Walking Tasmania, Cradle Mountain & Freycinet

“Full disclosure folks: as we’re now in the wilds of Tasmania, it’s likely I’ll be swimming sans pantalon.”

This is day one on the guided Bay of Fires hike, and besides three days of coastal beach-trudging and rock-hopping, there’ll be regular stops for ocean swims — swimwear optional. The Bay of Fires is one of 13 “Great Walks of Australia”, a marketing initiative launched in 2013 to showcase Australia’s iconic multi-day hikes. There’s one each in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, two in South Australia. No fewer than six are in Tasmania, so we can call it Australia’s official home of the multi-day hike. Also, possibly, the nude swim.

So, what does it take to be nominated among Australia’s Great Walks? According to the website, “Journeys are led by expert guides with a deep understanding of the environment who help to bring alive the culture, nature and history of each destination. Small intimate group departures, accommodation with a sense of exclusivity and outstanding food and wine combine remote wilderness locations with the ultimate in walking holidays.” In a nutshell, the Great Walks must have architect-designed lodges, hotel-standard beds and showers, amazing regional food and wine, top-notch guides, and all of it with you carrying only a daypack.

One of the things that makes the great outdoors of Australia great, however, is cheap or free public access to hiking trails and beaches. This might seem like an unassailable human right, until you see how much of the rest of the world lives. So, happily, there’s a self-supported version — campsites or communal huts — for all these hikes, too.

Of the six Great Walks that are in Tasmania, so far I’ve done these four.

Cradle Mountain Signature Walk

Amy, who’s 60-ish, from Boise, Idaho, has decided that the grade four (difficult) scramble to the top of Cradle Mountain is beyond her. But Amy’s from Idaho and I know she’ll likely never be here again and I’ve decided I’m going to get her to the summit. “This section does look a bit tricky, but grab the climbing chain, think about kelpies or kangaroos or whatever makes you smile, and let’s do this.”

What is today the Overland Track starts near Cradle Mountain and runs north to south for 65km, through the very heart of Tasmania’s glorious western wilderness. Unique among these four multi-day hikes, this route has a timeless, Tolkien’s “Middle-earth” feel, with its ancient trees that drip with moss, waterfalls, mountain crags, boggy swamps, and lakes that are at times so still, they mirror perfectly the surrounding hills and heathland. And of the four, the Overland is alone in taking well over a century to evolve.

Fur trappers (who, along with possums and wombats and wallabies, did indeed trap thylacines), built the area’s first huts in the 1860s, before trapper and guide Ethelbert (Bert) Nichols established an early version of the Overland Track circa 1931, added to by others and largely completed by the late 1930s. Guided hikes became a thing here in the 1970s, and then in 1982, an incredible 1.5 million ha, or one-fifth of Tasmania’s land mass, was declared as the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Boardwalks and stairs and climbing chains and trail markers continue to improve the Overland further, and hikers from all parts of the world today set out to hike for six days through what has become Cradle Mountain–Lake St Clair National Park.

“Did you hear that rain last night?” I ask Martin, a fellow hiker. “Thunderous, just makes you glad to be alive,” he replies grinning, keen to get cracking with the day. Cradle Mountain gets a whopping 3700mm of rain annually, so if you are going to need the wet weather gear on any of these hikes, it’s this one. Lichens and fungi and wildflowers and mosses are sodden after the overnight downpour, but as Martin and I shoulder backpacks and step out into the morning’s bright sunlight, everything looks to be dripping with diamonds.

In the end I did see Amy to the top of Cradle Mountain, where together we looked out over the lakes and tarns and blindingly colourful wildflower heath, and breathed in what is quite likely the world’s cleanest air. And we shared the unspoken moment had by any two people anywhere who are just starting out on a grand adventure.

Public communal huts and (some) amenities — yes, but you still need to carry your own tent, sleeping and cooking gear; huts aren’t bookable and operate on a first-come, first-served basis.

Freycinet Experience Walk

“We can bait up and go after the flathead?” I probably shouldn’t be so excited, but a boat trip to begin our multi-day hike in Freycinet National Park includes this rare chance to throw a line in. Our group of eight hikers bags a couple of fish to keep plus a few tiddlers to throw back, but mostly it’s a companionable hour getting acquainted with new hiking buddies.

“Hardly fished before,” confides Alex, who’s from Melbourne. “I’d never have guessed that dangling bacon bits from a boat on a sunny day would be such fun,” she confides gleefully. We land at a glistening Crocketts Bay on uninhabited Schouten Island for the round-trip hike up Bear Hill, scrambling near the top over squeezed-together granite boulders. All the while I’m mentally rewarding myself with a skinny dip at deserted Crocketts Beach.

Home for three nights is Friendly Beaches Lodge, exclusive accommodation for Freycinet Experience Walk groups. Freycinet was declared as Tasmania’s first national park (1916), and it’s satisfying to know we’re off-grid here, with rainwater and solar power on site. It’s my first time staying at a schmancy eco-lodge, too, and our rooms sure beat the campsite at Wineglass Bay, where folks tell me of “mozzies the size of dobermans”.

The optional trek to the 579m peak of Mt Graham is the longest we’ll do, at around four hours. It’s a steady trail ascent through a forest of giant gums and bottlebrushes, dotted with ferns and orange fungi. There’s usually a shutterbug or two on these hikes, and it’s only after I’ve noticed Sara making stooping stops for photos that she straightens up from one and proffers her camera. “Aren’t they magical?” I’ve been walking past them, oblivious — tiny purple orchids, sporadic and barely noticeable among the ferns.

Towards the summit we’re on a boardwalk over boggy button grass before it’s a trail again, through fields littered with pink granite boulders. Then from the top we overlook “The Hazards” — four mountain peaks that make up the north rim of Wineglass Bay, arguably the most beautiful beach in the world.

Public huts and communal amenities — no. Campsites — yes.

Cam Wilson was a guest of Tasmanian Walking Company. They have not influenced this story, or read it before publication.

fact file

+ Tasmanian Walking Company offers many walks in Tasmania, in four regiona — Cradle Mountain/Overland Track; Bay of Fires/East Coast; Three Capes/Tasman Peninsula; Bruny Island. The seven day, six night Cradle Mountain Signature Walk is from $5195 to $5295 per person, staying in private huts and at a pre-prepared camp. Its five day, four night Bay of Fires Signature Walk is from $2995 to $3395, staying in the private Bay of Fires Lodge and a private eco camp. taswalkingco.com.au/

+ Great Walks of Australia: greatwalksofaustralia.com.au/

+ For any multi-day Tasmania trek, you’ll want quality gear — expect wet weather, cold weather, exposure, challenging terrain. Trekking poles a must.