Southwest National Park
There are few places left on our lonely planet as isolated and untouched as the southwest wilderness. This is Tasmania's largest national park, home to some of the world’s last tracts of virgin temperate rainforest; a place of ancient grandeur and extraordinary diversity.
The southwest is the habitat of the endemic Huon pine, which can live for more than 3000 years, and the swamp gum, the world’s tallest hardwood and tallest flowering plant. Around 300 species of lichen, moss and fern — some of which are rare and endangered — dapple the rainforest with shades of green; glacial tarns seamlessly mirror snowy mountaintops; and in summer, picture-perfect alpine meadows explode with wildflowers. Untamed rivers charge through the landscape, rapids surging through gorges and waterfalls plummeting over cliffs.
Activities
Bushwalking
The most-trodden walks in the park are the 70km
Port Davey Track between Scotts Peak Rd and Melaleuca (around five days’ duration), and the considerably more popular 85km
South Coast Track (six to eight days) between Cockle Creek and Melaleuca. You can combine the two (Scotts Peak Rd to Cockle Creek), but it's one hell of a hike!
On both tracks, hikers should be prepared for vicious weather. Light planes airlift bushwalkers into Melaleuca in the southwest (there are no roads), while there's vehicle access and public transport to/from Cockle Creek at the other end of the South Coast Track, and Scotts Peak Rd at the other end of the Port Davey Track. Check out the notes on both walks on the Parks & Wildlife Service website (www.parks.tas.gov.au/recreation/tracknotes/scoast.html), and the detailed descriptions in Lonely Planet's Walking in Australia.
Sea-kayaking
Kettering’s Roaring 40's Ocean Kayaking runs three- and seven-day guided kayaking expeditions ($1525/2250 per person) out of Melaleuca, exploring the waterways around Bathurst Harbour and Port Davey. Prices include flights, food and all equipment (except sleeping bags).
Getting there and around
The most popular way to tackle the South Coast Track is to fly into Melaleuca and walk out to Cockle Creek.
Par Avion (03-6248 5390, 1800 144 460;
www.paravion.com.au) and
Tasair (03-6248 5088, 1800 062 900;
www.tasair.com.au) fly between Hobart and Melaleuca for $155 and $176 one way respectively.
For those who like their creature comforts, there is a soft option — scenic flights from Hobart over the southwest, with time spent on the ground. Par Avion's speciality is a four-hour 'Heritage Tour' (adult/child $170/136) passing the big peaks and surf-ravaged south coast, along with a boat trip on Bathurst Harbour. Full-day trips cost $275/220. Tasair's offerings include a two-hour scenic flight with 30 minutes on the ground at Cox Bight or Melaleuca ($243 per person). Their 30.5-hour option ($316) has 10.5 hours at Melaleuca, and includes a gourmet hamper.
From December to March on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, TassieLink (1300 300 520; www.tassielink.com.au) runs buses from Hobart to Cockle Creek ($65, 30.5 hours), returning to Hobart on the same days. In the same months TassieLink also runs from Hobart to Scotts Peak Rd at the end of the Port Davey Track ($73, four hours).
Lake Pedder and Strathgordon
At the northern edge of the southwest wilderness lies Lake Pedder, once a breathtakingly beautiful natural lake considered the ecological jewel of the region. In 1972, however, it was flooded to become part of the Gordon River power development. Together with nearby Lake Gordon, Pedder now holds 27 times the volume of water that’s in Sydney Harbour and is the largest inland freshwater catchment in Australia.
Built to service employees during construction of the Gordon River Power Scheme, tiny Strathgordon appears out of nowhere. On a clear day (about one in five!), the drive out here from Mt Field is bedazzling — bleak peaks, empty button grass plains, rippling lakes and the Gordon Forests. About 12km west of Strathgordon is the Gordon Dam Lookout and Visitor Information Centre (6280 1134; www.hydro.com.au; Gordon River Rd; 10am-5pm Nov-Apr, to 3pm May-Oct), poised above the 140m-high Gordon Dam and providing info on the scheme. The views from atop the dam will make the strongest of knees tremble.
