Point Eric to Louisa River
South Coast Track
The Hike - After what had been an unbelievably amazing Day One on the South Coast Track, I set my alarm early on day two to capture what I hoped would be a nice sunrise. My aim for this trip was to maximise the experience and I'd be trying to watch as many of the sunrises and sunsets as possible. This is made a little more difficult in Tasmania during the summer as first light is around 4:30am and it's still light until about 10pm. With the need for rest taking priority in the latter half of the trip, this was the only proper sunrise I saw and with a cloudless morning, it wasn't an epic display of colour but more a subtle glow. After taking a few shots and going for a bit of a wander along the beach, I retired back to my tent for some more sleep.
It had been a warm night but with the outer shell of my tent open to allow a breeze through, and my sleeping bag unzipped to form a quilt, I was super comfortable. Awaking after an hour or so of extra sleep, I found Donovan already up and about in the golden glow of the morning. He had been wandering around, doing some filming and talking to other hikers, something we didn't really do the previous night. All three of us aren't exactly social people and it took a few days to really start engaging with the other groups that were on the same schedule. When we were planning the trip I did not expect it to be this busy and Tim, a solo hiker from Queensland said the last time he did it two years ago, he saw maybe four people the whole week. We consistently had a group of eleven of us at each campsite, plus others heading the other way or on faster/slower schedules so numbers ranged between 12 to 30+ people at each campsite. Today would be our longest day on the track, distance wise, and Donovan was keen to get going early.
I'm never the best at packing up my gear, so start to finish including breakfast is usually well over an hour in total. My levels of faffing were nothing compared to Bronwyn, so it was a little before 8am when we were ready to go and I could feel Donovan's frustration bubbling away as he's typically an early departer from camp. The forecast for today was the warmest day we were going to have with temperatures in the late 20s. To start the day we had about three kilometres of beach walking, broken up with a scoot around the Black Cliffs. This may be the first hike where I've started the day with the boots firmly tied to my pack and walked in thongs. There seemed to be less Bluebottles on this side of Point Eric, so I decided to start the day in comfort. Walking in an easterly direction to begin with wasn't ideal as for the first half of the day, we would be facing the sun but the photos didn't turn out too bad in the end. There are several creeks that flow into the ocean along here and we stopped at the larger one so Donovan and Bronwyn could fill up for the morning.
The beach walking was a pleasant way to start the day's walking and going at our own pace, we all eventually arrived at the Black Cliffs. I settled down in the shade of the rock wall to take some photos of the Tea Trees and shell collection that had washed up over time, along with putting on my boots to deal with the rocky shuffle around the cliffs. Being closer to high tide than low tide, the water was washing up against the rocks and it became clear early on that this would involve getting wet feet. With slippery rocks below or potentially sharp pieces, I didn't feel comfortable going without shoes or in my thongs, so after trying to keep dry by waiting for gaps in the waves, I eventually picked the easiest line around the rocks. This for not the last time today resulted in flooded boots and wet socks but I wasn't expecting the South Coast Track to be a dry boot affair. Watching the others negotiate the rocks, we were soon back on dry beach and walking along the last beach section until Day Four. As we approached the Buoy Creek crossing and the exit off the beach, I spotted the source of a flashing light we could see from camp last night, a boat anchored in the bay.
The beach exits are pretty easy to find along the SCT and this one was no different thanks to the marine rubbish that is pulled off the beach and arranged in trees. Another pile of fishing nets and buoys is located in the bushes off the beach and I enjoy that hikers are doing the right thing and removing it from the beach. Hopefully when the pile gets big enough it might be airlifted out by Tas Parks but that's some expensive rubbish removal. Taking one last look at Cox Bight from the beach, we headed into the dense coastal scrub that based on the previous day and the photos in the John Chapman guidebook, would be the dominant vegetation type for the rest of the day. This didn't turn out to be the case and after maybe 50 metres, the track exited the shade and onto boardwalk that takes you into the exposed buttongrass plains leading to the only significant hill of the day. It was still early morning and the temperatures weren't too bad, so we ventured along a mix of old boardwalk, crushed rock paths and the new grid style boardwalk that is is preferred these days over traditional wood decking.
With the hills ahead looming as the biggest physical challenge of the day, I enjoyed the flat boardwalk for the time being, spotting several wildflowers including Tall Yellow-Eyes, Short Purple Flags and a few Drosera species (Rosy Sundew and Fork-leaved Sundew). I was happy cruising along at the back as the boardwalk makes it hard for people to overtake you and I don't like the feeling of being rushed if I want to stop and take a million photos. With the track heading in a north-easterly direction away from the beach, the wide angle photos looking towards the upcoming hills weren't the best, so I focused on shooting tighter angles and looking back at the bulk of Cox Bluff, that was looking much better in the morning light. After the extensive amount of boardwalk on the first day, we weren't expecting that to last for the whole track, so were pleasantly surprised when we found the bulk of this section of buttongrass plains to be on what looked like new boardwalk. While traditional bushwalkers may scoff at these wilderness tracks becoming pretty tame with boardwalk, it's hard to argue against the environmental protection it provides, especially along tracks that are becoming increasingly popular.
That's not to say that there wasn't any mud through here, with several spots crossing small creeks or muddy patches that require you to just hope for the best as you step into unknown bogginess. Given the last few days of warm weather and little to no rain, we lucked out and the mud was never more than bootlace deep if you picked the right spot. There's about three kilometres of gradual uphill walking through the plains until you reach the base of the proper climb and being about a third of the way through the day, plus being a little warm from the heat, we decided to stop for a break at the next available section of shade. Finding a sliver of protection from the sun, this turned out to be a good decision as it would be the last shade for quite a while. Cooling off and enjoying some dried mango, we psyched ourselves up for the climb ahead and after about 40 minutes, were up and climbing the seemingly endless stairs. It was slow going but the views looking back at Cox Bight and the plains made it worthwhile, along with knowing this was the toughest part of the day. I ended up waiting at the top for a while and while sitting on a bit of quartzite, I spotted a what has been confirmed as a Tasmanian Spotwing dragonfly on iNaturalist.
From top to bottom of the Red Point Hills it's about 200m of vertical gain, so not a big hill but in the heat it felt more draining. At the top you are rewarded with views of the Ironbound Range ahead, a much harder challenge that would be looming the following day. With camp for the night at the base of the Ironbounds, it looked fairly straight forward for the rest of the day with a couple of big creek crossings thrown in for good measure. The descent is a little more gentle than the ascent and with the sprawling views looking across the plains ahead, it was a fun exercise to let your eyes follow the trail as it snakes through the landscape. Looking behind, I noticed Warrick and Elisha, a Kiwi couple who were on the same itinerary as us, finishing their climb with Cox Bluff in the background and it made for a nice photo. It wasn't long before they eventually caught up to us, right as we reached a small creek crossing. This fun little crossing provided something different from the rocky quartzite path we had been on and also allowed us to cool off by filling our hats with creek water.
Feeling refreshed, we watched the Kiwis head off along the trail and slowly followed. With the Ironbounds for company, the term I would use for this middle section of the day would be "undulating". It doesn't show up much on the elevation chart but it was either an up or down through here and the first creek crossing seemed like it would never arrive. Being exposed in the heat wasn't doing us any favours but putting one foot in front of the other consecutively seemed to work just fine. One highlight through here was passing a rare section of taller vegetation and discovering a Tasmanian Christmas Bell, the first time seeing one. Initially I thought it might be a weed as it looked a lot like Watsonia but then I realised I was in the Tasmanian wilderness and it would be highly unlikely to find a weed out here. This was confirmed when Donovan caught up and asked if I saw it, also confirming the name that I didn't know. As we continued on, the guessing game about which vegetated section ahead was the first creek crossing became the main talking point. We eventually reached Faraway Creek and it was a relief to step into the shade of the Tea Trees.
With Donovan wanting to get footage of us crossing, Bronwyn and I waited on the edge and it was quite clear that this would be no raging torrent that we would have to cross. Favourable weather conditions leading up to our hike meant it was little more than shin deep in most places and the only difficulty in crossing was trying not to slip on the smoothed rocks. Silly me expected my boots to stay relatively dry given the water didn't look too deep but this did not happen and after stepping up onto the other side, my boots were filled to the brim once again. Warrick and Elisha were on the other side having lunch and we decided this was also a good idea. Finding a spot further up the bank and under some shade, I took my shoes off and left them out in the sun in the hopes that they would dry in no time at all. Again, this was optimistic so I instead turned my focus to enjoying a Clif Bar in my Helinox Chair (super happy I brought this luxury item along). We lunched for about 50 minutes before deciding to head off for the second half of the day. Taking our last photos of Faraway Creek, we climbed up the hill and into the exposed wilderness between the two creek crossings. With the Ironbounds reminding us of the task ahead tomorrow, we soldiered on, knowing the next creek was less than a kilometre away.
Happy to have arrived at Louisa Creek (not to be confused with Louisa River), we saw the Kiwis finish their crossing. Now you'd think I would have learnt my lesson and removed my boots for this crossing but no, I foolishly strapped the gaiters on thinking this would help as it didn't look much deeper than ankle height. I was a Fool of a Tooke and I was soon in shin deep water immediately regretting my decision. Starting to question why I had brought my boots along instead of trail runners, and what use gaiters were at all, it was the start of a frustrating little patch of walking where I wasn't happy with myself or the decisions I had made. Grumpily emptying out my boots on the other side, we climbed up the wooden stairs and were soon back out into the open where I would have to deal with sloshing feet for the near future. After a while, I decided that it was not going to do my feet any good to be wet for the rest of the day, so removed my boots and continued walking in my thongs. Was this a wise decision? Probably not, but it did allow my feet to dry out and was actually quite comfortable, I just had to watch where I was stepping. Passing the intersection for the side trip to Louisa Bay, I don't think any of us were in the mood for the 6km return trip but the Kiwi couple had dropped their bags to do it.
On a cooler day with better decision making I would have done it, as the footage I had seen of Louisa Bay looked pretty stunning. As it turned out, the people who wanted to camp there were greeted with no available water sources and had to adjust their plans. We soldiered on, following the contours of a small hill and mercifully entered a patch of vegetation that provided some much needed shade. With occasional views looking across the plains to the Ironbounds, we popped out onto a brief section of boardwalk before crossing another small creek. We had a break here in the shade and I decided it would be best to continue with boots on. Exiting the creek valley, the next section lifted my spirits as we started walking across a large buttongrass plain that had views looking across to the Ironbounds and also Mount Louisa to the north. This felt a bit like the first day and the sense of grandeur that comes from walking near the mountains brought a smile to my face. It also helped that there was some cloud cover and it didn't feel as hot now it was the middle of the afternoon. After my little period of annoyance with myself, I started to enjoy the day a lot more and soaked in the wonderful views ahead as we neared the finish. Descending down to one last creek crossing (no wet feet for this one), we were on the home stretch for the day.
We passed a couple who were more than happy to have a chat, something that wasn't always the case along the track. The last buttongrass plain was a little different to the rest as a prescribed burn had happened the previous autumn, although it looked to have been well under control. Flowering Drosera lined the trail and this was a nice finish to the day. Reaching the edge of the Louisa River, we entered the dense vegetation and descended down to the river crossing. It was cool and lush through here with mature trees lining the track, a welcome feeling after what had been an exposed walk. With extensive campsites on either side of the river, it made sense to cross now instead of in the morning and you wouldn't believe it but I learned my lesson about water crossings and removed my shoes. The Louisa River was also about shin deep so it was more a case of trying not to slip on the rocks and drown my camera. Successfully across, we found the campsite a bit crowded so setup in the available space under some large trees. The afternoon was spent rehydrating, sitting in the river to cool off and chatting with others as they came down to enjoy the river. Sleep was well earned that night and we needed it given the toughest day of the trip was tomorrow.
Final Thoughts – What a day that was. While not my favourite day of the week, a combination of the heat, bad decisions and different expectations contributed to a frustrating day.
We were using the John Chapman guidebook as a reference and three of the four photos showed relatively dense areas of vegetations, so going into the day we expected more along the lines of what we experienced stepping off the beach to end day one. This didn't end up being the case, so lesson learned.
In hindsight, this wasn't such a bad day but in the moment it did feel like it was dragging on in places. The constant up and down after summiting the big hill for the day sapped energy and with the harshness of the midday light, the views weren't as good as other days.
On a different day with different weather conditions this may have been a really fun hike but we were all glad it was over. With the Ironbounds tomorrow, this was a good physical test that prepared us for what was to come.
Get out there and experience it!
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