South West Cape – Tasmania

The South West Cape trek is a walk for experienced trekkers only.

It requires some navigational skills and map contour reading, and bush-bashing through dense scrub, thick forest, multiple creek crossings, and mud, and over exposed ranges open to wild weather and wind.

The scenery is spectacular all along the way and you get to enjoy it with extreme serenity – you would be lucky (or unlucky) to encounter anyone else along the trek other than one of your fellow trackers cursing and swearing when you lose the track – “How did John Bloody Chapman find his way across here?”

Be prepared for all types of weather that can change very quickly and obliterate your views to where you think you should be headed.

Scratched and bleeding arms from constantly shoving thick scrub out of your way along what loosely resembled a track. Wet boots from the mud and creek crossing when you were too lazy to remove your boots and put on your water shoes. Unpacking and packing up in the rain.

But…..

As you walk to each new destination you get breathtaking views of this untamed part of Tasmania.

Deserted beaches at New Harbour, rocky shorelines at Ketchem Bay and Wilson Bight, the view from near Mt Karamu back to the tip of the South West Cape and then north to beautiful Window Pane Bay. Exposed open ridges across the South West Cape Range with towering hills and the water filled tarns. The view from the Pasco Range to Horseshoe Inlet and Mt Rugby.

Sitting at sunset with a hot cuppa looking out across the beach, and enjoying sunrise with reflections in the crystal clear still water at Horseshoe inlet with the mountains looking like a picture framed in the water.

And when you finish you arrive back at Melaleuca and sleep in a bed at the huts built by the “King of the Wilderness” Denny King. Greeted by the fantastic volunteer rangers like Shannon and Chris (Great Walks magazine August/September edition), settling down and cooking meals out of the weather inside the hut and teaching Chris a new card game where he proves to be quick on the uptake.

Take a quick walk on the new boardwalk along the shoreline, then visit the museum and learn a little bit of what life was like when Denny King ruled the roost and you understand that he must have been as tough as nails.

This is a walk that will impact you so much you will never forget it. You may not do it again, but you are one of a few each year that can store it in the memory bank.