2004/03 Tasmania loop - Waldheim |
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Friday March 12th
I took an early walk to the lodge and hiked the Enchanted Forest and King 
Billy trails, looking in the creeks for platypus. I didn’t find any but saw plenty of wallabies and pademelons (tiny kangaroos). The forests here were quite different, gloomy cathedrals of massive gums coated in green moss.
We took the bus partway to Dove Lake, and hiked up to Waldheim. This was the home of the Swiss, Gustav Weindorfer and his wife. He was the greatest advocate for protecting the area for its unique scenery and biology. He was noted for his hospitality and 
welcomed many famous people to Waldheim in the 20s and 30s. His wife Kate was a biologist, and for her, back in 1910, this place must have seemed like a different planet, as so much of the vegetation here grows nowhere else.
After she died, he spent the winters here alone, and wrote about being concerned about how many Tasmanian Tigers hung around the place, worried that they might eat him. Sadly, within a couple of decades, all the tigers were gone, either shot or poisoned. The tigers’ name came from their stripes but they were more like a wolf than a cat. People have claimed to see tigers since then but there has been no hard evidence that any survive, though so much of south western Tasmania is remote, difficult country that it is possible.
However, Gustav lived long enough to see his dream of protection come true. Today he would be amazed at how many people come to see his park
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Waldheim to Marion (19.51) |
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We hiked from Waldheim across the valley, up past pretty waterfalls to Crater Lake, hemmed in by massive cliffs. The trail continued up past the lake and we found ourselves taking the stiff climb up to Marion’s Lookout. From there Marion must have had a great view of Dove Lake and of Cradle Mountain. The climb is steep enough that there’s a chain to help you get past the difficult bits.
I went on a bit further and could see where the Overland Track takes off past Cradle Mountain and across the high country, 45 miles, to Lake St Clair. This is one of the classic hikes in Australia and takes about 5-6 days depending on the weather, which is usually bad. This track is largely built from ancient timbers chained together and laid across the bogs. Lots of the timbers are split or missing and there’s always the chance that as you step on a timber it will squirt a jet of icy brown water up your back. 45 miles of that would be tough going, but I only did about a mile on this day.
I met the lady from England again and she mentioned that she and her husband had climbed the mountain just before he died, and he did it with one lung and half a liver. She said she came really close to calling in the rescue helicopter on that trip!
We took an alternate route back via Dove Lake. Unfortunately, the trail quickly turned into a scramble down the cliff, this time clinging to tree roots instead of a chain. Sandie did not enjoy this bit at all. At the bottom there was a warning sign saying the trail was steep and rough. Very useful!
Back at the campsite our cooking was disturbed by little faces that came looking into the camper. These weren’t starving Tassies; they were hungry possums. I think possums are always hungry.
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