Dramatis persona*

helenhead Helen Chick

I've always wanted a bumper sticker that said "I'm a female, LDS/Mormon, Scout leading, geocaching, piano-playing, bicycling, mathematics educator with a PhD in maths ... and I VOTE"!

I think this makes me a minority group of cardinality 1!

* Since there's only one of me and "personae" is plural (I think), I've gone with dramatis persona.
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SW trip, Day 1

As you may recall, last year I hiked in NZ with a wonderful collection of friends and friends of friends. This year, Ann-the-awesome-hike-organiser-and-hub-of-the-friends decided that my own home state would be their destination. In an unfortunate poor alignment of work responsibilities and no spare leave days, I wasn’t able to attend the whole event, despite being the only local, but I was able to attend the first part.

There were 11 of us in the group: Ann, Kaye and Peter, Vicki and Peter,  Lynn, Victoria, Harvey, Roz, and myself, and stage 1 of the expedition — involving possibly the least effort — was to fly into remote Melaleuca airstrip, which provided some spectacular views over Hobart, the ranges of southwest Tasmania (including famous Federation Peak), and Bathurst Harbour.

On arrival we boarded a small boat for a cruise out the Melaleuca Creek and on to the huge Bathurst Harbour. We had great views of Mt Rugby and the Celery Top Islands and the surrounding ranges. It was just beautiful. I took lots of photos, our guide gave really good commentary and we all enjoyed the trip.

It was then time to eschew motorised transportation and take to Shanks’ pony instead. The early stages of the track were relatively straightforward as there were quite a few boarded sections and it was fairly level. Things deteriorated after taking the westerly turn to the South Coast, with the track becoming rougher, with lots of boggy sections. The trouble with button grass bog is that you can never tell how deep things are going to be: it might just cover your sole or you could go in over your knees. This meant we got somewhat muddy, and it was quite enervating and physically demanding to pick the best path and react to the unexpected changes in depth and direction (this is also why there are no photos of this bit, because “doing photography” would have been “one thing too many”). Add to that my ridiculously heavy pack (22kg … and I’d left stuff behind that I’d normally take) and some undulations and some uncomfortable shoes (soles a little too thin and no ankle support) and the fact that it simply took longer than we thought to cover the 12km then you may understand why it was such a relief to stagger down to the lagoon/creek at New Harbour Bay. It may also explain why the others decided to set up camp in the first spot they found rather than walking along the beach to the “proper” spot (it didn’t help that the creek crossing looked awkward and deep).

We set up camp and the others started cooking while I took some photos and then I did my nice and easy dehydrated meal. I took some more photos after dinner and some time exposures in the late dusk light. It was surprisingly mild — especially given that this part of Tasmania lies in the path of the “Roaring Forties”, the strong westerly windy weather systems that come hurtling across the vast Indian Ocean. However, the day became progressively more overcast as night fell, putting paid to my vague hopes of doing a star trail time exposure photograph (or, better yet, seeing an aurora).

An additional set of slightly larger photos can be found here.

2 comments to SW trip, Day 1

  • Sally Kidd

    Hi Helen,

    Love your blog, complemented by stunning photography. I am green with envy as would have loved to be on the trip:-)

    • Helen

      We missed you, too . . . although this time the river that blocked our path was a gentle flow instead of a raging torrent, and readily crossed with only some dampness to lower limbs … and there weren’t any potatoes for which to forage!

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