I landed at Launceston on 10th March, then the rest of the people from our bushwalking group and I have been picked up from Launceston airport the next day & driven to the ‘edge of the world’. It was a 3.5 hour drive.  The walk started from Arthur River, it was much along the ocean with bits & pieces inland.

11 March 2017

The journey started from the end of the world, this end of the world:

This section of the track was shared by 4WD, hikers, dogs, wallabies and from the footprints, horses.

There was a section at the beginning of the track where logs apparently swept up by the sea blocked part of the beach.

We camped next to a stream on the first night. The organizer of the trip was experienced and had planned the trip in such a way that we were camping near water sources most of the nights. Not only we were able to re-fill our water, there was also opportunity to take a quick dip.

Apparently there were also Aboriginal carvings near our campsite on the first night.

12 March 2017

We woke up in the rain, the weather was gloomy all the way until lunch. It’s the day we spotted the first sick penguin and we called WIRES from my phone, but there was nothing much else we could do.

There were a few smaller towns along the way and some houses had solar panels, I even spotted one with both solar panels and windmill. Nearly all of them had rain water tanks. I guess the drawback of living in such a beautiful place close to nature is the lacking of utility such as electricity and water so one has to live off the grid.

Lunch was at a scenic little lagoon. A few people dipped into water for a quick swim while I was busy drying the tent.

We came across a few beaches filled with seaweed. It smelt awful. I was uncertain whether it was from the rotting seaweed or the rotten seafood, I mean sea creature wrapped in those seaweed. Seagulls seemed to not mind the smell and happy to be next to it though.

13 March 2017

The first three days, we had to share the beach with 4 wheel drives and buggies. When automobiles go pass you every 30 minutes, it doesn’t feel too much like a wildness track. On the good side, we have been getting water from the friendly local drivers.

The weather has improved since the second day. By the third day, there was amazing blue sky. It’s marvellous to walk on the beach where there was endless ocean on one side, and perpetual sand dunes on the other.

We saw the second sick penguin on our journey, but this one was in much better condition than the last one. It turned itself around and prepared to go back to the sea.

14 March 2017

It’s the first day into the territory where no vehicles were allowed. We bush bashed a bit and was slight lost in the morning. But soon we found our orientation, and ended on the beach. It’s not terribly hard since it’s a coast walk, we aimed for the beach, any beach really. Then we headed south as usual.

By the afternoon, we ended on the endless beach again. Because the landscape was fairly exposed, the wind showed its power. There were forceful waves on our right side, we had to be careful dodging some persistent invading ones, and we could see sand has been blown off the sand dunes on our left.

Occasionally tide caught up with one of us and one ended up with wet boots.

15 March 2017

This morning, we walked into an area full of bush food. There were a few people in the group who were experienced in bushcrafts. So I had some fresh bush fruit. It was great experience.

We pitched our tent next to an open area next to the cliff. The wind picked up at night, I laid in my tent, worried about when my tent was going to give in and collapse on me. I even got out trying to tie down the line, but it did work – the gale was too strong. The around 4am, the wind changed direction and with it, brought the rain. This somewhat relieved pressure on my tent, so I was able to get some sleep finally.

16 March 2017

After a night of strong wind, I woke up in a half collapsed tent and only had 2-3 hours of sleep.

Because it rained during the previous night and in early morning, we had to go across a few swamp.

I jokely called the water we have been drink the pure ‘Tasmania tea’ because of slightly yellowish stain in the water. But it’s very safe to drink, because the water was mainly from creeks and there were very few farms and towns up the stream. Colour of the water was from leaves.

The journey ended on the bank of Pieman River. We took a ferry down to Corinna, and were picked up by a shuttle bus after lunch.

17 March -18 March 2017

Back in Launceston, rested a bit, food was good.