A “short” Overland Track story. A truly wonderful experience, made better by the people. I love Tasmania!


Day 1 | Ronny Creek to Waterfall Valley | 10.8km | 0 side trips

When I researched hiking in Tasmania, the Overland Track was the one that was mentioned every single time on every single website and so, on a adventurous whim, I decided to sign up to do it. Buying a permit for the track on the evening of Wednesday 5th (because you need a permit over here, unlike the beautiful highlands back home!), I was on the bus from Launceston to the trailhead by 07:30 on Friday morning. The bus turned out to be a tour almost, with a wonderful doddery old man driving us all there and talking for the entire way, showing us fascinating landmarks as we past, such as the location of the first store of the Coles empire. That’s the equivalent to Tesco’s, by the way.

A safety briefing then followed (again, something we don’t get in Scotland) where the dangers of hypothermia, mountains and snakes were nailed in to me such that I left the briefing with a feeling of “What have I got myself into? This seems dangerous!”

I started the trail with a wonderful couple called Zach and Kez, two university students who were doing their first overnight hike. I was excited for them! Boardwalks were the beginning and within minutes we saw some wombats trundling away to the left through the ‘bush’. Yep, I am turning into an Aussie, using their terminology. Oh dear.

Before long though, I headed off at my own pace, leaving Zack and Kez behind, and I climbed up through beautiful eucalyptus forests as the skies overhead threatened with rain. So far, the weather was behaving like a toddler on the verge of a tantrum, and I didn’t dare jinx it. I raced up the mountains to the stunning Marion’s Lookout, beasting the chain section with the fresh energy of being couped up too much. Ahead of me, I saw a long line of about thirteen backpacks, trawling their way up to the bottom of Cradle Mountain. I had decided to have lunch at the bottom of Cradle too, at a place called Kitchen Hut, and I had a hunch that they would be stopping their too. Therefore, I set off after them, the beautiful craggy tops of Cradle still towering away to my left and the moody sky darkening.

I arrived at Kitchen Hut and indeed the big hiking group (who turned out to be a big private hiking group) had stopped for lunch and were all chatting away. I felt like a foreigner (well… I am) in amongst them but decided to stop and eat my lunch here anyway with the hope of meeting some people that I would be walking the trail with along the way. And I was right. Before long, they started talking to me. My introduction to this beautiful group of people was them interrogating me on where I was from. Apparently my wonderfully neutral accent sounds either Scandinavian, Austrian, Swiss, Canadian, Irish, Dutch, “maybe a hint of British in there”… No one guessed that I was from Scotland! This was when I was introduced to the infamous Catherine (Kathryn? Sorry, no idea how to spell your name!…) who within five minutes had declared herself as my trail mother. Sorry (real) mum, you were replaced for a week… I’ll send you a postcard, sorry.

They set off ahead of me since I was wanting to climb Cradle Mountain, but this was when the toddler’s tantrum burst and the rain started pelting down, along with a combination of sleet and hail. Clouds smothered the top of the mountain and the wind picked up. Zach and Kez had caught up with me at this point and together, we decided not to do it due to the foul conditions. Wasn’t worth it really.

Therefore, I burst on ahead again, driving rain hitting the right side of my body. Full waterproofs were on, I can assure you of that! However, despite the rain, the stunning scenery around me was still apparent. There was a beautiful looking glen valley off to my right and the stormy grey clouds added to the dramatic atmosphere. I caught the private group again at an emergency hut (it looked like something from a Stanley Kubrick film) and passed them before long, bantering with them as I passed them, especially with my trail mother. Hi Catherine! I also passed Barn Bluff, a mighty impressive mountain which I would have loved to climb, but the weather was still atrocious and so I decided to push on. Just means I have to come on back to Tassie one day!

We got to Waterfall Valley hut where I would be staying for the night (the private group had a private hut oooooooh, with cheese plates and wine oooooooooh and beds! OoooOooOOoh). It was Baltic inside – my breath was clouding in front of my face, reminding me that I should probably wrap up! We also turned on the heater and room slowly slowly warmed up. And at waterfall valley is where I met the rest of the independent hikers that I would be walking with along the way. Spoilers, they are the most wonderful collection of people.

  • Zach and Kez we have already met. They ensured I wasn’t the baby of the group since they were a touch younger than me!
  • Imogen and Elyse. Two friends who were hiking this together. Imogen was a kindergarten teacher, whilst Elyse was a councillor. They had the most warm and welcoming personalities, inviting me to play card games and get comfortable in their presence incredibly quickly.
  • Matt and Craig. Two brothers in their fifties who were hiking this together. They had massive packs and had a routine every time they got to a new hut. Matt would immediately change into camp clothes and start stretching (guilt tripping me, and others, into stretching too…) whilst Craig would change before cracking out the stove and some food. They were both born in Papa New Guinea and I have an open invitation for somewhere free to stay if I ever decided to go there, which is incredibly kind of Matt.
  • Erin, Kim and Lana. Three ladies who were best of friends having met each other through their jobs at environmental agencies. I later learned that they were all planning on quitting their jobs to travel the world – amazing!! They were all fun and enjoyed hiking together. They had a fourth person, Jock, who was meant to come along but unfortunately, he had a weird allergic reaction a couple days before they started the trail!
  • Sam and Chris. They were best of bros who met each other through their wives. They were gonna be motoring through this trail since they had work to get back to on Tuesday. At Waterfall Valley Hut, they revealed that they had brought along 5kg of alcohol, including a bottle of red wine which they were told not to open for ten years. Shock horror, they opened it that night whilst we played a large group game of cards!

The evening in Waterfall Valley was such a wonderful bonding experience, with the heater not particularly working whilst we played cards (we played what I know as Power Card (pew pew) but they knew it by a much cruder name woop) before we all headed to bed after dark. The rooms were so far removed from the main, common room that they had remained Baltic and I had to bury my face and head into my sleeping bag!

Day 2 | Waterfall Valley to Windermere | 7.6km | 1 side trip

This was gonna be a short day. After the ‘long’ day to Waterfall Valley, the trail was designed to give us a shorter day to get to Windermere. Therefore, after a breakfast of porridge, I headed out first. I was taken aback straight away though – there was snow on the ground! When the safety briefing at the beginning had said that you could witness all four seasons in a trip, I now saw that this was true!

The boardwalks stretched ahead of me, the snow unbroken except for the occasional tracks left by a wombat or a wallaby. When I looked behind me, I saw even footprints made by my trail shoes (a hot topic and bold decision apparently) amongst a grey wilderness blanketed in frost and snow. The world was still and quiet and the only sound was the sound of the ice slowly thawing and dripping, the icy crunch my feet were making and the swish of my waterproofs. Away to the my right were real dark clouds and I was glad to have gotten an early start since later in the day looked like it could be wintery!

However, I wasn’t going to pass an opportunity to finally do one of the side trips! The Overland Track is designed such that it passes by some iconic and breath taking natural attractions and you can decided to spend the extra effort to go visit these places if you wish. For instance, on the first day I had the options of climbing Cradle Mountain or Barn Bluff. Today, on the way to Windermere Hut, I had the opportunity to go see Will’s Lake.

Therefore, when I reached the turn off, I placed my bag down and ensured that no zips were able to be seen. There were birds called Currawongs which had learned to open zips and steal people’s food. I didn’t want any of my Snicker’s going missing! I headed off to Will’s Lake with a skip as the snowflakes started slowly drifting down from the heavy sky and the bitter wind bit my exposed face. I got to the lake with no issue though. It sat at the southern end of Barn Bluff, but the mountain was completely wrapped in heavy clouds and so I think the awe that I would have gotten on a clear day was taken away. Still, it was a nice walk with no backpack on!

On returning to my backpack, I found that the private group had caught up with me. Specifically, I heard over the frozen buttongrass plains “My son! Look, it’s my son! My son!” as Catherine started excitedly shouting! I loved bumping into the private group, it always guaranteed fielding interesting questions and talking to lovely people. Finn, one of their guides (and an awesome character – he also loves the Cat Empire so immediately he has been catapulted to one of my favourite people), jokingly told me to run as I arrived, but I stuck around for a small while whilst I was still warm.

When I started getting cold I set off again, leaving the private group, to get the heart pumping and I saw that the track was now covered in footprints and I soon found the culprits, Sam and Chris. They were doing a double day today because they had to get back to work, but I think that Sam was struggling with a sore ankle and so when we arrived at Windermere Hut (at 10:30!) they took a tea break (feeding me tea) whilst Sam tried to sort out his ankle. They were on their way soon though, Sam hobbling out of the hut, muttering the words “But this is what it’s all about? Muscling through!” Not sure I completely agree, but I let it be.

Within five minutes of them leaving, the private group arrived again and I sat with them in the hut as their other guide, Pete (who was twenty and had guided along this trail twenty times and was off to nursing school soon) cracked out his Trangia (AKA fondue set) and got some hot water on for some hot drinks. Catherine sneaked me an intoxicating mix of coffee, hot chocolate and milk powder and I had to defend my choice of trail shoes once again. I am firmly Team Trail Shoes over Boots though, so I didn’t mind. That was a fun time with that group.

They left and before long, the rest of the independent hikers started arriving. First Matt and Craig followed shortly by Imogen and Elyse, and then the three ladies and finally Kez and Zach. Windermere was smaller than Waterfall Valley and so we were all stuffed into one room all together. I played some chess with Matt and Craig, completed the trail quiz with Erin, Kim and Lana and we all played Durak, a Russian card game whilst Elyse spilled her chia seed pudding on the floor and we struggled to get the gas heater working – Lana seemingly was the only one able to get it going! Socks were hung above the heater and shoes were clustered around the heater, hoping to dry.

Day 3 | Windermere to Pelion | 15.1km | 2 side trips

Another early start for me. Sharing a room had been an experience with Matt rumbling away in his sleep but I got a decent amount of rest so I was feeling good. I was wanting to try and climb Mount Oakleigh today, and so I was wanting to get cracking as soon as possible.

The buttongrass plains, rainforests and mountains were once again blanketed in snow but the sun was out and as I marched along through a quiet landscape, the sound of dripping ice started picking up pace. By the by, it is super weird to walk through a forest filled with tropical plants and see them all covered in snow! As I was walking, Mt. Oakleigh revealed itself to my left and I was moving around it, like a star orbiting the sun.

I passed over buttongrass plains and passed through forests and made my way around the forested flank of Mt. Pelion West. The ranger that we had chatted to the previous night at Windermere had advised me not to climb Pelion West, and so I marched past the junction with a rueful smile. Apparently the scrambling at the top would have been deadly in such frozen conditions, and it made sense to me. Common sense and all, innit?

Halfway around Pelion West, at the bridge over rushing Pelion Creek, I came across the private group and they cheered as I passed (they were ahead of me since their private hut they had stayed at the previous night was a couple kilometres down the track from our public hut at Windermere). I cheekily quipped, “Do I have to stop to chat?” as I passed – I was on a mission to climb Mt. Oakleigh by the end of the day after all – and I heard them laughing as I pressed on. Before long, I emerged from the forest and the snow had all but disappeared on this side of Pelion West. It seemed I had entered the forest in snow and exited into a sunny day. This was the Frog Flats, the lowest point of the trail and the most likely place to pick up a leech. Therefore, not wanting to suffer that, I didn’t stop and carefully avoided brushing any overhanging branches that I could avoid. I’m not afraid of them… Just would rather not.

An arduous uphill which I pushed up before I descended to the next stop for the night, Pelion Hut. However, before I got there, I made a quick stop at the Old Pelion Hut on the way (wooden, rustic and a truly wonderful view over Mt. Oakleigh) which was officially classed as a side trip. That was a nice ten minute break without a pack on my back. As I walked down to the Old Hut, I saw red helicopters flying overhead, heading south to Kia Ora Hut. There were going to heli-ops going on for the next couple days apparently, or so the ranger at Windermere had told us.

A noodle bomb lunch at Pelion (where I was alone) and then I headed out with nothing but a water bottle to climb Mt. Oakleigh. It was 12:15 and I had plenty of time. The weather had done a full one-eighty with the sun now shining down and not a hint of snow anywhere on the ground, the only evidence on the flanks of the tall mountains. Mt. Oakleigh was not a tall mountain though but more like a plateau and I couldn’t see any snow on it. The trail to it led over several bridges and then through the boggiest, muddiest tracks I had encountered on the Overland Track so far. Nothing compared to the Cape Wrath Trail though! The trail started getting steeper and steeper and before long, I was making noises like a set of bellows as I hauled my butt up the mountain. ‘Scuse the language. The track had all but disappeared and was now only marked by rusty beer cans (up-cycling, right?). I had to push through trees and undergrowth with my shoulders at points, my face full of cobwebs and the fear of a snakebite at the back of my mind.

However, I soon got to the top and after rock hopping along the top of Mt. Oakleigh I got to the summit and an amazing view stretched out below me. To my right (west) was the abruptly craggy Pelion West whilst directly ahead and south of me was the Pelion Gap, Mt. Pelion East and Mt. Ossa making themselves known. Beyond them was the Du Cane range and the Walls of Jerusalem national park was off to my left. As I sat on a cliff, my feet dangling in the void, the forests and plains spread below me like a tapestried carpet. It was so freeing and I chomped my snack energy bar thing with eagerness and a sense of freedom.

I stayed up there for a good half an hour or so before heading back down the way I had come. I got back to Pelion Hut as Matt and Craig were arriving. Five minutes later, another hiker walked in from another track (the Arm River track) and then Erin, Kim and Lana arrived. There were another group of hikers who trickled in and as I was stripping off my muddy shoes and socks and washing my feet with ice cold water, everyone else arrived. Imogen headed off for a dip in a nearby waterhole as I climbed into my sleeping bag for a nap. Yeah, I may have fallen asleep for the afternoon whoops.

I emerged for dinner (yet another dehydrated meal) and sat with Imogen and Elyse. Soon, Zach, Kez and the three ladies joined us and we ended playing Presidents and… Well, it seems most card games have rude names! But yeah, we had an enormously fun evening, playing card games by the light of Erin’s lamp and a couple headtorches.

Day 4 | Pelion to Kia Ora | 8.5km | 2 side trips

OK. Big day ahead. I was determined to climb Mt. Ossa, the tallest mountain in Tasmania at 1617m. I actually have a sneaking suspicion that this will be the tallest mountain I will have climbed. Weak, I know. Before I set off, I said goodbye to Kez and Zach since they were staying at Pelion an extra day to climb Mt. Oakleigh – what I had pushed myself to do the previous day.

After saying farewell, I set off and immediately set about toiling up to the Pelion Gap, the mountain pass between Pelion East and Mt. Ossa. When I arrived there, there was a big crossroads. To my left was the path up to Pelion East and to my right, the path up Mt. Ossa.

It was a moody day with the clouds hanging low over the land and so I decided to climb Pelion East first with the hope that by the time I attempted Mt. Ossa, the clouds may have lifted a little as the day warmed up. I set my pack down at the crossroads and set off.

I lost the path a couple of times amongst the boulders at the top, but it was an enjoyable climb. I really enjoy climbing mountains if you don’t know. There is something I enjoy about the exertion it takes to climb them, the sense of accomplishment when you reach the top. I much prefer uphill to downhill! Anyway, Pelion East has a craggy pinnacle at the top with a spire you have to scramble up, a relic leftover from the glaciers not covering the mountain millennia ago and thus leaving it unsmoothed. As I was scrambling up this I heard a voice above me! It was the hiker – Cam – who had walked in the day before from the Arm River track. Turns out he had gotten up earlier than me and climbed Pelion East first with the same hope that Ossa would clear up!

I passed him going up, Cam on his way down, and I summited three minutes later. A quick photo in the cloud covered top, and I was making my way down after him too. It was too cold to stay up there for any length of time. I arrived at the crossroads at the bottom a couple of minutes after him and we started chatting. As we were sitting there, me demolishing a Snickers, the private group were arriving (“Look who it is! Al! Hey!”), Erin, Kim and Lana were setting off up Ossa and Matt and Craig had already departed up the mountain. Cam and I set off soon as well, Cam keeping me company. Turns out, Cam had hiked the south island of NZ, along the TA route! Amazing! He is a firefighter and an all round cool guy. He could also keep pace with me up the mountain so it was nice to talk to someone along the way, however slowly the words came out between heaving, panting breaths.

We hit the snowline of Ossa and our pace considerably slowed. Trail shoes maybe weren’t the best idea for alpine conditions. We had the same shoes by the way, Altra Lone Peaks. We took turns leading, kicking steps into the snow and we progressed along the traverse, over the step and then on and up to the top. Unfortunately, the clouds had come back and so we reached the top with the most spectacular views of the inside of the clouds!… Joys. However, it was a wonderful climb with a great partner. The three ladies, along with Matt and Chris had turned back at the beginning of the snow so we didn’t see them up at the top unfortunately.

On the way back down, we bum skidded down the snow sections. Going down is much faster than going up when we are talking about snow! It also meant that all the lovely steps that we had cut into the snow were wiped out on our way down. Sorry! We came across two guys from Pelion Hut, Eddie and Norbert, who were halfway up the step. They were a father-son duet and were doing the Overland for the second time, fourteen years after they had done it for the first time. Eddie lived in London, working for a betting agency whilst Norbert was semi-retired, having been the IT guy on MacQuarrie Island in Antarctica but now worked as a casual agricultural labourer. We also came across Elyse and Imogen at the start of the snow and some members of the private group were close behind them. James, one of the private group, later told me that he cracked up laughing when he heard me shouting “Mummy! Mother! Oh mummy” above the group whilst Catherine was shouting back up at me “My Son! Oh my son!”

A short chat on the side of the mountain with all these people before Cam and I finished tumbling down the mountain and arrived back at our packs. A quick lunch together, looking back up at the veiled top of Ossa, the wind chilling our skin due to the sweat. We parted ways for he was going back to Pelion Hut and I was moving on to Kia Ora Hut.

I bungled down the rest of the way to Kia Ora Hut, a happy little warm-down after the mountain, overtaking Matt and Craig along the way to arrive at the hut where all the heli-ops were going on. There were plenty of fluorescent vested workmen clambering over the new Kia Ora Hut whilst we were stuck with the old one. They were staying in a bunch of caravans and I could only imagine how cold that must have been. Cathedral Mountain towered over us and lit up pink in the sunset as we took a lovely group photo. Once more the evening was filled with headtorch lit card games (a big round of Dutch/Golf/Tamul – I’ll let you choose which name you know), dehydrated meals and a lot of laughter.

Day 5 | Kia Ora to Pine Valley | 20.0km | 3 side trips

I was determined to take my brother Cam’s advice (not fireman Cam) and climb as many mountains as possible and do as much as I could. Therefore, I had made the decision to head up Pine Valley, which was a long way off the trail, and try and climb the Acropolis. I had a lot of distance to cover today so I set off early, saying goodbye to everyone. I was not sure if I would be seeing them again since we would not be staying at the same place tonight! (They would all be staying at Bert Nichols Hut)

I set off and started immediately pumping out the kilometres. As ever, I had plenty to do today! After a lovely hour or so walking through a wonderful rainforest and heading up to the Du Cane Gap, I came across the first side trip! I put my pack down and headed off to see the D’Alton and Fergusson Falls. These were so impressive! They were on the same river, the Mersey, and I could hear the dull roar from the track, despite both of the Falls being a kilometre or so away. Both the D’Alton and Fergusson were quite close together, one following the other pretty much straight away.

Impressed, I returned to my pack and then wandered along the track a little further to reach the Hartnett Falls. Once again, the power of nature is phenomenal! The Hartnett Falls would have made the perfect film location by the way. High gorge walls with a tall, white, frothy waterfall plunging into a cool looking pool and a calm river running down from this pool. Green trees leant over the top, creating a canopy and sunlight filtered down into the gorge. It was just beautiful. Also, side note, I saw the waterfalls in alphabetical order. I was pleased by this. Welcome to my brain.

If I had had time, I would have been very tempted to have taken off my shoes and socks and paddle up the river towards the Hartnett Falls, careful not to let the water go over my knees. However, Pine Valley and the Acropolis were calling (paraphrasing John Muir) and so I turned around from the tantalising water and headed back to my pack and the trail.

I passed the Bert Nichols hut at snack time. It was super swanky – would have been the fanciest hut I reckon, double decker and everything! It almost had the “remote eco-lodge” vibe going for it. I left a cute note for my pals in the common room whilst I ate my Snickers (once more, gotta reiterate, the king of chocolate bars).

I pushed on down the valley through all the Eucalyptus trees and before I knew it, I came upon the junction where I could turn west and head up and into Pine Valley. The old, weathered wooden signpost pointed the way and I followed suit, turning west and heading along the muddy trail. I crossed the Narcissus river over many beautiful suspension bridges and the eucalyptus forest turned into the most stunning forest I had seen. Pine Valley was full of a forest which had been around since the dinosaurs! Great, big, gnarled and knobbly pine trees towered up and moss covered everything from tree trunks to boulders, deadening the air. Clear creeks and gently babbling brooks wound their way through the magical atmosphere. The air smelt clean and fresh. Frogs sounded like the tree spirits from Princess Mononoke and wallabies bounded away as I approached. Boardwalks creaked slightly as I walked over them. I imagine they were put up in order so that this stunning valley was not ruined by the people walking through it.

I arrived at Pine Valley hut and after an afternoon snack, I headed out straight away to climb the Acropolis. There were two steep climbs to make, one to get up to the plateau and a second steep climb to get right up to the summit. I lost the trail a couple times as I was working my way up to the plateau but I always found it again. I collected so many cobwebs with my face (but no spiders, thankfully!). I pushed through the dense undergrowth with my shoulders and I was out of breath for the entire climb. I emerged into the light on the plateau and the trail comically turned from barely being there into another clean boardwalk, making the way across the plateau quite easy. I gently wandered along, staring up at the craggy peak of the Acropolis, catching my breath.

However, at the base of the summit, I sat down with a decision to make. I was by myself, with the wrong footwear (trails shoes are not great for alpine mountains…) and I was not quite feeling right. My heart and soul were already at the top but I just didn’t feel good. Not physically, I was fine that way, just mentally. Therefore, coupled with the alpine conditions and sheer cliffs at the top, at this point, I decided to turn around. I wasn’t feeling it, simple as that. I didn’t want to push on and make a stupid mistake in my slightly fatigued state. As I turned around though, I made a pledge that one day, I will come back and climb this mountain, maybe even with my brother, Cam. So stay tuned, we may see that achieved down the years!

I made my way back down and arrived back at the Hut to find two people were there, tucking into an afternoon snack. This was another father-son duet, James and E, except E was only thirteen. They were on an outing during the current school holidays. I chatted to E for a while, about school, about books and about what they had been doing up here, whilst James tidied up their stuff. They were making their way out of Pine Valley that afternoon back to Narcissus Hut, ready to get home the next day.

They left shortly after and I was all alone deep in the middle of a truly ancient forest. However, I was far from lonely! I put on some music, cracked out my dehydrated meal and some snack food and got into my sleeping bag. It was gonna be a bug out evening of doing squat all and I was gonna enjoy it. After my dinner, I snuggled up in my sleeping bag and watched Kiki’s Delivery Service (downloaded on my phone) as my quest to watch all the Studio Ghibli films continues. Love it so much. 10/10 as ever. I especially liked Jiji and the himbo baker.

Day 6 | Pine Valley to Echo Point | 15.5km | 0 side trips

I awoke to a quiet hut inside and a quiet forest outside. I packed up my gear and headed out of Pine Valley, walking along the same path that I had come in on the day before. I walked through the same enchanting forest and I would so dearly love to visit there again. And I will, when I climb the Acropolis with my brother one day!

But for now I pushed. I knew that everyone else would be finishing today and catching the ferry from Narcissus Hut at around 11:30, slightly further down from the junction that I had turned down to get to Pine Valley. I kinda wanted to see them all once more. Therefore, after crossing the three bridges once more and emerging on the main track from Bert Nichols down to Narcissus, then I turned south once more and headed on.

I soon came across the chatting duo of Elyse and Imogen and after surprising them with a large “Why aye, man”, we walked together in a convoy through the wonderful Eucalyptus forest. Imogen and Elyse had made up a game together called “Is it more like a tree or a rock?” and so naturally, I joined in playing with them as we made our way down to Narcissus. Turns out, I am really bad at these abstract games. Cam knows this from the CWT! The three ladies were apparently ahead of us, as were Matt and Craig. They didn’t come from kilometres up Pine Valley though!

Elyse and Imogen soon let me past though when they stopped for a small breather and I went on. The forest ended and emerged onto swampy buttongrass plains as I approached Narcissus Hut, perched on the shores of Lake St Clair. Since it was swampy, it was once again a nice boardwalk for several kilometres and I before I knew it, I was at Narcissus!

Sitting outside the hut was pretty much everyone I had met on the trail so far. Matt and Craig were at a picnic table eating some food, the three ladies were away down at the Narcissus River taking a small celebratory dip whilst James and E were sitting on the hut’s veranda. Elyse and Imogen soon arrived after me, as well as another group of four hikers I had never met so far. The ferry was radioed for, and for the next half an hour or so, we had this wonderful time of all just sitting and chatting. I hadn’t booked the ferry by the way due to a) lack of funds and b) wanting to hike around the edge of Lake St Clair. But yeah, I played a game of chess with E (he’s really good!), saw Elyse do some magic tricks, chatted to Matt and Craig about Papa New Guinea (I have somewhere to stay if I ever wish to go!) and exchanged numbers and took several photos with everyone. A weirdly emotional goodbye for sure. We had only known each other for six days, and only in the evenings at that, but we had had such a great time all together!

They all soon bundled onto the ferry though and I was left at Narcissus alone with one other hiker who I hadn’t met so far, the hubbub having all disappeared down the lake. I struck up a conversation with her and soon discovered that she was a recent medic graduate called Bronte who really wanted to do some weird hike called the Cape Wrath Trail in a small corner of the world called Scotland. Never heard of it myself!… Haha, nah, I chatted to her about that stunning trail for a while which was nice! She was also firmly in the trail shoe camp, over the more traditional boots. Winning.

With midday approaching, the second wave of people came with it, namely the private group and Eddie and Norbert. Eddie and Norbert fled to have lunch down by the pier whilst the private group sat around outside the hut eating their pre-made lunches and interrogating me about the rest of my life they hadn’t yet uncovered. This was when I discovered that Finn, one of the guides, was a massive Cat Empire fan and he then proceeded to invite me to crash with him in Bendigo if I wish, a small way outside of Melbourne! A top guy. So kind of him! The private group also wanted to add me to their WhatsApp group which was surreal since I had only really bumped into them once or twice a day really! Still, such wonderful people, I can only thank them for their kindness.

They also radioed the ferry and left Narcissus Hut at around 13:30. I was once again left alone with Bronte, as well as Eddie and Norbert who emerged once the private group had left. Eddie and Norbert also offloaded all the rest of their snacks onto me since they had booked the early morning ferry and weren’t walking anywhere else. I had my lunch with Bronte, Eddie and Norbert at this point before hoisting my pack onto my back once more and heading round the lake to Echo Point Hut, my final night.

It was a nice walk, but clearly very unused since everyone just catches the ferry from Narcissus instead of making the extra half-day effort to walk around the lake. As such, when I arrived at Echo Point, it was just me. This hut was the most rundown that had been on the trail with warnings everywhere of rats. As such, I had to put everything into a big metal locker, especially my food, to keep the rats from it. I also hung up all my clothes up instead of folding them up and I fell asleep on a downhill slanted bunk bed as the rain started up and darkness fell.

Day 7 | Echo Point to Lake St Clair | 10.4km | 1 side trip

The rain didn’t let up throughout the night and when I got up in the morning, there were damp patches on the bunk bed above me from where the rain had gotten through the roof. Yeah, Echo Point was rundown! I packed up and had my final meal of porridge before cranking on down the path in the drizzling rain. Full waterproofs. Ending the walk just like I had started it seems!

Nothing can really be said of this path. It was just a forest path along the shore of a lake. There were points where it reminded me of walking along Loch Ness on the Great Glen Way in Scotland. A steady walk. I saw the ferry pass me by a little past 09:00 in the morning, on it’s way to pick up Bronte, Eddie and Norbert and whoever else had arrived at Narcissus in the afternoon of the previous day.

A couple hours passed and I knew I must be close to the end when I scoffed my final Snickers. Delicious as ever. I made a short side trip to platypus bay in the hopes to see a wild one, but I’m afraid to say that I saw nothing, just the concentric raindrop splashes on the still surface of Lake St Clair, creating an interference pattern. Oh well, next time maybe!

I emerged from the forest onto wonderful, wide, curated paths with signposts every couple of hundred meters. Clearly close to the visitor centre, and sure enough before long, I reached the end of the Overland Track. Done it! I got into the visitor centre with the attached restaurant quickly, leaving my waterproofs hung up, dripping, outside, and found myself sitting at a table with Bronte, Eddie and Norbert! Surprise surprise! They had only just arrived ahead of me! I demolished some cake, a lot of tea and eventually a full plate of chips and a veggie burger. Satisfying for sure. Whilst I waited for my shuttle bus, I bought and then wrote some postcards. The rain pounded down on the visitor centre and the news on my phone told me about there was flooding elsewhere in Australia.

My shuttle bus arrived and I left with the driver, Steve. We had to take a detour to get back to Launceston, turning a 2hr drive into a 4:30hr drive due to the flooding, but we had a wonderful chat along the way about all things hiking, politics and travel. The rain trickled out of the sky for the entirety of the journey, the wipers going at full blast.

Comments (7)

  1. Ishbel

    Reply

    all this reading about hiking is making my feet itch! so glad you are having an absolute whale of a time

  2. Elyse

    Reply

    Al
    Imogen and I are so pleased to have met you. Reading this makes us beam with massive smiles. Can’t wait to bump into you some time somewhere in the world ! Keep exploring x

  3. Finnian

    Reply

    Hey Al.
    Such a lovely way to record your adventures. Brings a smile to my face. Wish I had been walking with you and thr other wondering adventurers.

  4. Erin

    Reply

    Finally got around to reading this and loved every second! Well written and amazing photos. You’re the best Al!

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *