Part 2 is the second half of Log Lady/Phoebe’s walk in Southwest National Park, along the South Coast Track. If you want to walk the South Coast Track info can be found on the Parks Tas website.
Day 7 – Melaleuca to Buoy Creek (Cox’s Bight), 16km
It’s 12.30 and I have already walked 16km, I was raring to get going this morning. I think I had too much time off, as in too much down time for my brain, as all it seemed to want to do was get anxious. No new walkers came into camp yesterday and I got a bit sad and very anxious. Even though I was taking a day off to be kind to my blisters I couldn’t decide if I had made the best decision and then even though it was too late to change my mind I kept looking at the map to see if I could make it to camp at a reasonable hour, and in that state of mind 10pm seemed fine. Walking in the dark, gah, I’m glad I stayed.
As there is wifi I decided I needed to call my parents for a pep talk. They were great, they let me have a little cry and then we talked through my options and they told me that I was v experienced and would make the safe decision (re creek crossings and going over the Ironbound ranges). So far hiking solo the mental game has been the hardest part. I have actually done all the physical stuff with not much problem. Keeping faith in myself seems to be the biggest challenge for me. Another aspect that brightened my mood was as I was walking to the wifi 2 hikers were walking in and when I got back to the hut they were staying there too. Cameron and Lavinia are from the South Coast of NSW and are on a year long van holiday around Australia. They had just finished the Port Davy Track in 2.5 days!!! But they said it was a bit of a slog at that speed. They are hiking the south coast track too.
I left Melaleuca a bit after 8, after texting mum and dad my plans and checking the forecast one last time. I realised pretty soon into the hike that I definitely wasn’t on the Port Davy any more. It was a duckboard highway, the track, rarely walking on the ground for the first 5km as it traversed the buttongrass plains. Smooth sailing and I traveled at 4km/hr without pushing myself. I am not a fast walker which means this track is 👩🍳👌🏻. I was also v excited about reaching the ocean, I can hear it’s roar long before I see it.
I passed a big group of 7 women walking in the opposite direction and must have sounded a bit manic as they asked where I was going I just said to the sea. I think they were on board with my level of enthusiasm. They told me about a dead dolphin on the beach, which was sad but v cool to see one up close, they are so big! The spray of the ocean appeared as a white haze floating above the sea from miles away. Upon reaching Cox Bight (a very funny name) I had a little cry and a little dance. I am on the south coast track for real now.
Walking on the beach was great, there is so much stuff to look at (apart from dead dolphins). There must be kelp forests near here as some of the seaweed was thick and huge. There were also lots of different shells and sponges and large crab shells covered in seaweed. There was a juvenile sandpiper following its parents around and making lots of loud squeaks that reminded me of dog toys. I reached Point Eric, the main campsite along the beach at 11.30. It was too early for lunch but I lingered watching the birds, so much good bird life out on the beach and flitting around the tee tree at the camp. Here is a list of birds I’ve seen seen today on Cox Bight:
Hooded Plover x100
Sandpiper
Bassian thrush
Pink Robbin 😍😍😍
Oyster catcher
The final 3km to camp is further than it looks which I think might be the case with all beach walking. The sea is a good companion, and good tv to watch while eating lunch. It’s weird to think that I’m looking south and there isn’t much in the way before Antartica. There are lots of wallaby tracks on the beach and it’s nice to know that they are enjoying this place too.
After pitching my tent and collecting water I returned to the beach for a swim and then sat reading my book while I dried off. This is what I wish I had been able to do yesterday, or at least this was the headspace I wish I had been in yesterday and I’m sure the swim helped. The wind picked up and I started to get cold so I put on some more clothes, cooked dinner and watch the dark clouds roll in from the west. It got so dark I expected it to pour, but the worst of the clouds have come and gone (as far as I can see in the dimming light of the day) and there has only been a few drops of rain. We will see what the night brings, fingers crossed not too much and I have no trouble crossing Louisa River tomorrow.
Day 8 – Buoy Creek to Louisa River, 14km
Raining soggy and wet are good adjectives for today. It was raining when I got up and it was raining when I got into camp. It wasn’t raining for maybe an hour when the sun vaguely tried to shine through the cloud but with little success. All the rain meant I was a machine and hiked from 8am to 12.30 with a fifteen min break, it was too cold to stop for long.
After packing up the tent in the rain which is always a bit of a sad soggy affair I set off up the valley towards Red Point Hills. The trail was duckboarded for most of the way which still feels like such a luxury, but I was sad to be leaving the beach. The cloud was low and sticking to every tiny hillock, which made the beakness very picturesque. I saw a bunch more orchids similar to the ones I saw earlier in my hike but more pink (Parson’s Band Orchid). They made me very happy.
The 250m climb over Red Hills is the biggest I have done all hike. After the speed I walk when on flat I felt like I was going so slow. There has barely been any wind all day, and at the top it was just a bit colder but the view was much the same. As I got below the cloud in the Louisa Creek valley I could see rolling hills going in and out of the cloud and behind them a clouded mass that I knew would be the Ironbound Range.
The track descended to Faraway and Louisa Creek, the first crossings of the day. On the descent I passed a group of 4 male hikers coming the other way, one asked me where I was from, which I thought was a strange question. I asked them about Louisa River and they said despite the rain it was gentle and only to mid shin. I couldn’t find the toilet at Louisa creek and went for a bush bash and found the general toilet area and there was a comically large poo that made me laugh so much. As a nurse I have seen a lot of poos and the girth of this one impressed me. After making my own deposit I had a break and took in the beautiful rainforest that grows in all the gullies. It’s another world down here from the buttongrass plains above; quiet, green and luxurious in a rich wet kinda way. I love how moss covers everything and ferns grow everywhere including out of forks in trees.
The next 7km was back out into the buttongrass plains. This was the moment the sun came out and I took off the hood of my raincoat and got 360 surround sound. It really beats the internal body sounds like my breathing and heart beat that I hear when I’m inside the hood and walking uphill. The sun was feeble but I was enjoying it and worried about burning my dome. Between the crest of a hill and the low cloud I got views out to Louisa Bay and the huge monolith of an island that sits in it. The island is all cliff and is tall enough to have collected its own cloud. I would like to visit that bay one day to see that island, but in better weather.
After the Louisa Bay turn off the track rounded a ridge and the foothills of the Ironbounds became visible over another long buttongrass plain. A small white line marked the track which looked like it literally went straight up the side of it, very direct. My path made an indirect line across the plains, sticking to high ground, most of it on duckboard. Louisa River made itself know by the presence of a green wall, one moment I was out on the plain and the next I was in a green rainforest world of dim light and no wind. The 4 guys said the river was up to their ankles, and when I crossed it was up to my knees.
It was 12.30, much earlier than I expected. I hesitated pitching the tent as I thought I might wait for a break in the rain, but I’m glad I didn’t as halfway through it started bucketing down, luckily I already had the waterproof layer up but it looked so floppy and sodden when I got inside. It was wet on the inside too and so was I so I played a game of tent Tetris and got out of my wet cloths and put my groundsheet down on the floor of the tent trying to keep everything as dry as possible. Once settled I ate lunch and read my book.
5 more dudes rocked up at 4pm, I went to see how they were going crossing the creek and one of them asked if I had come to laugh at him. I can’t tell if I’ve gone bush weird, it’s definitely a possibility. I told him I just wanted to see if he made it over safely as the water level might have risen. Turned out it hadn’t really despite the heavy rain. There are a lot of campsites here but the guys have set up right next to me, oh well I have been longing for more company and I suppose this is what I wanted.
Day 9 – Louisa River to Little Deadman’s Bay, 13km
Ooooo weeeeee what a day! Today was definitely a challenge and I made it so I am feeling very good about it but there were times during the day that I had to sweet talk myself to say positive. But now I’m snug in my tent I’m feeling sore and tired but good.
I got up at 6.30 and had breakfast and coffee in bed as it was raining, it had been on and off all night long. I was feeling resolved but at times nerves would creep in. I knew I could do it as I have done it before but I was still unsure how hard I was gonna have to push myself. I was walking by 8am, a little later than I wanted but there was a line for the toilet and I knew that there would be no options for pooping on the exposed slopes.
As soon as I exited the beautiful rainforest valley of Louise River the Ironbounds were there towering ominously overhead. I hadn’t been able to see them yesterday in the rain and so it was a bit confonting seeing them ahead and the tiny white path winding forever upwards. I crossed the small section of flat buttongrass plain and didn’t look back. I like climbing and can get into a steady plod, which is what I did stopping at the top of every little knoll. It was steep and often I could only see a few steps in front of me then the horizon line.
The weather when I started was blue skies but as soon as I gained a little height I could see banks of clouds and rain coming in. It continued like that all day, calm blue skies, windy cold rain on repeat. It was great watching the isolated rain fronts move across Louisa bay hinterland, until they hit me and made my fingers numb. I had expected very little options for stopping today so I had stocked up on lots of snacks in my snack pocket. I nibbled at them in the sunny patches and took lots of photos.
The climb felt like it went for ages. There were a lot of false summits and a lot of me wanting to be at the summit but unsure of where that was due to cloud. The wind at times rages about me and made it difficult to walk straight, but then at times was completely still. I put my gloves and beanie on just over the top as I was freezing and my fingers were red and numb. Parks have duckboarded a large section on top of the mountain, which is great until the wind picks up and the you feel like your walking a tight rope.
I have hiked the south coast track before, 14 years ago, and I knew from memory that climbing the Ironbounds is not the challenge today, the hardest part is going down. Unfortunately my memory is very much correct, going down was really hard. The rainforest (which is beautiful to be in but at times I needed reminding of this) crowds the track from all angles trying to reclaim it. From the ground roots and deep holes of mud try to keep your boots. At times the track was a small to medium sized stream. From the sides logs, pandanis or trees fall to cross your path and give you options of climbing over or under. From above stubborn banksia and other trees spread their branches for light and crowd in on the tiny patch of clear space that is gonna get me off this mountain. It’s steep and it’s long and it feels like it goes forever.
At a campsite halfway down I stop for the first time for the day. It’s 1pm and I’m hungry but it’s still too cold to stay seated for long. I break out the honey coated macadamias as a reward, and they taste amazing! After lunch the trail crosses a creek that high with floodwater creating a loud roar that I can hear from miles away and many waterfalls. Thankfully it’s deep but not wide and I am able step across.
Despite my love of rainforest by this stage I am ready for it to be over. My legs were so sore and a bit wobbly and I was slipping more than before. I had long ago given up trying to not walk in the mud and trudged straight through all of the puddles, even the deep thick ones. I could see the waves crashing on rocks not far below me through the trees, I knew I was close. The last 2km is in tee tree forest along the coast and my feet are on autopilot.
I get into camp at 3.30, feeling pretty tired but also upbeat from having done it! I know that my cosy tent is not far away. All the camper at Little Deadman’s Bay are very friendly, as if climbing the Ironbound has connected us somehow. I chat with heaps of people before deciding to pitch my tent near some very lovely hikers who make me a cup of tea. They are going in the other direction and will cross the Ironbound tomorrow, naturally they had a lot of questions.
I eat some more snacks and make sure I do a lot of stretching. My back was feeling sore last night but seemed fine while hiking but as soon as I’ve stopped has decided to be sore again. I meet another hiker called Alison while I’m making dinner, we exchange Ironbound stories (she went over the day before) and I found out that we are on the same bus to Hobart on Monday. It will be nice to bump into her again further down the trail.
Day 10 – Rest Day at Little Deadman’s Bay
The stiffness has arrived! My body has felt so good this trip but despite stretching and ibuprofen I went to bed sore and woke up stiff. I pitched my tent with rise on the side I get out which proved very hard to navigate this morning. Also my knees are sore. I’m gonna have a rest day today and hopefully now I have done most of the difficult parts of the trip my brain will be able to have a rest too.
I had some good chats to Jason (he definitely had a J name but I may have gotten it wrong). He lives in Nipaluna (Hobart) and we exchanged stories about secret tracks and huts on Kunanyi (Mt Wellington) while the glue he had repaired his tent with dried. We got along great, had some tea/miso together and tried to figure out if we had mutual friends. It was sad watching all my new pals leaving, I hope the group who made me tea get safely over the Ironbound and I hope I bump into some of the others on the beaches ahead.
It sprinkled on and off all day, but nothing too serious, and some of my clothes even dried! It may rain again tonight but I hope not later on as my tent is dry for the first time in days and it’s so nice having dry things. I spend most of the arvo listening to a sci fi story podcast called Life After, it was great with good acting. I did all my back stretches and exercises but it’s still a bit sore. Often it gets better with movement so I hope I can work it out tomorrow on trail.
In the late afternoon I got a bit homesick, missing Snack Break and Granny my dog, but then a spotted quoll arrived in the camp and wouldn’t leave my stuff alone. Luckily I had hung up my food but it stole my rubbish bag and took it deep into the sword grass and I haven’t been able to find it. I feel like such a dummy for not thinking that it would smell like food too. And now I have littered in this pristine environment!!! It was amazing to see the spotted quoll up so close.
To cheer myself up before bed I had a little dance. I thought I had downloaded a bunch of music before I left but I actually only have 3 songs and only one of them is upbeat, it’s a Steven Universe song about being kind to yourself and others, I must have looked like such a dag dancing and singing along to it but it did help me feel better. My body is gonna thank me for having a rest day but my brain is very excited to be walking again tomorrow.
Day 11 – Little Deadman’s Bay to Osmiridium Beach, 15.5km
The good weather is back!!! All my stuff is dry!!! I went to 3 beaches today!!! It’s been great. I was very happy to leave camp this morning and to be moving, it has been feeling great mentally. My back is still a bit angry at me about the Ironbound descent but if I stop and stretch my glutes out regularly it’s alright.
The trail heads off from the rocky beach at Little Deadman’s Bay back into rainforest. It’s dark and ferny and cool in there, the associated mud comes with it but not nearly as bad as 2 days ago. I cross numerous green rivers and walk over the tops of short cliffs with the sea thumping at their base. The first beach of the day is Turua Beach and it looks like it has good surf and a nice campsite by the creek. After some more rainforest that included some huge old eucalypts I descend to Prion Beach which is slightly more rough and 7km long in total. I collect water from a small waterfall that descends onto the beach and then make really good time on the flat sand.
It’s 11.30 when I reach the boat crossing. I sit on the beach and heat up my lunch and look at all the impressive peaks that surround me. The Ironbounds have cleared of cloud and dominate the west, to my back Percipitous Bluff looms steep and monolithic and to the north east Pinders Peak sends its jagged teeth to the sky. The ocean waves roll in 7km continuous lines and if I wasn’t eating my least favourite meal of the trip (a too spicy lentil curry) this moment would be perfect.
As I cross the dunes to the New River Inlet boat crossing I run into a couple of hikers going the other way. We stop and chat and exchange stories and they tell me that it’s my lucky day and that they have left 2 boats on this side of the inlet. Yesssss! That means only one crossing for me today instead of 3! Just as I am poking my boat off shore with my oar my campsite mate from yesterday arrives, this is the same guy whose stuff I picked up while walking on the last day into melaleuca. And now I am his mum again rowing him to school in our row boat. To be fair he does offer to take over the paddling, especially when he realises that my skills are pretty average, but once we’re out on the inlet I don’t wanna rock the boat.
Once on land again he stops for a break and I walk along the sand dunes by the edge of the inlet. The track is a series of steep ups and downs, which to my memory end at a deep river crossing. But I guess I am lucky today as they have built a bridge across the creek and I don’t have to get wet up to my chest! After the bridge the trail goes through a dense banksia forest and I see a paddymellon and a snake, two firsts for the trip. The snake is big and dark brown with a yellow belly. It moved quickly off the path when I approached. The banksias break out into some muddy buttongrass plains and I collect water from a stream before taking the Osmiridium Bay turnoff.
Osmiridium Beach is so different to my memory of it from 14 years ago. I remember spires of rock sticking up at abrupt angles surrounded my rough surf with crashing waves. The rough surf definitely exists and it is a very serrated coastline but it’s all much further away and less intimidating than I recall. I have a little wash is the river outlet and sit on the beach watching the surf while drying off.
The camp is decorated with lots of beach fotsum and the sites are nice. There is no one here and I sit feeling a little bit lonely cooking my dinner. At 6.30 I hear voices and a father (Mark) and daughter (Annie) rock up. They are very friendly and I chat with them while they make dinner. They are a paramedic and an emergency nurse and continue to add to the high number of healthcare workers I have met on trail. We chat nurse politics and about how they camped at the top of the Ironbounds!!! They are off to Granite Beach tomorrow as well, so it will be nice to have some more company tomorrow night too, if I don’t wear out my welcome.
Day 12 – Osmiridian Beach to Granite Beach, 9km
It was a very beautiful cruisey day today. I slept in, read my book in bed before getting up to do the chores. My back was so sore when I got up that I was pretty worried but with some ibuprofen and moving around it loosened up, and only had one spasm during the climb. After breakfast I went and had some more chats with Annie and Mark who were making buckwheat pancakes for breakfast!!! They even had maple syrup.
I got going at 9.30 and didn’t see anyone all day. I took my time climbing over the headland to Surprise Bay as that’s where dad got helicoptered out last hike. It was so different to my memory of it, the rainforest was beautiful and tranquil, but the roar of the sea was never far off. There were some huge old trees that twisted upwards from large gnarled bases. In the gullies the track got muddy and I was slipping and sliding my way around tree ferns and rotting logs. At one stage the trail literally was on a 50m fallen tree.
Surprise Bay was very beautiful with rocky spires getting smashed repeatedly by the surf. I sat in the shade by a rocky island and had lunch and watched the water and the huge never ending waves. The tide was coming in and started to threaten my spot so I packed up and walked a little ways down the beach before sitting right back down again. It was a short day today and I was not feeling in any rush to leave this place. For lunch I had a Backcountry Meals Strawberry Ambrosia and my inner child was delighted and feeling very smug. At the eastern end of the beach more rocky islands appeared and I climbed over them as the surf rushed around me and then retreated building up steam for its next surge. This really is a magical beach.
The next climb up a western spur of the Southwest Range was very businesslike. It went straight up climbing 200m in 1km and then straight down to Granite Beach. There were a few very steep rocky sections of the climb where I had to put away my poles. Granite Beach is very dramatic. Dolomite cliffs and raging surf. Half the beach is sand and the other half is granite boulders ranging from pebbles to a meter squared. For the second half of the beach you have to make your way across these boulders that move under your feet and feel very treacherous. Some of the rocks had fossils in them which gave the rocks some excitement. I found some fossils of what I think is probably shells and seaweed. Very cool.
To reward all the rock hopping you get to see a magical site, at the end of the beach a waterfall falls into the ocean. And the path heads straight up the cliffs beside it so you are standing on top of the waterfall. It’s so much fun. I go up to the campground, set up my tent and immediately head back to the waterfall to wash and collect water. Standing naked at the top of the waterfall really makes you feel powerful! It was good timing too as I saw Mark and Annie on the beach as I was walking up and 2 hikers who were going to Surprise bay back at camp.
My back this afternoon has been feeling good and dinner is a tasty chicken curry that I am not sick of yet. I had a few moments in the morning when I felt like I was ready to be done but since Surprise Bay I have been feeling like I want to live here forever.
Day 13 – Granite Beach to South Cape Rivulet, 10km
The last big climb of the trip is today, over the southwest range about 500m high and approx 750m in climbing. Despite this the main word I would use to describe the track today was muddy. Everything I describe on the climb up and across the top was muddy and the descent was a little less muddy. Luckily I am now a mud fiend who doesn’t mind getting my already filthy shoes and legs more muddy. I’ll wade through that mud!
I leave camp at 8.30 after having breakfast and coffee chatting with Annie and Mark. They have been such great company these last few camps. The climb was steep as soon as I left the campsite and made short work of leaving the protected valley and the occasional sound of a huge wave crashing on the rocks of granite beach. Pretty soon I was above the tree line and into some hardy wind beaten melaleuca that came up to my head height. The views behind me were amazing, all the way back to new harbour range from the first day of the south coast track.
Once I was on the top of the range the sloshy track really intensified. The track builders had obviously given up with the board walk and instead had just put orange arrows in the maze of pathways through the melaleuca sword grass mud combo. I would test out the depth of the pools with my tracking pole and then just walk right through, shoes filling with muddy water. I’m pretty desensitised to the mud now as it has been present since day 1.
I had a few more stops than usual whenever my back got a bit sore and it wasn’t muddy. This worked out well for me as I feel like my back pain has been improving and in the afternoon I was barely aware of it. Lunch was at a campsite on top of the last knoll before the track descended. Mark and Annie very kindly shared their snacks with me after dinner yesterday, so this morning I let them have some from my snack bags and they were particularly taken with the jelly snakes, so I left 2 on a log in a very obvious spot on the trail. I then told the next hiker I met coming the other way that he wasn’t allowed to have one.
The descent was also muddy but slowly the track improved and the pools were much more shallow. The rainforest was beautiful, big gums crowned the ridges and the myrtle beech slunk in all the gullies barely distinguishable under beardy lichen. There was a lot of good and weird fungi on the track, my favourite were some that looked like orange straws and reminded me of cheese (which is a food I have been craving).
After a few false finishes the track descended to the beach and south cape rivulet. Thankfully after all these sunny days the crossing is only knee deep. This is maybe the best campsite on the trail. The rivulet is deep and brown and winds its way slowly across the beach to the ocean. The sun is hot and the rivulet entrance protected from the wind. All I want to do is swim! I don’t wait to set up camp I just jump right in. Later on Annie and Mark rock up and we all go for another swim! I feel clean (my clothes definitely do not) and it’s a great feeling, especially at the end of such a muddy hike.
I can’t quite believe this is my last night out here. I am definitely looking forward to some city comforts but not that much, I feel like I am savoring every moment, even the long climb and the mud today, I’m gonna miss it. Annie, Mark and I cook dinner together on the beach and then the other 3 hikers at the campsite come and join us and we stay up till after dark talking and then looking at the stars. Mark makes me a hot chocolate and I share my Kit Kat. This is one of the nicest nights I’ve had on trail, we are all reminiscing about the hike and I think proud to have made it. There are padymellons everywhere and Annie and I follow them around and give them lots of compliments, they are all very chonky and very cute. Hiking is truly the best.
Day 14 – Southcape Rivulet to Cockle Creek, 11.5km
It’s my last day of the hike today, and despite my back pain and my blisters and the grey heavy skies my desire to keep hiking is vastly outweighing my desire to get all the comforts of the city. I’m feeling sad.
I think everyone was feeling it as there was more communal breakfasting and hanging around chatting delaying the inevitable. I started packing at 6.30 and was finished by 7.30 but not ready to leave Mark and Annie and this wonderful campsite till 8. My delay may also have been influenced by the fact that Mark was making berry pancakes with real maple syrup and he had offered me one. It was amazing!!!
I said my goodbyes and set out along the beach. The rain tentatively started pretty much as soon as I left camp and got heavy just as I was doing the only muddy foresty climb for the day. No big long views, only back to the southwest range that I climbed yesterday. It was my last little patch of rainforest for the trip, and the last of the deep mud puddles, I am even feeling nostalgic for those.
The trail popped out of the forest and onto South Bay right by Lion Rock. Coal bluff was ahead and I could see the 3 guys from my camp walking along it in the rain, but it reminded me of the Beatles on the Abby Road cover for some reason. At the end of the beach there was a climb up steep sand dunes to the top of the Coal Bluff. Halfway up the sand dune it occurred to me that the path was generally made better than this and that the 3 guys foot prints had already been washed away by the rain. Doh there were steps literally only a few meters away but I had chosen the slidey Sandy route. Oh well.
Coal bluff was muddy and slippery by the time I arrived. It is literally made of coal that feels like it erodes under your feet. But it also looked unchanged from my memory of it from 14 years ago so it can’t be eroding that fast. There was a beautiful sheltered campsite under a hanging tea tree just behind the bluff. I had a bus to catch and it was still too wet to properly stop and take it all in, so I kept it business and kept walking.
From here for about 8km the trail undulates through tea tree forest and buttongrass plains through low lying hills with limited views. For a while the sun came out and made the clouds start to rise and look dramatic. But mostly it is pretty straightforward walking. I listened to a podcast about rising sea levels and how people live in towns in America where houses literally get reclaimed by the ocean and still don’t want to do anything about climate change. I chatted with a ton of different day hikers that I was suddenly bumping into this side of the muddy climb. And just as it started raining again in earnest I reached the visitors center that was packed with hikers waiting for the bus and that was it. My hike was over and all of my adventures now memories (including those Type 2 fun memories). What a good time! I feel very proud of myself for doing something that I was nervous about, and overcoming all my anxieties on trail.
mental~snakes 