The Overland Track in Tasmania is one of the great hikes worldwide. On a par with the West Coast Trail that Jacqui and I accomplished back in 2013. The hike has been in the works for a few months and I was not involved in any of the planning and timeline which is fine by me. Tell me where I need to go and what time I need to be there. It was planned for 6 days, more time than what we had for the West Coast Trail, from Feb 4th to the 10th. Part of the problem with the Overland is the logistics getting to and from the start and finish of the track. We contemplated renting a car to get to Launceston and a shuttle to the beginning of the track and then paying for another pickup from the end of the track back to the marina. In the end Jacqui found Hawthorne Lodge that would pick us up at the marina and take us to the lodge in Bushy Park for an overnight stay with dinner and pre hike breakfast and then drop us at the start of the track and at the end pick us up to go back to the lodge for a dinner and breakfast before dropping us back to the marina. Cost was a little more but the convenience was worth it … plus the lodge was built in 1869 with lots of heritage and character.

Day 1 – 17.5 Kilometres

Our driver for the day, Johnny, drove us the 3hrs to Cradle Mountain and dropped us at the introduction centre. Ronny Creek is the traditional starting point for the Overland Track. It costs $200 for access to the track, an introduction and safety briefing where they check out your gear and maybe your enthusiasm as well. After the introduction we caught  a rather full bus that dropped us at Ronny Creek, we were the only hikers on the bus with full packs to undertake this trek versus the other day-hikers travelling for a nice leisurely stroll through the national park, we did get a cheer from the others on the bus after the driver announced the endeavour we were undertaking … Yeah!!

Day 1 of the hike is the hardest with an elevation climb of over 500 metres past Cradle Mountain, Marions Lookout, and descending to Waterfall Valley. This portion of the hike was supposed to be about 10.5 km. The unfortunate part was that the Waterfall Hut (the first night stay) was closed for repairs, so the decision was either divert the track to Scott Kilvert hut (2km) and then the next day traverse the 2km back up before setting off on the main track. We opted to continue on to Windermere adding another 7.5 km onto the first day.  At the end of the day we finally reached Windermere hut close to dark, all we could do is set up the tents on the platform, make a quick meal and crash. Jacqui ended up the worst only because she had the heaviest pack and definitely got the award for the “whiniest” hiker that day.  Beautiful scenery on the way and we tried to enjoy as much as we could.

Anecdote of the day – “Is that Wombat pooh?” – wow never seen wombat pooh before – fast forward a few hours – “do wombats only crap on the overland track trail?”  Swear to god this wombat would have tied a bow around it if it could have!

Day 2 – 15.2 Kilometres

Re-align the packs so that Jacqui didn’t end up with the heaviest pack. We had another long hike ahead. This leg had us climbing over 450 metres and descending another 620 metres over a 15 kilometres stretch. Somehow I ended up with the heaviest pack. Go figure! Didn’t have a lot of opportunity to whip the camera out and take some shots, but I can say that the trek was challenging and beautiful! A lot of the track is made up of “boardwalk”.  About 36%. They do this in order to keep the impact of human encroachment to a minimum. That and hiking along the creek beds in this part of the track. When we booked there was constant eye on the weather. Don’t want to do this track when it is raining, which it does a lot, or snowing which can happen occasionally during the summer months. Our time on the track was cold the first day and then warmed up as we went along. No rain for the whole time!! By the time we reached end of day 2 at Pelion hut, which Terri kept on calling pelican hut, we had time to relax a little and didn’t set up the tents because we got some space in the hut. Had a relaxing dinner of mac and cheese and some “camping coffee”.

Anecdote of the day – Noel – “I think i grunted the whole day today on the trail”

Dave – “What was on your playlist?” – “Hurting” by Johnny Cash, “Homeward Bound” by Simon and Art Garfunkel!

Day 3 – 8.5 Kilometres

Day 3 was a little better as we only had just over 8km to go and my body had recovered enough to carry on (amazing muscle recover when needed). During day 2, I honestly was saying to myself “I cannot go on”. The the other part of me said “You wimp, what the … is the matter with you. One foot in front of the other”. Anyway day 3, what a breeze. This part of the track offered a couple of side trips up to Mt Ossa and the other to Mt Pelion. Well, the younger generation on the track at the time opted for Mt Ossa. The older folks said “Nah … don’t want to do that!”  Would have been nice but we did see some of them show up at the camp site with a little limp. Off we go down the track. Set up on one of the camping platforms and enjoyed some “camping coffee” and a nice meal. There was a creek nearby to bathe the aching feet.

When we signed the register at the end, in the comment section it asked what side trips we undertook, Jacqui’s comment was none “Too Buggered”!

Day 4 – 9.5 Kilometres

As the days went by, the packs got lighter and the hikes were not as strenuous. This stretch of the hike we went past Du Cane hut, used as an emergency shelter. And David and I opted for hike down to the falls. A little less strenuous than trying to hike up Mt Ossa. Dip the feet in the cool water before heading back up. The track is getting more manageable and the packs are getting easier to handle. Less food, better pack management. Climbing 370 metres and descending 350 metres over 9.5 kilometres. The girls got to Bert Nichols hut ahead of us and secured a spot on one of the tenting platforms. The hut was huge so we took advantage of the space and tried to catch up with the Yahtzee Tournament. While we were playing there was a big commotion and everyone piled outside. We thought it was a critter sighting but it turned out to be a group traversing between mountain peaks in the distance on a zip line. We have yet to know exactly what it was, but it was a rather high mountain peak and figured they must have known what they were doing!.

We obviously kept meeting the same hikers that had been at the previous huts (pit stops) along the way but the most memorable were the 2 American hikers who were playing Mario Brothers in the hut! Go figure that someone packed all that on this beautiful hike.

Day 5 – 10 Kilometres plus an extra 6

We are getting near the end and on this day we have an option. The original plan was to go from Bert Nichols hut (Windy Ridge) to Narcissus hut, a 10 km hike and then hike out the last day to Cynthia Bay which was a 16 km hike on the last day. The Narcissus to Cynthia is a straight forward hike through the same type of terrain and others say it is a little boring. Just rain forest and old growth. Very flat. All the other hikers were going to take he ferry from Narcissus to Cynthia Bay and that would be it for them. We decided to carry on from Narcissus, where we had lunch with the flies, and hike down to Echo Hut, about another 5km. Nice spot lots of camping. Hut is small but you can pitch a tent. When we got there all the kayakers were coming up from Cynthia Bay to camp because of the long weekend so … it was  a little crowded. Not a problem. Secured a spot and had dinner and breakie the next morning on the beach beside the lake.

Day 6 – 12 Kilometres

This was the last day of the Overland Track. The hike out was through the old growth forest and relatively flat with views of the lake. Packs are lighter and energy is up. David of course is leading the charge as he has done from day 2. Jacqui and Terri in between and me at the back watching out for Hobbits. Didn’t see any! Little bastards are good! We ended our trek at Fergies Paddock for another night of camping very close to the Visitor Centre for the end of the hike. Johnny wasn’t going to be available to pick us up till tomorrow. We didn’t bother with the last meal that we had been carrying from day one and opted for the burger and beer or 3 plus and a shower. The lodge at the end had a great ambience so we enjoyed some of that for the day.

Johnny came and picked us the next day and we got back to the Hawthorne Lodge for yet another stellar shower and meal. Great stuff!!

All in all it was a great adventure, with great partners in crime (Terri and Dave), ticked off another world hike on the bucket list and roll on to New Zealand for the the next one…. now to convince the partners in crime, Terri seems to be opting for the glamping hike version which involves Sherpa’s 🙂