We wanted to share a couple of points from our experience to help others who are looking to undertake this hike…

1) If you are flying into Melaleuca to start the walk and use a cooker that requires shellite or metholyated spirits, you will need a fuel bottle;

2) We took a light weight hiker’s tarp and rope for extra shelter which was invaluable in the wet weather;

3) South Cape Rivulet and Lion’s Rock water supplies are brackish (despite the amount of rain we endured). The creek at the New River lagoon was stagnant even +800m upstream. We met a couple who did use this water they didn’t get sick but said it had a faint sulphur smell. If you are intending on staying at the Prion boat crossing fill up your bottles at Grotto Creek before you set out for the 5km on the beach before the crossing.

4) A side trip and overnight stay at Osmiridium Beach was wonderful in good weather. If you are intending to undertake the round trip up Precipitous Bluff you’ll need to base yourself at Prion boat crossing or better still at Damper Creek four hour wade up the river. We met a father and son team that camped at Osmiridium and went for the summit in a day trip. They only managed to get to the base of the cliffs and had to return.

5) Apart from the end sections (South Cape Cliffs to Cockle Creek and Melaleuca to Eric Point) the trail is not well maintained. You’ll need a knee-high pair of gaiters and long trousers as the bushes on either side of the trail are overgrown and virtually impassable in some areas. You’ll be walking through lots of mud and balancing on slippery tree roots and rocks whilst on very steep descents (particularly on the Ironbound and South Cape ranges) so if you value your knees and ankles walking poles and good boots are also a must.

6) Quolls and Pademelons – whilst it was great to see these critters up-close albeit a bit too close at times they have learnt that people = food. Do not leave rubbish on the ground, on ropes close to trees or in your tent. We witnessed a Quoll unzip a tent to get inside and another launch themselves off a tree to pull down rubbish that had been hung close on a rope.

7) If you are exiting the walk at Cockle Creek make sure to phone both Evans Coaches and Tassielink to arrange your transfer back to Hobart. We were informed by Evans that they would arrange our onward booking with Tassislink which was not the case. When the Tassielink bus arrived in Geeveston, we (14 hikers and two bikers) were greeted with a luggage compartment that would fit at best eight packs. When the driver was quizzed by one of the bikers that they’d booked with Evans, Tassielink did not have their booking. The bikes had to go inside the same small compartment as the packs and the packs were not allowed on board.

I totally understand the legal issues that the bikes and packs could not be taken inside the bus but surely Tassielink would be aware of the clientele at Geeveston and that adequate storage was required for their luggage. In the end only 5 people got on the near empty bus leaving the others to argue their way onto the 4pm bus. Adding further insult to this fiasco, the driver allowed two men onto the bus with large suitcases and one pack (which were stowed on the floor) two stops on from Geeveston.

I cannot stress enough to overseas visitors who are looking to undertake this walk whilst backpacking through Tassie, make sure you have adequate gear to complete this trail! Whilst you’ll probably get away with what gear you’ve pulled out of your campervan to complete the Overland (i.e. butane stove and large pot, running shoes, cheap four-man tent, plastic poncho, small pack with gear tied on with plastic shopping bags etc), the South Coast trek is not as forgiving. The weather is incredibly variable so ensure your gear is capable of withstanding four seasons. We saw a number of groups that were ill-prepared which impacted negatively on their enjoyment of the walk – one pair were walking in street shoes which were trashed by their second day.

Would we do this trek again, my first response when asked, only if I was training to undertake Kokoda! Despite other south west trails being rated as harder, this was a challenging walk. Furthermore I appreciate locals opinion that the trail’s condition (v.overgrown, muddy etc) was no different to the standard of others in the area, but if Parks want to protect the surrounding environment they well and truly need to invest more time and money fixing this track as the sheer number of tangent paths that cut through scrub to either side has done quite a lot of damage.

If the weather was better I think we would have enjoyed the trek much more. In all honesty the two range crossings were the only days that were quite taxing (which we felt were equivalent of descending Queensland’s highest summit, Mt Bartle Frere). Apart from these days the rest of the walk was worth it.