Day 4 on the South Coast Track. All but one of the posse awoke happy to a scorcher of a day on the coast. Unfortunately classic Alfredo had failed to wash his hands sufficiently somewhere along the journey and had come down with a bout of gastro. So we donated all our hydrolyte, hand sanitiser and corking pills to Gastro Boy before we took off from Deadman’s Bay. Unfortunately for him, today we had decided to make a long day of it and make for Surprise Bay camp. Day 4 was easily the highlight of the trip as we were treated to seals, boats, swimming, side trips, snakes, sunsets, and Surprise Bay itself was alright too.

 

Big balls procrastinating at camp

A little sapling rising like a phoenix

Clouds in the tea

A mirror-like stream at Deadman’s Bay

Gastro Boy preparing to mount the Elephant Seal, near Menzies Bluff

Birdlyfe

Walking the long stretch at Prion Bay

Jesso showing us how she rowed stroke back in highschool – Milford Creek with Precipitous Bluff in the distance

Prion Bay and De Witt Island in the distance

Birdseye view of the crossing

Bush bashing the coastline – “If you really want to do it, you can do it” – Gastro Boy, 2017

We definitely should have waded across this part – Milford Creek

Jesso preparing to boot-up on Milford Creek

Looking back at Prion Bay and De Witt Island

Big balls hanging ten on the conglomerate at Osmiridium Beach

Meandering through the forest in the later arvo as we were nearing camp

Trees

 

Sundown as we were walking into camp at Surprise Bay

Emerging from the forest to an awesome sunset

Highlight – Slowly walking along the beach into day 4 camp as the sun was dropping

Sharp rock formations at Surprise Bay looking out towards Pretty’s Point

Pretty’s Point

Sunset over Surprise Rivulet after having a dip before dinner

Lizzy cooking more complex carbohydrates

Day 3 on the South Coast Track. We awoke to another tip top day in paradise. After a refreshing baptism in Louisa River to get the blood flowing we departed to tackle the Ironbound Range, the biggest climb of the main track. Unfortunately the Mad Hatters had caught up to us again and this led to one or two traffic jams throughout the day. Going up seemed a breeze once we had followed Lizzy’s advice to enter a possessed/meditative state by counting every 8 breaths. The clear weather and open track rewarded us with clear views of the inner South West and coast line. Going down through the dense and moist forest on the South side of the range was a bit of a slog. We encountered many beaten individuals along the way, including one young American guy who had somehow managed to get himself lost for “27 hours” in the bush before coming across the track again. The track eventually opened up into dry coastal forest before we reached a very busy day 3 campsite at Little Deadman’s Bay.

The duckboard highway

Tasmanian Christmas Bells

Nice bonnet Bells

Lizzy and Alfredo on the summit

Views of the South West with Federation Peak in dead centre

A Pandani in the road

The French backpacker

An unknown little cove near Little Deadman’s Bay

Camp day 3

Little Deadman’s Bay at dusk

Alfredo and the French backpacker

Jesso reading her cup of soup sediment

Day 2 on the South Coast Track. After deep late morning sleeps we departed our awesome campsite at Buoy Creek to head inland and up. After a bit of a slog up and over Red Point and Spica Hills we moseyed on down into the Louisa plains where we got some respite from the heat by Louisa creek before charging on. After lunch, those with long legs decided to take on the Louisa Bay side trip for an ocean dip and some casual spelunking before heading on to camp at Louisa River where we reunited with the pack. Upon reflection it appeared that whoever had named the natural features in today’s leg was deeply in love with Louisa.

 

Heading up and over Red Point Hills with Cox Point in the distance

The A-team heading down Spica Hills

Louisa Creek

Dem Tannins

Tea break at Louisa Creek

Bells crossing at a random stream

Louisa Bay

A funky rock island at Louisa Bay with Louisa Island in the distance

Big balls and classic Alfredo spelunking

Rave cave

Riverside convos

Camp day 2 with my amazing patented rock seat

The first day of the South Coast Track in South West Tasmania. We set out from Melaleuca in the mid-late arvo after a bit of a delay with our flight. There was a large group of hatted men hot on our trail so with fresh legs and scattered minds we decided to hot foot it to the next campsite at Buoy Creek for an excellent nights sleep.

The ‘true believers’ on the airstrip before making shapes

Cox Bight – The first taste of the coast

Leopard seal chilling out

 

Grey sand, grey skies

Stinkfish

Cox Bluff

A sharp rocky outcrop

Cox bluff and some interesting lighting

A seagull with prime position

Camp day 1 – Buoy Creek

Ta

Big balls inflating the sarcophagus

Dining in style

Classic Alfredo toasting marshmallows

Sunset over Point Cox from Buoy Creek