publicity of tas national parks

[wayno]

i wonder about the allocation of resources aportioned to different parks in tas
get within 150k's of cradle valley and you've got signs pointing the way there as if it's the only park in the area... it's pretty hard to find road signs pointing to other parks till you get pretty close
i was driving east on bass highway expecting some signage to Narawntapu park, no chance....
i tried some back roads. ad just came to intersections in the area that werent labelled either. i gave up in the end and went to find somewhere more obvious before the day ran out...
i was driving to walls of jerusalem on the northern side but there was no information how long it was to the walking tracks, as the roads deteriorated and i still didnt know how far i had to drive, i decided to just go to cradle valley instead rather than subject teh rental car to too more abuse...
and my first visit to cradle valley it would seem like the area is like a black hole sucking in every tourist who can walk within a hundred miles.... and so much more is just unknown.
do i have to go out and get high res maps of every area i want to walk in to actually be able to find the place?
i'm just visiting the island, theres a lot to see and only so much time for someone like me to be able to spend trying to get to places so i've ended up just going to the popular places that i have a chance of finding
but i've stood on enough mountain tops in tas now to see that i've barely scratched the surface of whats out there, but from the publicity thats out there especially with road signs you'd think theres only a handful of places to visit... and thats been one of the biggest downsides visting tas, when i do get to a track i've never been disappointed, its a shame its not easier to see more of the parks and spread the tourist load around instead of disney cradle....

[Hallu]

I'm actually surprised you're surprised, but yeah Tassie is like that, not many signs pointing at NPs. You wanna go somewhere, you need maps. I found Narawntapu pretty easily, but I have the Hema Atlas & Guide Tasmania which is a gem ( http://www.exploroz.com/Shop/Hema+Tasma ... Guide.aspx ). If you're still in Tassie, get your hands on it, it prevents you from buying a ton of maps. Or at least get the 4 250,000:1 scale maps there are ( https://www.tasmap.tas.gov.au/do/category/250000TOPO ). I'm also always asking about conditions of the roads before going somewhere. The road to Mount William NP is pretty corrugated for example, and the link between the West of Narawntapu and the East is quite rough, whereas the Western Explorer, between Arthur River and Corina, is in quite good shape although advertised as pretty difficult. Driving on unsealed roads requires that you know the distances and check your odometer, otherwise you'll think it's going nowhere.

How long are you gonna still be there ? To me, Narawntapu is a must see, at least camping there at Springlawn because of all the wildlife (nowhere else will you see so many kangaroos, wallabies, pademelons and wombats together), and the swamp is beautiful. Rocky Cape NP is very nice too, and if you walk to Anniversary Point/Bay you'll be pretty much alone (I was in late November), the road is fully sealed until Sisters Beach where the walks start too.

Don't worry too much about the rental car, I think that no 2WD road in Tasmania is worse than the Mount Aspiring Road and its corrugations/river crossings which you must know pretty well, or than the road toward the Remarkables ski fields. Rental companies are used to get the car back full of dust and they don't care as long as you don't have serious damage. Last time in 4 days I drove to Trial Harbour, did the Western Explorer, drove to some villages on the West coast with pretty bad roads, got to some rough driving near Narawntapu, and it was fine. You just need to evaluate how long it's gonna take, and for this you need to know road conditions. I'm sure if you ask about any road on this forum, somebody will know.

[wayno]

its the sheer contrast in publicity thats surprising.... cradle valley seems to overshadow all other parks...
they've gone to the trouble of clearly signposting it from the Bass highway. and nothing for other parks from the highway...
interesting , i went round crater lake, joined the mid day rush of walkers heading up on the overland track and doing cradle mountain, . on the other side of the lake didnt see a single person..
people are making a beeline for specific tracks only. the toilet at kitchen hut is a laugh, one toilet massive queue, must be interesting in the really bad weather.

[Hallu]

Yep you got it, people follow like sheep where they are told to by massive touristy brochures/organisations, they don't bother exploring. Go to Barn Bluff or as you did behind Crater Lake (and around Wombat Pool as well) you may not see a soul. But go to the junction up Crater Lake or at the boat shed near Dove Lake and it's packed. I have a friend who actually drove back at the sight of so many people at the car parks. Lake St Clair doesn't get that many people, and yet it is easier to access than Cradle. Besides in all directions from Cradle you've got places of comparable beauty less than 100 km far, and no crowds. Up North you've got Rocky Cape, West you've got Mt Murchison, East you've got the Walls and South Frenchmans Cap, Mt Rufus, The Acropolis etc... It's the same in mainland Australia : once you know where the sheep go, it's so easy to be alone (a common example is Wilsons Prom' : Tidal River, Normand/Squeaky beaches are packed, but go to Tongue Point and Millars Landing, there's no one).

[wayno]

yes i didnt see anyone on mt rufus above the turnoff to the lower tracks. at lake st clair, the track starts right at the road end. what a fantastic track, well cut and marked, just not the footpath of the overland track, a bit rocky,
killer views. i could see the fire at molesworth. no end of mountain ranges in the west could be seen...
i dont now how cradle mountain area compares to tongariro crossing, last time i was there, i got there early around 7am, there were a few dozen people around,,, after i came back from the side trip to mt tongariro, there was an endless stream of hundreds of people on the track..it gets up to 1000 people a day , the vast majority start within an hour or two of each other, travelling in the same direction on the crossing...
the best time to do it, is earlier than 7am.... and don't let the crowds catch you up... or do it in winter. or in borderline weather when the shuttle companies won't run... although at the moment the northern half of the walk is closed because of eruptions from te maari crater...
experiences like this show you how to turn the finest day walks in the world , into some of the worst

[Strider]

Off topic, but how many snakes have you seen Wayno?

[wayno]

dont know if i'll get to go to Narawntapu, bad planning and last minute trip changes mean i've driven 1600km in a week mainly on back roads... i think I've run out of steam....

[wayno]

Off topic, but how many snakes have you seen Wayno?

heaps,,,, at the bicheno animal park..... tiger snakes....

actually on the climb to mt rufus my girlfriend was in front, she walked right over a snake and didnt see it, neither did I till it moved.. it was massive,,, it took one look at me and moved away....
it was all of 150mm long.....

there were numerous entries at the lake st clair log book seeing snakes on the rufus track up to a metre long the day before...

bit sobering seeing a full size one in bicheno

[north-north-west]

For some reason 90% of the publicity aqbout Tasmania focuses on Freycinet (Wineglass, basically), Port Arthur and Cradle.
Not that I'm complainng when it makes it so much easier to get away from the hordes . . .

[tastrax]

Best publication is the "Visitor Guide to National Parks and Reserves" this covers many more than the "tourist spots"

http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=236

http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/file.aspx?id=16546 - 12Mb download though or available at visitor centres

[wayno]

knowing about the spots isnt the problem, finding how to get to them is...

[Strider]

I'm in NZ at the moment. Most of the street signs seem to be on the opposite sides to the actual streets! Luckily I grew up here so know my way around well.

[wayno]

yeah we do tht to put the aussies off, doesnt seem to work though, they just keep turning up...

[Hallu]

On my first visit to Tassie I didn't have a proper map, but since I visited the basic places like Tasman NP, Freycinet, Cradle, & Mount Field it wasn't a problem. The tough one was around Mount William NP and not knowing where petrol stations were. Now it's atlas + detailed maps + even the GPS on my smartphone because sometimes you think "no this a ridiculous and hidden small turn it can't be there" and yes it is. But ironically the toughest spot to find your way in a car in Tassie to me is Launceston. That city is a driving nightmare. One way streets, late signs, roads so close on the map you think they're connected and they're not etc... It's like a European city : you don't know it until you've gotten lost several times in it.

[ollster]

But ironically the toughest spot to find your way in a car in Tassie to me is Launceston. That city is a driving nightmare. One way streets, late signs, roads so close on the map you think they're connected and they're not etc... It's like a European city : you don't know it until you've gotten lost several times in it.

It's the only way they get people to stay there.

[wayno]

i rate burnie as worse, industrial port... trains going and sounding their horns in the middle of the night, if you're near the highway or the city centre you'll hear trucks as as well. some using engine breaks...

[wayno]

i know i was getting close to narwantapu, but when i started hitting intersections that werent properly signposted, i wasnt sure whether i was heading for sorell on the other side of the inlet or narwantapu, and i'd started to have enough of driving.... ironically i was at one intersection and i think i was looking at the road to narwantapu but no way to tell , went back to bass highway to try and find signs pointing to narwantapu but never found them and ended up driving out of the area. and i was past wanting to turn around at that stage. but i may well have been within a few k's of narwantapu.. ironical and frustrating... the map i had was missing some roads and showed the intersections incorrectly that was from a brochure... i think what happened was i came off bass highway and went down oppenheim rd although i never saw the name anywhere and at the end saw the sign to sorell and turned the other way, i shold have turned towards sorrell and would have hit frankford rd and then i could have turned right and hit beach rd to get to narwantapu, assuming they were all labelled.
http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?q=tasmani ... n&t=m&z=13

so who decides which parks get road signs to them and which ones don't i was closer to narwantapu than cradle mountain but all i saw on bass highway was cradle mountain signs, massive ones...

[MrWalker]

so who decides which parks get road signs to them and which ones don't i was closer to narwantapu than cradle mountain but all i saw on bass highway was cradle mountain signs, massive ones...

Cradle Mt is set up to handle massive numbers of vistors, but most of the other parks are intended to give you a "wilderness experience". You can't get that if there are any other people there, so we make it as hard as possible to get to the other parks.

[wayno]

so who decides which parks get road signs to them and which ones don't i was closer to narwantapu than cradle mountain but all i saw on bass highway was cradle mountain signs, massive ones...

Cradle Mt is set up to handle massive numbers of vistors, but most of the other parks are intended to give you a "wilderness experience". You can't get that if there are any other people there, so we make it as hard as possible to get to the other parks.

in that case, they have succeeded in that aim....

[Son of a Beach]

I agree with that there a not a lot of signs to help find most of our national parks. But I'm surprised that people find it to be such a big problem. I would have thought that before setting out in a car to find a particular location, that a driver would have already planned their route on a map. I've just checked my 1:250,000 road map of the entire state, and both Narwantapu and Walls of Jerusalem national parks are quite easy to navigate to using those maps.

Of course more signs would make it even easier.

For national parks, I would have thought that if you wanted more information than on the basic road map then consulting the PWS web site would be a good place to start. They must have information on how to find each national park.

ah... just checked. They do, but it's pretty awful. Relying on Google Maps for this is a BAD IDEA. Their page for access to Narwantapu shows a Google Map that doesn't actually include any labelling for Narwantapu at all. http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=3669

[Hallu]

Yeah Burnie sucks but Stanley is great, you should go there. Great seafood too.

[whynotwalk]

Wayno - first off, good to have you over from "God's Own" ... and in "God's Other Own". Two best places in the world, the South Island and Tassie

Three comments on your comments: one serious, and two the kind of banter you kiwis expect from us

1) I've heard that Parks (PWS) is working on a project to develop "gateway signs" to address exactly the problem you ran into. Of course PWS doesn't have jurisdiction over roadways ... so all such signs have to go through a department aptly named DIER Anyway, if all goes well, they reckon there will be a much better set of signs showing the way to national parks.

2) Were you just being blokey by not actually getting out and asking locals where these places were? Even getting directions from some of the stalwarts here would've helped (or were you on a secret mission )

3) At least our bridges allow two-way traffic

Anyway - apart from some back-road hooning, what have been your highlights?

cheers

Peter

[wayno]

2, i never came across anyone to ask the way in the couple of places i was lost..
narwantapu was just a last minute decision, didnt know about it till the last minute and just winged it and thought i'd find my way there which didnt work out at the time, i've gone past the area but next time i know how to get there.

highlights.
most of the walks i've done
cape hauy, tasman park, outstanding rock structures and views,
organ pipes mt wellington , again outstanding..
mt rufus. another outstanding walk, superlative 360 views, can see forever on a good day, staying at lake st clair, nice quiet place
crater lake circuit cradle mountain, i've seen worse places for crowds, not too overcrowded compared to say the tongariro crossing, more outstanding scenery ..... still found some solitude on part of the walk..
mole creek caves tour, a must see.
cataract gorge, launceston nice walk to unwind on....

[whynotwalk]

Scoparia in bloom, Mt Rufus behind.

wayno wrote:

mt rufus. another outstanding walk, superlative 360 views, can see forever on a good day.

I'd have to agree with you there. You were probably a few weeks late to see the best of the scoparia in bloom, but it's one of the highlights of an already brilliant walk. Scoparia is usually cursed by bushwalkers, but when you see it as it is in the attached pic., you forgive it everything.

It sounds like you've seen some great places, and are either finished or nearly so. Next time you're back give us some warning and a few of us might meet up and/or go tramping with you, eh!

cheers

Peter

[wayno]

there were heaps of white lowered shrubs still in bloom, on cradle mountain area..
this time was a first visit mad dash all over teh island... next time probably less driving around and spend more time in certain areas...

[carless]

i rate burnie as worse, industrial port... trains going and sounding their horns in the middle of the night, if you're near the highway or the city centre you'll hear trucks as as well. some using engine breaks...

I live up on the hill almost in Upper Burnie with a view of the port. It is mostly quiet except for that train in the middle of the night. I can even hear it up here.

And most of the tourist signs here all point to Cradle.

[wayno]

alas, i was staying right next to the motorway where trucks were using their engine breaks through the night, and the trains werent far away, was pre booked accom so didnt know what to expect, place was shaking when the trucks went by..... not that unusual for me actually, i spend a lot of time at work at a big truck depot next to a container terminal going crash bang all day, but not my prefered holiday location.... still got a reasonable amount of sleep....

[Hallu]

Next time you come to Tassie, use Stayz.com.au. Super cheap big holiday houses, it's like a speciality of Tasmania.

[Eremophila]

But ironically the toughest spot to find your way in a car in Tassie to me is Launceston. That city is a driving nightmare. One way streets, late signs, roads so close on the map you think they're connected and they're not etc... It's like a European city : you don't know it until you've gotten lost several times in it.

It's the only way they get people to stay there.

Yep and yep.

As a relative newcomer to Tassie, I'm still astounded at the state of some aspects of tourism.

The Devonport Visitors' Centre only stocks maps for Cradle Mountain, Highland Lakes and Overland Track. And this is the town where people disembark from the ferry.....

A shame you missed Narawntapu, Wayno. But most locals would give you a blank look if you asked directions for Narawntapu, anyway. They still know it as "Baker's Beach" and steadfastly refuse to learn the newer/traditional name.

[Son of a Beach]

A shame you missed Narawntapu, Wayno. But most locals would give you a blank look if you asked directions for Narawntapu, anyway. They still know it as "Baker's Beach" and steadfastly refuse to learn the newer/traditional name.

"Asbestos Ranges National Park" was its name until recently. You can't blame people for blank looks for "Narawntapu". Even when people do know it, they have trouble pronouncing or spelling it.