Tasmania 1999
After we did the Overland Track in 1997 I wanted to return and walk it again, except this time take our time and hopefully get some better weather. In February 1999 myself and my brother Phillip returned to do the walk over 10 days rather than 6 and start from Lake St Clair rather than Cradle Mountain.
A friend called Robert also journeyed with me but could not stay for long enough to do the whole walk due to business commitments, so we went down a few days before my brother Phillip (who could not get off work earlier) and did the Walls of Jerusalem.
Before I bore you with my travel story, here are some useful links if you are thinking about doing some bushwalking in Tasmania.
Links
Tasmanian Wilderness Travel for getting to and from the walks.
The journey...
It began on an overcast day in Sydney airport, we caught a BA??? jet to Launceston, in a bit over an hour we were in Tasmania drenched in beautiful sunshine. In to Launceston to find a supermarket, after a number of failed attempts nearly going down every street in the CBD, we decided to go to the North of the city. Still no success so we decided to head towards the start of the walk and I knew we were going through a town with a supermarket. On the way out of town we came across the supermarket, plain as day, we had fuel but we wasted about an hour.
Then brilliant navigation on my part and we had to do the "we're going the wrong way we have to do a U-ey", a loss of another half an hour before we got back on track. We got to Mole Creek where we had a late lunch, then onto the start of the Walls of Jerusalem, it was nearly 3 o'clock by the time we got there. I was a bit stressed as I knew we had a fair walk, and I because of this I had let myself get a bit dehydrated.
The walk starts with the track going up in a medium type grade, I made the mistake as well as not drinking enough before the walk of starting up the track to fast, as a result after 20 minutes I was dead. The 45 minute walk to the first hut it describes in the book took me about an hour and a half, though even if I was feeling better it still would have taken a good hour (with pack). Of course I am a rather large boy so that does not help!
To be continued...