Tasmania - Useful Links

Weather, Warnings and Road status
Bureau of Meteorology 
BoM 7-day Forecast
TasALERT - An emergency warning and information system via online
Tasmania Fire Service website
Forestry Tasmania - Road and Track Closures
Tide Predictions
Sunrise and Sunset Times

Useful Tasmanian and Australian Government websites
Park and Wildlife Service
PWS - Camping

Petition:  Stop Mount Field NP's Camp Ground Being Privatised

Wellington Park

The LIST - Interactive Topographical Maps - Tas. Public Access Real Maps online

Listmap Bookmark for 'Bushwalkers Fires 2019-2020
https://maps.thelist.tas.gov.au/listmap ... kId=445500

Also a mapping application, which allows drawing routes, points, labelling, saving and sharing.

https://maps.ozultimate.com/archive/tas/

Guide Books

J, Chapman. Bushwalking in Tasmania 

B, Wilkinson. The Abels - Volume 1 and 2 
T, Thomas and A, Close. 100 Walks in Tasmania

B.Brown. Tarkine Trails 

 

Me near Temma, the start of the Tarkine Coastal Trail in 2011 (just before the festive season)

Other Links

TasTracks 

Wilmot River Walks - NorthWest Tasmania by Bill Sheperd whom I met on the trail early 2016 and was told of a nice camping spot.

Also thanks for the safety rope, I could hold on to, 
in order to climb down to Castra Falls in Mar 2017.  A short Youtube clip of the falls
  
And .. up the ladder for Minnow Falls day hike.
 

 

No luck: the waterfalls without water. Photo taken in Feb.

All Trails

Bushwalk.com

Launceston Walking Club 

Hobart Walking Club  

I also met one walker from HWC at Lunka Lake, Central Plateau. He arrived late and I helped him set up tent and offered him a hot chocolate drink. His torch didn't work and so I lent him mine for his cooking dinner and we had a good chat. In the morning he was allowed to take a photo of me before his leaving. I also had his.

  

My tent at Lunka Lake campsite. On leaving, T headed east and I went south. 

Pillans Lake

 My plan of final camping on the long overnight loop including Ada - ZZ - Hters - Pillans - Lunka turned the second last due to a minor navigational mistake on the scruby track back to the start. I was caught up with late afternoon sun and continued on and on without map and compass/gps checking. On arriving back at the car park next morning, I got a message from T. 

A week later at Lake Oberon on the Western Arthur, I met another solo walker who helped me achieve my dream of completing it. A couple of times a 20m rope was used. There were only two of us and I was not a rock climber.

 

 Hard work was done and we were down on Arthur Plains. Tents were pitched at Seven Mile Creek camp after an uncomfortable crossing high and fast-flowing water.

When we were out A.received a phone call from one of the three Tasmanian walkers, those we had met at Lake Oberon and had done the WA in reverse, checking out if we were OK, in fact, I was. It was so nice of him. They had also been so nice that they had offered their camping platform to me, who was the last arrival. One of the guys kept in touch with A. with a plan to tackle Fed Peak in 2017.

A.was also a visitor from Victoria and he had been taken to the trail head by his daughter who lives in Hobart. A had taken good care of me on the Arthur, hence I was happy to drive him to Hobart (a stop for gear repair too. One of my camping gear was broken). We also did two short walks on the way

 Hartz Peak and Mt Snowy.  From top of Hartz and with a view to the south, 
I could see an opportunity for an extended pack carrying hike.
 

  Cape Raoul

Other favorite walks in Tasmania

Pandani Bushwalking Club

Northwest Walking Club

NatureLoverWalks
rockmonkeyadventures
Hiking Southeast Tasmania
Waterfalls of Tasmania

David Noble's Bushwalking Page

Photodiary of a Nomad

Public Transport

Redline Coaches
Tassielink

Mt Kooyoora

The walk starts from the Crystal Mine Track car park (382m) which is about 2km north of the Melville Caves.  From the car park the vehicle track heads northwest past the White Swan Mine (about 300m from the car park).

 

From here, the track disappears and you navigate on a bearing of due north to the eastern spur of Mt Kooyoora.  Having reached the peak of the spur (about 2km from the car park at height of 440m) follow the ridge west to the summit of Mt Kooyoora (471m) where there are large boulders and a good bush campsite without any facilities or water.

Mt Kooyoora summit boulder, 471m 

Continue west from Mt Kooyoora along the ridge following red & white plastic tape markers and descending to 414m.  Continue west along the ridge towards the West Peak (420m).  There are several good, waterless campsites on the ridge at about two and a half hours into the walk. 

 

 

My hiking partner and also close friend, Allan (photo: top right) 

enjoys panoramic view from a large open slab (about 500m southeast of West Peak)

 From West Peak you can leave the ridge on a southwest bearing down to a fence line (300m) which you follow to the dirt road (MVO = Mt Kooyoora Tk).  Alternately, you can continue following the ridge west untill you reach the dirt road.  Either way, you turn south down the dirt track to the point where you can head east, past the south boundary of the fence barrier.  Proceed about 800m along the fence then follow the creek bed for about 400m and then climb about 400m up to Crystal Mine Track and car park.

 

Elevation profile

As there is no significant water source on this walk, the hiker should carry an adequate supply for the trip. 

Tali-Karng and nearby

I felt rather unfit because I have not done any pack-carrying walks for a while.  This was a warm-up walk for future longer walks planned for Tasmania early next year.  Lake Tali-Karng is located in the Avon Wilderness area of Victoria and north of Licola. 

The best time to hike is between November and April and this area has excellent alpine wild flowers in mid-to-late Spring.

Licola is approximately 4 hours drive from Melbourne through Traralgon and the start at McFarlane Saddle on the Moroka Rd is about a further 30 minutes from Licola (last petrol service).

The facilities at the McFarlane Saddle campsite include only a long drop loo and cleared campsites of varying sizes.

Park Victoria website suggests that you camp at Nyimba Camp and do a day trip to Lake Tali-Karng rather than camping on the shore of the lake.  This makes the descent to and ascent from the lake much easier as the access is very steep.  Also, the traditional owners of the lake prefer that people do not camp there and that visitors minimise their damage to a sensitive and sacret environment.

The walk from McFarlane’s Saddle to Nyimba Camp and Riggall Old Hut site across the Wellington Plain is approx 9km on a gentle gradient and it takes around three and a half hours including a long break for lunch.  The terrain is mostly alpine plain with occasional clumps of snowgums.  The larger snowgums are dead from the recent bush fire leaving only scrubby regrowth.

 Wellington Plain

The Nyimba Camp has a lot of campsites and a long drop loo with a 600 litres rain water tank and a flowing stream.

Nyimba Camp

There are 2 possible routes to the lake from Nyimba Camp.  Gillio’s foot track is about 4.5km and steep with multiple zig-zags to help the walker down the steeper parts of the walk.  The easy-graded Riggall Spur and Echo Point Tracks are a little longer, but less steep.

Routes to the lake

We took the Riggall Spur and Echo Point Tracks to walk down to the lake and Gillio’s Track back climbing almost 600m (take about 3 hrs), but, in retrospect, it would have been better to have taken the other direction. 

There are several campsites and beaches on the western lakeside.  Tali Karng is a fuel stove area and no fires are permitted within 1km from the lake.  There are no toilet facilities at the lake.  The southern shore offers access to the Snowden Falls at the eastern end of the lake, if the lake’s water level is low enough.

 

Looking east (L) and the Snowden Falls (R)

The scramble along the rocky shoreline to the falls is worth the trouble to see a very spectacular medium size waterfall.  YouTube clip of the Snowden Falls

 

GPS tracks overlaid on VicMap memo-map Topo

Mt Reynard

There is a short half day walk from Howitt Road to the top of Mt Reynard with a height of 1710m.  The shortest access route to the summit is across a small wooden foot bridge with a clearly visible from the Howitt road shortly after passing the Kelly Lane turn-off while heading north.

After crossing the bridge, you proceed due west climbing up a grassy slope and then bush bashing through medium height scrub to the top of Mt Reynard.

The foot bridge (L) and Mt Reynard top (R)

The summit is found by walking to the highest point.  There is no view at the top; but there are good views of the valley on the way up.