - very frightening!!!! I have always had a fear of the sea- stemming from child-hood nightmares of getting caught in tidal waves. I was sick with nerves and worry. The problem was that we didn't know how low the tide would get before conditions worsened again. At one point I thought about swimming across much further up - but it was icy cold and quite wide.

Eventually- at a well-timed moment- Ivor went for it, with me screaming at him to come back. He got across safely, and with only water up to his knees, and not too strong a current. Jasmine then went across, no worries. Ivor then came back to get me!!! I could not have crossed it on my own as I was too scared. Ivor carried my pack and egged me on, right behind me- telling me where to wallk. I didn't look at the sea and just put my head down to get across - the sea reaching my thighs. Then Craig got across. Jasmine's mother was very worried as she was not as agile as the others. Jasmine borrowed our sticks and walked back across to get her and take her back. Eventually, she came across too, using my sticks. We were all safely across!!!! One of the scariest things I have ever had to do - and I could not have done it without Ivor's help.

Ivor and I were then free to do the last leg to Cockle Creek. We said goodbye to our new found friends and did the easy last day walk. The sun had come out and all was well. Most of the path was boarded or easy paths and through very beautiful countryside. We were also still in good time to catch the bus.
We finally made it to Cockle Creek - 50 miles having come to an end- we had some pasta and sat in the sun, waiting with others for the bus. What an epic!!! We were knackered but happy and had a huge sense of accomplishment..............................and we didn't see 1 snake!!!!! (which actually became the last thing on my mind!!)

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Photos

View from the Iron Bound Range
Not the top!!! - couldn't see anything up there!!

A Sand Dune
......not a camera fault...a sand dune!!