Just a quick note to say Happy Holidays and remind you that I’m off on my hike tomorrow. I’ve added flickr notes to a pic of what I’m taking with me. There is some shared stuff in my GF’s pack that isn’t included but I might add hers later. Click on the photo to get the notes.

I’m looking forward to this, most of I’m looking forward to seeing a sky full of stars again. I think it’s been a long time since I last got to see the whole night sky. Anyway so we have an early start tomorrow, dropping the dog off at the kennel and then the drive and start of the car shuffle to get up to Cradle Mountain. We have a night there and then we start, 80km in 5-6 days. Hopefully it doesn’t kill me.

We’ll been gone for new years too so Happy New Years. Have a great time.

I went to book the bus from Lake St Claire to Cradle Mountain today and found that there is no bus service on the day we need it. We could charter but the standard fees were 4 times more expensive and might have been even worse considering we need it on a public holiday. So it looks like we will be doing a 2 car shuffle unless we can think of some other solution or find someone who is looking to share a charter. That means driving two cars up to Lake St Claire, leaving one there, driving the rest of the way to Cradle and leaving one there. Then at the end of the walk driving back to Cradle to pick up the car from there and then driving back home in two cars again. Ain’t that going to be fun!

With a bit of luck we’ll at least get some good accommodation up there for the night before we start.

I’ve been putting a route idea into Google Maps\Earth which I’ll have up soon, it will give a better idea of my plans as they are in my head. I’ve found this to be a pretty cool way to do an Itinerary/Route mesh-up. I also have the Overland Track route mapped in it so I’ll post that too.

Over the weekend we had Christmas in November with my Parents\Sisters as they are going to the mainland over Christmas. We got movie ticket vouchers from Mum & Dad and Into the Wild comes out here in Oz tomorrow, so I’ll be seeing that since I’ve been hanging out for it for so long. Sounds like I will be going myself though, my girlfriend doesn’t want to see it.

I’m being tempted into a theme change. I think going to a magazine style theme like BraveNewTraveler and Vagabondish have gone to will allow me to organise my plans, routes, etc into something that is more attractive and more useful. To be honest though, I’m sick of the work that goes into changing themes and getting everything to work they way you want it again. If I continue to consider it I’ll be making damn sure I get a setup that is exactly what I want so that there will be minimal changes in the future.

The Overland Track is Tasmania’s and possibly Australia’s premier hiking experience, starting at the world renowned Cradle Mountain it snakes through Cradle Mountain and Lake St Claire National Park in Tasmania’s central highlands. The track is about 80km long (Depending on start/finish points and sidetracks). It is open all year round but in the walking season (1 November to 30 April) a booking is required which includes a $150 fee and the requirement to walk North to South.

Assuming you already have the gear required for a 5-8 Day walk and transportation (To Tasmania at least) arranged and are planning to walk during the walking season I will outline the planning and preparation required from there.

• Before leaving anywhere you need to book for the day you will begin the walk, you can do this at http://www.overlandtrack.com.au, by phone on (03 6233 6047) or in person at the Cradle, Lake St Clair, Freycinet or Mt Field visitor centers. From November 1 2007 the booking fee is $150* per person.

*The fee was previously $100, the recently announced $50 increase is receiving many complaints from Tasmanian walkers, Parks Minister Paula Wriedt attempted to justify the fee by comparing the track to other international walks, specifically New Zealand and calling the track “loved to death and crowded”. Media release, Track fee scare (The Mercury) and Walkers kick at fee hike (The Mercury). Unfortunately although the fee goes directly back into parks projects little of it is presently going towards the actual OT, fees are currently being mostly used to provide the shuttle bus service and visitor receptions areas for day visitors.

• Transport to and from the trail heads can be by private vehicle or bus, there are a number of bus services, TassieLink having one other the easier to book services, however it is worth shopping around. If you can arrange private transport for drop off and pickup it will likely save you a significant amount.

• Park entry incurs yet another fee, for visitors to the state the 8 week (vehicle) pass is probably the most suitable but you can check which pass best suits your needs at the PWS entry fees page.

It is a good idea to spend your first day at least just to explore the Cradle area, there are a number of accommodation options near the park entry ranging from backpackers to luxury accommodation everything in between. The Cradle Chateau has the excellent Wilderness Gallery which showcases photography of Tasmania and is really worth a look, however their accommodation is a little less inspiring than even many of the cheaper options. Prices are significantly cheaper during the winter months if you feel up to tackling the snow.

It getting closer to my own Overland adventure, so far all I have done is booked the walk, we still have to renew our parks pass about one month before the walk, sort out transport and I need to confirm the dog is booked into a kennel, which I’ll do today. It will be time soon to step up the training, I need to walk with a full pack more often and build some core strength so that I don’t pike two days in. I’ll outline some further preparation for the OT as I do it in future posts.

I booked our day to start the Overland Track last night, 27th December. The booking system only opened on the 1st July and I found that January already had a few days with only a few spots left in the 3 days the system had been open. The cost was $300 for two, steep really. Plus we need to renew out parks pass in December. Earlier in the year the minister announced the fee would increase from $100 to $150, citing that it brought the cost in line with similar popular walks in New Zealand (Eg, Milford and Kepler Tracks), what she didn’t mention is how much better managed those tracks are and how you get your value for money. The huts on the NZ walks are of a much higher quality and in bad weather you even get choppered to the next hut, the tracks themselves are also apparently in better condition.

The track is also apparently in danger of being “loved to death” and so a new walk of similar length is being planned on the Tasman Peninsula called the Three Capes Track, there seems to be a few problems with this plan.

1. It’s a completely different type of walk, it’s coastal not highland like the Overland. People walk the OT because they want to do a highland walk.
2. They are planning a similar booking system and fee before the track has even proven itself worthy.
3. New huts to be $40 a night, for a bunk in hut!
4. It can be walked in sections for free anyway.

Obviously I’m not really convinced it will lighten the load on the Overland Track, by itself though I think it could be good. I know the new walk wouldn’t sway me to do that instead of the Overland and I think there are a number of other walks they could have simply improved infrastructure on. The $40 a night adds up to $200 for the walk, $50 more than the OT, this probably means we can expect further increases to fees on the OT in the future.

I think the Walls of Jerusalem are an alternative now because they are not far from Cradle Mountain are free, plus you are more free to explore. If there is one thing I can suggest to the Tasmanian government it is a “Tasmanian Card”, Tasmanians should at least be able to do these walks at a discounted rate if not for free. Tasmanians only account for 6% of OT walkers so it wouldn’t be a huge blow to the budget, plus it could be extended to businesses. There are far to many places in Tasmania where locals are forced to pay tourist prices. And why the hell does everything have to be Gourmet? It seems we call it gourmet here even if it’s far from it. Gourmet goes beyond presentation.

[tags]Tasmania, Overland Track, Three Capes Track, Tasman Peninsula[/tags]

Last weekend I spent most of my Saturday running around in the bush aiming at peoples heads and pulling the trigger without a second thought other than making sure the person I was shooting at didn’t look like me. It was a game of course the guns were infra-red and the only thing really different between me and my enemy was the hats we wore. If you’re like Jack Thompson you might think that spending your weekend doing such things can’t be good for your mental health, it may even make me a more violent person. That may be true of Jack but in real life the effect of computer games and related media is far more subjective than he would have you believe. Of the 30 odd others who took part in the game with me maybe I was the only one who thought about what we were doing, I don’t know. I was aware that there would be some degree of realism that could definitely give me a better understanding of what war may actually be like. This is what I learned.

I believe that from understanding comes a greater level of respect and experience is the best way to understand. Our first mission was simply a team on team firefight 20 minutes long, both teams sustained at least a 200% casualty rate (we were given multiple lives), I was killed 3 times in that 20 minutes. I was shocked, the realisation was that if for some reason I was ever forced to fight in a war there is a very high chance I would be killed, anyone who has thought about going to war thinks they would survive, the reality is far from what is in your head.

Before going on I must say that I am under no illusion that this was somehow a highly realistic affair, there is no way to compare the gore, atmosphere, bullets flying around you, explosions and the difference actual military training and teamwork on a real battlefield to a bunch of people running around with phasers. But with that understanding there is still much you can learn.

I found the Australian bush is not a friendly place to fight in, although we were limited in the area we could fight in which intensified the situation combat happens at surprisingly close range quite often anyway because it’s fairly easy to keep well hidden. One annoying thing was that there is a sensor on your gun so you get shot when it’s actually your gun that gets shot, shooting a gun is a fair tactic but it doesn’t effect your health normally now does it?

Probably the most realistic game we played was the “capture the flag” type scenario, we started out defending all we had to do was maintain control of the area around our flag. Obviously this involves setting up a perimeter and defending from there of course you could scout too but that didn’t prove to be a good idea as the other team discovered. We succeeded in defending our territory and when the scores came in it was obvious that attacking meant taking a lot of casualties. So when our turn came to attack we had a bit of an advantage in knowing where it was hardest to defend the flag from. I was in a group of about 5 who tried to flank their base and come in from the rear which turned into a bit of a debacle that got us all killed. I think everyone but me gave up on that idea except me but this time I took a wider berth, the other team had been maybe a bit too aggressive in their defense and while my team was taking care of them I crawled into their base and directly under their flag and found a few others doing the same. I was surprised I thought defending was quite easy but obviously if you don’t deal with someone getting in right away it makes things very difficult.

I felt in those two games a real soldier probably doesn’t think to much about what they are fighting for, at least not on the attack, I imagine seeing so many people die around you in what in the moment only amounts to gaining ground on the enemy it all seems quite pointless, who cares about the ground when it’s costing lives? I just doesn’t seem worth it.

So it was actually a very fun day and if you ever get the chance to play Laser Skirmish of Paintball in a bush setting, I say go for it. There is a gallery of pics taken from our Skirmish here. I’m looking forward to our next event where I can try out some new tactics, Hasta la vista baby.

This is a bit of a Community Service Announcement, there have been a few reports in the news lately about the misuse of EPIRBs in Tasmania. Two notable occasions were a Swiss couple who activated their EPIRB after getting their 4WD bogged just 7Km’s from a main road and a group of South Australian’s walking the South Coast Track who became too tired to complete the rest of the walk, obviously the Rescue team was not impressed as they only lifter one person out so that he could arrange a private charter helicoptor to retrive the others, and fair enough. As I started writing this last night there was a short on TV that there would be a story in todays newspaper, so here is a link to the story on The Mercury website, SOS call for sanity. A couple of days earlier was this article, Wrong EPIRB use set to cost. Charging for misuse seeming to be getting a lot of public backing and it will probably go ahead, considering the Search and Rescue helicopter responds to most activations plus the usual services you can imagine it is quite costly, $1000’s for each call.

What is an EPIRB?

Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacons. When activated, the beacons send out a distress signal that allows it to be located by the satellite system and search and rescue aircraft to locate the people, boat or aircraft needing rescue. They may also be known as Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs) and Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs).

When to use an EPIRB 

And by use I mean activate. Simply you should only use an EPIRB when your life is in danger, obviously a bogged car or tired legs don’t count as a life threatening situation. There are a few less dire situations where an EPIRB may be activated but I won’t list them simply because I want to avoid having to write a disclaimer, etc. I’m sure you can imagine for yourselves what they might be.

How to avoid having to use an EPIRB

As they say ”prevention is better than cure” and this applies to EPIRBs. On extended trips you should always carry enough food and water for at least an extra two days, that way if you get stuck somewhere because of weather or your just not making good time you have two days to play with.

Know your limits don’t set out on a week long walk if all you’ve done before is overnight trips.

Don’t panic, think with a clear head about what you can do to help yourself and what others might be able to do for you. Exhaust all other means of escaping the situation and most of all use common sense.

[tags]EPIRB, Emergency, Hiking, Tasmania, Safety[/tags]

[tag]Tasmania[/tag] is well know for it’s [tag]Hiking[/tag] and these walks are what I believe to be the best in Tasmania not only that but they are also some of the most picturesque and definitely the most demanding, although I have not ordered them as such. Tasmania really is the Hiking capital of [tag]Australia[/tag] I hope this and the features I have in the works will inspire people to visit and take in some of the world class experiences for themselves.

1. The [tag]Overland Track[/tag] is Tasmania’s premier walking track, starting in the world heratige [tag]Cradle Mountain[/tag] and Lake St Claire National Park at the famous and majestic Cradle mountain it takes you through Tasmania’s central highlands to Australia’s deepest lake, Lake St Claire.

2. The Western Arthurs in Tasmania’s remote South-West is possibly Australia’s hardest walk, it takes you to 22 major peaks and 30 glacial lakes and is home to the stunning Lake Oberon which is a paradise on par with The Beach before The Beach and the Tourists and the Longboats but for bushwalkers.

3. Frenchman’s Cap also in the South-West is another hard walk, just last week a walker fell and died in front of his walking partner, these two walkers were also the only ones on the track at the time. It’s not friendly and it starts by inviting you into what is often waist deep mud, it’s demanding and that is why it’s on the top of most Tasmanian climbers and walkers peak bagging lists.

4. The South Coast Track another in the deep South-West is so remote you have to fly in, or out depending on where you start or not at all if you turn it into a truely epic journey by adding on Melaleuca (the fly in\out point) to Lake Pedder. At the other end is Cockle Creek where Australia’s most southerly road runs to it’s end.

5. The Walls of Jerusalem is right next door to Cradle Mountain but is much less visited it doesn’t have any set track so you could spend a day or a week walking in the area at easy or hard levels, it makes the list for it’s beauty equal to that of the others and the simple fact that it is a fairly easily accessible are to explore at you own pace.

In time I hope to take a look at these walks and other Tasmanian attractions in more depth, anyone wanting to do these walks should have the appropriate experience, knowledge and equipment and do their research well before departing. For more photo’s check out this gallery by Famous Tasmanian photographer Peter Dombrovskis.

You can’t go to one of these expos and expect to be wowed, really most everyone the just wants you to book a flight then and there, a few though offer some other useful information and inspiration for your own independent travels. Mostly I went there to get some brochures most of what are on display are nothing more than hotel catalogues. So after weeding them out I managed to leave with quite a few that actually had some pretty decent looking trip plans and some great photography. These expos cater very much to tourists, I think had I been in Melbourne and went to the Backpacker Expo there instead I would have spent a lot more time there and left with a lot more info and better ideas. Although many of us bag the tourists the truth is they still travel and they travel in a way that suits them, I thank goodness for them, imagine if those Hotel Catalogues had the Philippines or the Andamans?

Unfortunately the one most useful stall that was there last year wasn’t there this time, if I remember correctly it was Tourism Australia or one of the government departments like that. Last year these guys had heaps of advice and stuff for Visas, Passports, etc.

So the place to find useful information for travel remains the internet and probably best of all people with similar travel desires as you who can share personal experiences and recommend sightseeing, hotels\hostels, etc.

[thumb:57:l:l=g]I have updated the Gallery with some photos I took of Mt Wellington shortly before Xmas, let me know what you think.

While I’m here I should also point you in the direction of another fantastic travel blog BraveNewTraveler is fairly new but there is already heaps of great articles there, really top quality.

2 Weekends ago we went down to the Tasman Peninsula, unfortunately we didn’t get to complete the walk we had planned but I will try to do a write up and upload the pics as soon as possible.

Sometimes the easy way is just boring and the route we took to my sisters house for Christmas day is testement to this, the alternative to the Lyell Highway is the Midlands Highway and then doubling back down the west coast, athough this way is longer than the Lyell the road is much better and straighter which makes it 30mins to 1hr faster. The trade off is the Midlands Highway is deathly boring and I’d recommend vistors to [tag]Tasmania[/tag] avoid it at all costs unless you are genuinely interested in the history of the small towns along it. So we set off from [tag]Hobart[/tag] , the Lyell heads north-west roughly skirting the edge of the great south-west wilderness passing some spectacular scenery along the way.

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Before reaching the wild west the highway winds through hilly grazing land before reaching the centeral plateau just after the small Hydro “town” of Tarraleah, although a very small mark on the land from it cutting through the forest is a long line of high voltage overhead powerlines. Our next stop was Lake St Clair the deepest in [tag]Australia[/tag] and during the walking season the end of the famous [tag]Overland Track[/tag]. The lake was an imaginary halfway stop for us where we broke for lunch but unfortunately that was all we had time for. This area also marked the beginning of these somewhat amusing signs.

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The scenery becomes progressively more and more inspiring, passing dolerite mountains, some well known Tasmanian bushwalks and rivers like the Franklin which has been the object many a enviromental debates over the years and into amazing valleys. Unfortunately the rain began to set in now and the views were limited by the low visability but did not lose any character. Soon we were entering Queenstown, we knew we were because the mountains changed, the thick inpenatrable rainforest had gone COMPLETELY. In the town’s earlier mining history the trees were used in the smelters and it has had a devestating effect on the area, although regeneration was started some time ago the thin topsoil on the effected mountains went with the heavy rainfall the west coast recieves making regeneration progress very slow. [tag]Targa Tasmania[/tag] pass through the town attracted by the extremely windy road over the mountain into the town. When we arrived in Rosebery it was mentioned more than once “The best view of “Queeny” is in your rear view mirror”.

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We spent 2 nights in Rosebery for Christmas with family, it rained the whole time, it might have even snowed in the higher areas, this is completely foreign to me as Christmas is normally associated with 30C days although I can’t die happily without one day seeing a white Christmas, rain is different though, it’s gloomy and very unfun.

We left for [tag]Cradle Mountain[/tag] on Boxing Day and on the drive the weather kindly cleared a bit for us. We decided to walk up to Marions Lookout from the Dove Lake carpark which is about 3 hours return and graded moderate, although there are a few sections that would pass as difficult but the view from the top is well worth the effort, Cradle Mountain really does have some of Tasmania’s most spectacular scenery. I’m thinking it would be a really nice place to go to annually so we might go next year too and do the Overland track then.

[tag]Australia Day[/tag] is fast approaching and we have planned 2-3 nights walking down on the [tag]Tasman Peninsula[/tag] so I’m hoping for some good weather and hopefully I will be able to write about it a bit sooner than I have on this trip, which was now 3 weeks ago. I’ve updated the Gallery so please check out the other photos from the trip there, I think some of them aren’t actually too bad.