Bushwalk Australia

Hello All!

I am an avid backpacker from California-- almost all of my experience is in America though and the majority in the mountains there. I have recently been engaged to a woman from Melbourne, and we are planning to visit Tasmania and hoping to get in a good backpacking trip... I guess the term here is bushwalk. We have backpacked extensively off trail in the Sierras, but neither of us having bushwalked in Australia, feel a bit timid about it here... =)

We are arriving in Launceston on the 10th of December and have until the 17th of December to get back there.

So I have to ask all you experts for some advice:

1. Where should we go? (We have a tent, boots, rain gear, water filter, cook stove, equipment suitable for California wilderness, etc.) I called and discovered that Cradle Mountain apparently is fully booked (any way to get around this?) We are happy to do a difficult/long hike if the payoff is great, ie isolation and scenery. =) Had a look at the trip reports, there are sooo many! Any tips on the top trips?

2. Is it relatively easy to grab a butane stove cannister in Launceston where we fly in?

3. Do we need to rent a car to get to the best spot?

4. Is there some other piece of gear we ought to bring that is Tasmania specific that we might not have considered?

Thank you all so much! Very much looking forward to escaping into your beautiful wilderness for a bit and especially forgetting about Donald Trump for a few days.

andrefromcalifornia wrote:1. Where should we go? (We have a tent, boots, rain gear, water filter, cook stove, equipment suitable for California wilderness, etc.) I called and discovered that Cradle Mountain apparently is fully booked (any way to get around this?) We are happy to do a difficult/long hike if the payoff is great, ie isolation and scenery. =) Had a look at the trip reports, there are sooo many! Any tips on the top trips?

Where do you like the look of? You can still get into the Cradle Mountain/Lake St Clair national park if you want to, just not stay at Cradle Mountain. CM is where the Overland Track starts, so you aren't really allowed to do more than one section of the track at that time of year but there are a few other walks around there.

Alternatively, you could start from Lake St Clair and walk up to Pine Valley. A few good walks there, and you can then return to your car at the end.

Or you could go to the huge South West National Park. The South Coast Track is popular - takes about 6-7 days. You fly into Meleleuca then walk out to Cockle Creek. Though it's at the other end of the state from Launceston.

It's more costal though. If you've done a lot of Sierras, you probably like mountains!

andrefromcalifornia wrote:2. Is it relatively easy to grab a butane stove cannister in Launceston where we fly in?

Yep. You should be able to easily get one at all good camping shops, or at bigger places like Anaconda, Paddy Palin or Kathmandu.

https://www.anacondastores.com/store/ta ... eston/a028
http://www.kathmandu.com.au/stores/launceston
http://www.paddypallin.com.au/launceston

andrefromcalifornia wrote:3. Do we need to rent a car to get to the best spot?

Most likely yes. It is by far the most efficient way to get to walking spots. Depending on your hire deal, it could be cheaper than organising third-parties too.

There are some cheaper car hires available.
[try airportrentals.com.au]
They often use older models - and I regularly use them since a car is left in a car park for much of the time when bushwalking.

Walking in the north of Tasmania has been affected by recent road damage - which is a pity, as the Walls of Jerusalem would have been a good intro to Tas.
I think the suggestion of driving to Lake St Clair and walking into Pine Valley would fit into your time frame.
Check on trip reports into that area.

It is also easy to do a few days around Cradle Mt - walking into Lake Rodway / Scott Kilvert Hut as a base - no booking required.
One of my favourite places to revisit.

Or you could go up to the Central Plateau and just wander around. Plenty of entrance and exit points from which to choose. Starting at Lake Mackenzie is probably easiest, and you can simply go in via one of the tracks (Explorer/Blue Peaks etc) and then navigate around to return by another. Or do the whole thing off-track. It's easy to vary the route to make it easier or harder, depending on what you prefer. Some nice little mountains are accessible from there.
If you don't have paper maps, check out the possibilities here: http://maps.thelist.tas.gov.au/listmap/app/list/map