Tarkine rainforest advice

Tasmania specific bushwalking discussion.
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Tasmania specific bushwalking discussion. Please avoid publishing details of access to sensitive areas with no tracks.

Tarkine rainforest advice

Postby tasmaniac » Wed 26 Jul, 2017 3:41 pm

I'm planning a trip into the Tarkine to visit some of the waterfalls and rainforest areas and I was wondering if anyone could tell me where the best areas of rainforest are and how accessible they are. These pics show the sort of forest I'd like to find.
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Re: Tarkine rainforest advice

Postby north-north-west » Wed 26 Jul, 2017 4:52 pm

The rainforest tracks at Corinna are a good starting point. Whyte River loop and the Savage River track.
Or you could get a kayak (hire available at Corinna) and paddle up/down the Pieman and go awandering. Some stunning forest accessible from the riverbank and various sidestreams.

Ramsay has a 4wd track, rough and muddy in winter. Goes through some good forest, and extends all the way to the river.
Parsons Hood has a network of logging/mining tracks and a taped route most of the way to the summit which goes through a stunning segment of forest.
Various routes available to near the southern side of the Huskisson, including the network of taped routes from Tiger Ridge.
There's a taped track up Black that goes through some decent forest.
Rapid River and Julius river reserves are also good. Even the Lake Chisholm track goes through good forest.

Get hold of the Tarkine Trails book by Phill Pullinger. It's a good intro to the area.
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Re: Tarkine rainforest advice

Postby tasmaniac » Fri 28 Jul, 2017 2:49 pm

Thanks NNW, I do have Phill Pullinger's book and there looks to be plenty of options in there for jaunts through the forest. They probably aren't all as spectacular as the areas in these pictures. I just hoped someone might recognise these locations. I hadn't heard of Parsons Hood or Tiger Ridge before, how are they accessed?
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Re: Tarkine rainforest advice

Postby gayet » Fri 28 Jul, 2017 3:02 pm

Finding those exact locations would be difficult without the GPS co-ords. But there are lots of spectacular little gullies and patches / swathes of deep dark rainforest all through there. Go for a walk in an area that looks like it might have the type of terrain you believe will meet your needs.

I seem to recall that a walk into Tiger Ridge is mentioned in Phill's book. The Huskisson is reasonably easy to get and covered in the book.
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Re: Tarkine rainforest advice

Postby north-north-west » Fri 28 Jul, 2017 3:12 pm

Huskisson River via Kazoos (from Tiger Ridge) is p176. Parsons Hood is p182.
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Re: Tarkine rainforest advice

Postby tasmaniac » Mon 31 Jul, 2017 10:19 pm

Thanks guys, The Kazoos track does sound rather good, but what is the 15km of dirt road like? I've only got a campervan. As for the Parsons Hood track the book mentions that you have to go through Venture Minerals property, do you know if this is still the case?
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Re: Tarkine rainforest advice

Postby MrWalker » Tue 01 Aug, 2017 8:21 am

tasmaniac wrote:Thanks guys, The Kazoos track does sound rather good, but what is the 15km of dirt road like? I've only got a campervan.

i am fairly sure that this was a track I tried a year or so ago. I tried to drive at 20km/hr but my family objected that the road was too rough for such a high speed. So after about 5km we decided not to go that way and drove out again. If you have a campervan make sure everything inside is tied down. :roll:
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Re: Tarkine rainforest advice

Postby north-north-west » Tue 01 Aug, 2017 4:12 pm

It's a roughish gravel road but as long as you keep very slow and careful it shouldn't do any damage. I've seen sedans and compacts at the carpark. I've taken a 2wd CRV down there three times without problems.

The Mt Lindsay mine project is on hold, the security cameras etc have been removed and as long as no-one makes a point of dobbing you in to Venture ((who have much bigger things to worry about right now), access should not be a problem. Or you can try to contact them and ask for permission to walk up the road as far as necessary.
(Note, I am basically paraphrasing the advice in the book, which is to either ask for permission or enter at your own risk. TiM had a camp somewhere in there over Easter without issues.)
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Re: Tarkine rainforest advice

Postby tasmaniac » Wed 02 Aug, 2017 4:42 pm

Those two are definitely on my to do list now, thanks for the tips. I've got a couple more questions for you all. The photos below are of from somewhere along the Hatfield River and I was wondering if anyone knew roughly where. Also, has anyone been to the Wes Beckett Falls recently? I went in a few months ago despite the road being blocked by fallen trees and when I got to the end of the road, where the signs are there was no obvious track but I did find a taped route which was too rough to have ever been a track. The tapes ran out as it got scarily steep descending to the creek so I didn't go any further. I presume the actual track is further downstream and less steep and rough. If anyone can shed some light on this, that would be great. Thanks.
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Re: Tarkine rainforest advice

Postby Biggles » Sat 12 Aug, 2017 12:41 pm

The images you have reproduced were likely made many — 20?, years ago. In rainforest environments, what you see from xx years past is very often not the same as what you would hope to see now. I know this from specialising in the rainforests of the Great Otway National Park. As an example, a scene I photographed in June 2013 and attempted to revisit this July is no longer extant: floods (January 2016), prolific vegetation, fallen trees and even realigned water courses made location very difficult (even with a total-track GPS record). I imagine the Tarkine's deep, cold myrtle glooms are in a constant state of change. They certainly are around the Pieman River area.

I know a few people associated with the Tarkine who could probably identify those scenes (if they made GPS waypoints, and if they took notes), but for the sake of safety they would most likely not provide information on accessibility other than what is commonly available and known (e.g. in guidebooks). I am reasonably sure the pics are on tributaries of the Hatfield, not the river itself. My recollection is that many of these published photos were done through off-track/route walking (Savage River, Donaldson River, Huskisson River) around 1994-1995 preparatory to the book "The Tarkine" [Wilderness Society, 1995, out of print]. Ted Mead, Rob Blakers (especially) Grant Dixon and Bob Brown were prime movers in terms of researching Tarkine scenes for that book, and the images today have an enduring, evergreen appeal. More recently, 'Tarkine Trails' (Bob Brown Foundation) features works from the newer successful photographers in Tasmania (Nick Monk, Hillary Younger, others) along with stalwart Rob Blakers' own newer and (now quite old) images (circa 1994). RB is the type who packs his (heavy) gear for extended trips into the Tarkine, not particularly fancying short day walks or places that area relatively accessible as opposed to those which are almost impossible to find without a thorough record.

I would certainly recommend Tarkine Trails and carefully reading walks such as those to Philosophers Falls, which is an ideal introduction to the rainforest; anything more required scenically (moss-festooned myrtle et al) is most likely off-track and that's where the danger lies. Even short walks around the Savage River (and those radiating out from Corinna) can be very rewarding.

BTW,a 'taped route' does not have to resemble a track to be navigable. :wink:
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Re: Tarkine rainforest advice

Postby north-north-west » Sat 12 Aug, 2017 6:14 pm

I can't speak for the first set, but the last two shown are from this year's Tarkine in Motion outing over Easter. Now that our curator is back from his travels I may be able to find out where they were done.
Maybe,
Last edited by north-north-west on Mon 14 Aug, 2017 6:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Tarkine rainforest advice

Postby Biggles » Sun 13 Aug, 2017 12:20 pm

The art exhibition of Tarkine in Motion was viewed at the ACU in Fitzroy 10th-24th July (travelling exhibition), and a very wide variety of works were presented; the standout photography was from Hillary Younger: big, bold beautifully atmospheric coastal images. Dan Broun was the curator. If the specific photographers of the rainforest images were in attendance (two were), it would have been an ideal opportunity to open discussion about specific locations.

tasmaniac wrote:[...]They probably aren't all as spectacular as the areas in these pictures. I just hoped someone might recognise these locations.[...]


Not true. Locs in the book are much better technically and aesthetically and considerably more representative of the depth and diversity of the Tarkine than the first couple of images.
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Re: Tarkine rainforest advice

Postby stepbystep » Sun 13 Aug, 2017 3:36 pm

north-north-west wrote:I can't speak for the first set, but the last two shown are from this year's Tarkine in Motion outing over Easter. Now that our curator is back from his travels I may be able to find out where there done.
Maybe,


2016 Tarkine in Motion event actually. The bottom image is of the Hatfield just up from the confluence of the Coldstream. The first one was in a tributary stream much higher up that I can't pinpoint. They found it after exploring in some areas not far from the highway on Huskisson Drive. I'm keen to find it too!

Both images by Tim Cooper to help raise awareness of the threats faced by the Tarkine rainforest systems.
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