Hiking at the edge of the world

Three of Tasmania’s best walks

Tasmania is a hiker’s paradise. This heart-shaped island sits 150 miles (240km) off the south east coast of Australia. There is no habitable land south of here until Antarctica, so you really are on the edge of the inhabited world.

More than half of Tasmania is protected by national parks, reserves and conservation areas and almost one fifth has UNESCO World Heritage status. The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area includes coasts, islands, rivers, peaks, valleys and sub-alpine plains, so your chances of meeting the local wildlife are high.

These wildernesses are criss-crossed by wonderful walking tracks suited for knapsack novices keen on a gentle stroll as well as fitness fanatics looking for a serious challenge in some of the most remote parts of the southern hemisphere.

The shorter, easier tracks have basic, communal overnight huts (first come, first served) while some have more luxurious private ones with kitchens, hot showers and comfy beds. Personally, I prefer to camp to get that 24/7 nature experience and so you can walk late into the evening and not worry about getting to a hut before everybody else to get a bed for the night.

Here are three of the best

1. Overland Track

This is Tasmania’s most popular walk, yet in the spring week I did it I saw barely a dozen people each day. The north–south route runs between Cradle Mountain and Lake St Clair. You can walk it in either direction. You will skirt tranquil lakes, walk through fragrant woods and fern groves, traverse dry scrub inhabited by bright green parrots and cross sub-alpine plains with views for miles.

I saw Bennetts Wallabies in the Lake St Clair forests, two echidnas on moss-swamp boardwalks, a pair of majestic wedge-tailed eagles high overhead and a few black tiger snakes that I left well alone.

I walked it solo and camped but you can join organised walks if you prefer. If you really want some luxury check out the Cradle Mountain Huts, the only private accommodation on the track.

How long? 50 miles (65km); 3–4 days if you have stamina, 5–6 if you want to take it easy.

How hard? Medium with climbs up to sub-alpine plateaus at 4,100ft (1,250m) but you can add difficulty by climbing Tassie’s highest peak, Mt Ossa (5,305ft or 1,617m), or walking the track in winter.

2. Adventure Bay to Fluted Cape

Bruny Island is one of my magic places. It’s where I feel at peace, at one with nature and comfortably disconnected from the rest of the world. It has many sublime spots, Adventure Bay being one of them.

Captain Cook anchored the HMS Resolution here in 1777 to replenish supplies during his third voyage of discovery. Captain Bligh moored the HMS Bounty in this same spot 11 years later, shortly before the famous mutiny in the South Pacific.

The Fluted Cape walk starts and finishes on the beach near the Bruny Island Cruises restaurant (great fish and chips, by the way). You head along the beach and then take a well-trodden forest path at the water’s edge to Grass Point and The Gulch, a narrow stretch of water beyond which lies Penguin Island. You can head back the same way if you want, or follow the path onwards as it climbs up to Fluted Cape. As you ascend from The Gulch, you’ll get spectacular views east to the South Pacific ocean and west over the great expanse of Adventure Bay to The Neck, a sand dune isthmus where, in summer, thousands of Little Penguins breed in burrows scratched out of the dunes.

This walk is a must for nature nuts, mainly because this corner of Bruny Island is home to a small population of very rare albino wallabies. You should see them on the lower parts of the track and near the restaurant car park.

How long? The Fluted Cape circular walk is about 2.5 miles (4km) and should take the average bushwalker about 2.5 hours – more if you stop every few minutes to check out the views, which is highly likely. The section to Grass Point (without doing Fluted Cape) is about 1 mile (1.5km) return.

How hard? Easy to moderate. The section to Grass Point is an easy stroll on the flat. There are some steeper parts on the Fluted Cape section. Take great care near cliff edges, especially in the wet.

3. Freycinet Peninsula Circuit

This is a great year-round option and super flexible. You can do the whole circuit or just day-walk bits of it. It’s all easy—apart from a couple of steep bits—and it’s all stunning!

For an easy day hike from the car park at Parson’s Cove, follow the Hazards Beach Track south around Fleurieu Point to Hazards Beach. Then take the path east across the isthmus to one of Australia’s most Instagram-able beaches: Wineglass Bay. Return the same way or over the low hills known as The Hazards.

I’ve also done a day hike from the car park to Cook’s Beach (south of Hazards Beach) and back. I met a charming Danish couple there who were packing up their tent at Cook’s Beach and about to set off on their twin kayak for another day’s paddling. They said waking there at dawn with the spectacular birdlife all around was amazing. Next time, I’m camping!

How long? Parson’s Cove to Wineglass Bay via Fleurieu Point and returning via The Hazards is about 8.5 miles (14km); return walk Parson’s Cove to Cook’s Beach is about 15 miles (24km). Complete circuit is about 17 miles (28km). On a perfect autumn day, I walked from Parson’s Cove to Hazards Beach, over the isthmus and to the far end of Wineglass Bay, then back over The Hazards, and it took about 8 hours, including numerous photo stops.

How hard? Easy with moderate sections in the hills – the stretch from Wineglass Bay up over The Hazards is a bit steep. Before you walk, check out the information the parks authority has on Phytophthora​ (or root rot fungus) that threatens Freycinet’s wonderful bi​odiversity and find out what you can do to prevent it spreading.