The Tarkine is a 3500 sq km wilderness stretching from Arthur River in the north to the Pieman River in the south. For years conservationists have been battling to have the area awarded World Heritage status courtesy of its archaeological worth. Despite its undeniable indigenous heritage value the Tassie government gave the nod for the area to be logged opening the door for the forestry industry to start hacking at some 2000 sq km of pristine and unspoiled rainforest.
The only road through the area – known locally as the “road to no where” – is only accessible by 4x4s, and with William still smarting from his forced oil change, we decided this was one part of Tassie that, for us at least, was out of bounds. Instead we retraced our steps along the top to Wynyard – another shit hole – from where we took the Murchison Highway and headed south through the steep and winding Hellyer Gorge.
Situated in the central west the Cradle Mountain – Lake St Clair National Park is perhaps the most famous and most visited of Tasmania’s countless national parks. The area has been utilised by Aboriginals and, more recently, has seen miners, surveyors and timber getters pass through. It took an Austrian couple to bring lasting fame to the area; in 1912 Gustav and Kate Weindorfer built a chalet at Cradle Valley after declaring the park a place “for the people of all time to come and love”.
Today the park is home to the much celebrated week-long Overland Walk (such is its prominence and popularity walking numbers are restricted to 60 a day), while boasting a plethora of day walks of varying difficulty. We decided to attempt an eight hour circuit including two summits: Hansons Peak (1185m) and the jaw-dropping Cradle Mtn, the state’s second highest at 1545m.
The only road through the area – known locally as the “road to no where” – is only accessible by 4x4s, and with William still smarting from his forced oil change, we decided this was one part of Tassie that, for us at least, was out of bounds. Instead we retraced our steps along the top to Wynyard – another shit hole – from where we took the Murchison Highway and headed south through the steep and winding Hellyer Gorge. 
Situated in the central west the Cradle Mountain – Lake St Clair National Park is perhaps the most famous and most visited of Tasmania’s countless national parks. The area has been utilised by Aboriginals and, more recently, has seen miners, surveyors and timber getters pass through. It took an Austrian couple to bring lasting fame to the area; in 1912 Gustav and Kate Weindorfer built a chalet at Cradle Valley after declaring the park a place “for the people of all time to come and love”.
Today the park is home to the much celebrated week-long Overland Walk (such is its prominence and popularity walking numbers are restricted to 60 a day), while boasting a plethora of day walks of varying difficulty. We decided to attempt an eight hour circuit including two summits: Hansons Peak (1185m) and the jaw-dropping Cradle Mtn, the state’s second highest at 1545m.
The hike was simply awesome, and even the weather smiled with the heavy rain and thick cloud that greeted our morning arrival in the park lifting by midday. The walking was tough and, at times, scary, both of us forced to rely on metal chains to haul ourselves up rocky faces and orange topped posts to navigate the way. The one hour push to the top of Cradle required total concentration, with a slip in any direction surely proving fatal, or at best ending with broken limbs!
Relaxing with a few beers afterwards a truly great day was completed when, much to our surprise, we clocked a few tassie devils wandering by. Unlike the now extinct tassie tiger (like the abdominal snowman, there continue to be random sightings) devils are still going strong, although their numbers have been decimated by a facial tumour disease that kills the animal off within a matter of months. Wildlife authorities are working overtime to track and understand the disease, while a number of centres have popped up with the aim of boosting numbers in captivity and reintroducing into the wild (they use tourism to boost the coffers)
Seeing a tassie devil just about completed our wildlife set. Already we’d been harassed by wallabies, pestered by possums, enchanted by echidnas (a cross between a hedgehog and porcupine) jumped over snakes (there are three types in Tasmania and they’re all poisonous), screeched at spiders (they’re big, they’re hairy and they jump!), and swerved to miss the armour plated wombat. All that eludes us is the rare duck-billed platypus – but time is still on our side!
Relaxing with a few beers afterwards a truly great day was completed when, much to our surprise, we clocked a few tassie devils wandering by. Unlike the now extinct tassie tiger (like the abdominal snowman, there continue to be random sightings) devils are still going strong, although their numbers have been decimated by a facial tumour disease that kills the animal off within a matter of months. Wildlife authorities are working overtime to track and understand the disease, while a number of centres have popped up with the aim of boosting numbers in captivity and reintroducing into the wild (they use tourism to boost the coffers)
Seeing a tassie devil just about completed our wildlife set. Already we’d been harassed by wallabies, pestered by possums, enchanted by echidnas (a cross between a hedgehog and porcupine) jumped over snakes (there are three types in Tasmania and they’re all poisonous), screeched at spiders (they’re big, they’re hairy and they jump!), and swerved to miss the armour plated wombat. All that eludes us is the rare duck-billed platypus – but time is still on our side! 
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