SW trip, Days 4 and 5

Our plan for day 4 was to return partway to Melaleuca and then take the southeasterly option to visit the beach at Cox Bight. I’m going to have to go back to see what this is like, because not long after we left New Harbour we were having to don our rain jackets in the face of heavy showers that approached us in a predominantly horizontal direction. Fortunately it wasn’t cold, but since I didn’t put my overtrousers on as well as my jacket it wasn’t long before my shorts were soaked. This gave us a taste of the notorious weather for which the south-west is justifiably infamous, and although it was disappointing in that it put paid to our plans, I don’t think our expedition would have been complete without a taste of some wilder conditions. Not surprisingly, though, I didn’t take very many photos, and when we reached the track junction the decision was made to head to Melaleuca instead of the coast (I think most people were attracted to the idea of a hut for the night, and although I was keen to see Cox Bight, I have to confess that damp campsites are not my favouritest* things in the entire universe**).

In the photo below you can see the “buttons” on the long grass stalks that give button grass its name. You can also see how effective yellow fluoro material is when high visibility is required.

Upon reaching Melaleuca we took over one of the hikers’ huts (with 11 of us, it was easily filled!) and dealt with our wet gear and a late lunch. The bad weather came and went in waves during the afternoon, so we could get out and do a little exploring. There’s a really interesting indigenous Australians heritage trail nearby, including a replica of the kind of bark canoe that apparently was able to make it out to some of the offshore islands (given the potential for wild seas and the apparent flimsiness of the canoe this was a surprise to me). There was also a lovely rainbow (there are a couple of even better photos on the extras page).

Early in the morning of day 5 I spent time in a nearby bird hide looking patiently for interesting birds … until we discovered that there was a better hide where we were more likely to see the birds we were looking for. The orange-bellied parrot is one of the most endangered birds in the world, with only about 50 left in the wild. This year has been a good breeding season, apparently, and everyone was pleased to learn that there were over 20 juveniles. Not long after we arrived at the hide we were treated to seeing a few of these rare birds. I didn’t have a particularly long lens on my camera, and so you’ll have to imagine that you can just see a patch of orange underneath the top of the tail on the third bird in the picture below (the birds are about the size of your hand, with perhaps a little extra length for the tail).

Five of us decided that we would like to go and try to get some views of Bathurst Harbour from a nearby hill before flying out. Of course “nearby” was about 3km of mostly squelchy bits, and then, when we attempted to sidle upwards across the face of the hill we discovered that (a) it was heading upwards at about 45° (a friend and colleague of mine has been doing his honours thesis of adults’ perception and measurement of slope, so this is of current interest!), and (b) at the base of the often knee deep scrub the rocks were covered with a slippery slimy moss thing and so (c) we were running out of time (and energy!) to actually get to the top. So we stopped for lunch two-thirds of the way up, and admired the views from there.

We got back to Melaleuca (which is nothing more than the airstrip, the relics of an old tin mining lease, a couple of hidden houses, the two hikers’ huts, the rangers’ hut and the toilet block) in just enough time to finish getting ourselves organised/packed to catch the light aircraft back to Hobart.

It was an enjoyable trip, and has whetted my appetite for more visits to the area, but I need to get (a) fitter,  (b) a new pair of gaiters, and (c) a new pair of boots.

More photos of days 4 and 5 are here.

* I know this isn’t a word.

** My experiences of the entire universe have been fairly limited.