Crowded bush?

[Taurë-rana]

Just reading the posts on this forum, it seems to me that there must be a lot of people out in the bush! I was just wondering how people are finding places like the Walls, the Western Arthurs, the Mt Anne circuit etc? Are you alone out there or are there crowds?

[ClockworkLemon]

Just reading the posts on this forum, it seems to me that there must be a lot of people out in the bush! I was just wondering how people are finding places like the Walls, the Western Arthurs, the Mt Anne circuit etc? Are you alone out there or are there crowds?

Yeah, I've found the last few walks up in the Walls to be crowded in places. The majority of people seem to stick to the marked track and the popular campsites, like Wild Dog Creek, Pool of Bethesda and Dixon's Kingdom. I've been tending to explore off the marked track lately, so I don't tend to see people except on the walk in/out, or if I pass through somewhere popular on the way to a different destination.

This week was very different, though. I only saw maybe 4 or 5 groups of people in the popular campsites while I was up there (2 in Dixon's Kingdom and 2, possibly 3 groups at Wild Dog Creek). The weather must have been putting people off...

[walkinTas]

The OT is a busy highway. I saw well over thirty people between Hartnett Falls and Kia Ora Hut on December 29.

[norts]

Frenchmans was busy. We set our tents up on the helipad at Vera. Most campsites wereused and hut close to full.

Roger

[MrCAMEL]

On the December 27 at Dixon's Kingdom there were about 10 tents set up. Being my first overnight camping out, I did think this was a high number.

Walking in the Arm River track on New Year's Eve from 6pm to 830pm I did not see anyone coming back out. But when I got to Pelion Hut it was pretty busy and there were about 8 tents set up and apart from being amazed at how big the place is (seeing for the first time) was quite amazed at the people who paid their bit for another 1.5m of boardwalk to be added to the great Overland Boardwalk.
Walking back out the Arm Track the next day, between 230 and 6pm, there were more than a dozen people coming the other way. Which I thought was a lot.

[johnw]

Two of us camped at Wild Dog Creek platforms on 27 and 28 Dec. There were quite a few tents there but it's a large site and seems to have a lot of capacity. There were quite a few vacant spots the first night but it seemed pretty full the second night. Lots of people around the Walls generally (as others have commented).

Later in our trip we camped two nights at the north end of Lake Meston (great spot ). On 30 Dec we were the only ones there. Went for a walk in the afternoon of 31 Dec, and returned to find a single party of 10 people with 5 tents camped right on top of us. They weren't doing anything wrong by being there, but to my mind this is too large a single group for a remote location like that. They were also quite noisy, which took away the wilderness feel of the place to some extent .

[bludger]

Amazingly we had Pine Valley hut to ourselves on Saturday night (the 3rd), but passed 20+ people on the walk back out on Sunday. Lucky!

I guess the bad weather keeps people away? Friday's weather was fairly ordinary, Saturday turned out to be quite nice - overcast but good visibility, while Sunday was a cracker.

[kramster]

We spent 3 nights down at Cooks Beach (Freycinet). On NYE I'd say there were 10 tents, 5 wallabys and a wandering wombat down there (so plenty of room still - no feelings of over-crowding at all)
Admittedly we were the only ones awake to see the year turn-over (so we whispered ourHappy New Years over a few sparklers and glass of bubbly before sneeking quietly off to bed)
There appeared to be a small army of tents at the seldom visited Bryans Beach the following day (from a bunch of people who must have boated in given what was there)

[mikethepike]

It won't fit in with a lot of people's other commitments but if you walk even the most popular tracks in Tasmania in March, you'll find the tracks, camping platforms and huts comparatively empty. And the weather often tends to be more settled then than in early-mid summer. Would you believe that when I hitchhiked to Waldheim at the start of the last week in February 1970, and this involved walking the last 20 miles of dirt road, only one car passed me! (and didn't pick me up, hence the 20 miles). Most of the huts I had to myself. How things have changed but this is not so much the case for out of season walking !

[Clownfish]

We went to Scott-Kilvert Hut about 6 weeks ago. After Ranger Hut, we didn't see anyone else, and we had the hut to ourselves. The log book showed parties of 2-3 people most nights for the past month or more. The exception was a party of 12 on New Year's Eve.

On the Labour Day weekend just past, we walked from Lake Ada to the Talleh Lagoons and back. The carpark was full, mostly with fishermen, it would seem, as we only saw two parties, going the other way - including the legendary Gordon, who was 4WD'ing to the top carpark to pick up his family's packs, and offered us a lift!

The most crowded I've seen was the Walls, setting out on Boxing Day '08. Wild Dog Creek campsite was fairly full, but even so, it didn't feel crowded. On our return, which was the first Saturday after Christmas, we did pass a lot of people, a mix of day walkers and campers.

However, having moved to Tassie from the Mainland 5 years ago, I can assure you that "crowded", here, is positively lonely. One of my favourite Victorian spots was Blanket Bay: If we went midweek, in the off-season, we could have the place to ourselves; more popular times, you had to book, months in advance.

[frank_in_oz]

One of my favourite Victorian spots was Blanket Bay: If we went midweek, in the off-season, we could have the place to ourselves; more popular times, you had to book, months in advance.

yep, ballot each summer and Easter. Great spot. Probably saw you down there. We usually head there 3- 4 time a year and have been going there for 30 years+

[frank_in_oz]

Louisa Bay (off the South Coast Track) - just had 3 nights in there a week or so ago. Saw NO ONE. Fantastic....

(ran into 9 from a Tas Ex group on their way in as we headed out - our timing was perfect)

[Clownfish]

We usually head there 3- 4 time a year and have been going there for 30 years+

The first time I went there was back in the 80s, when there were still shacks there. Utter disaster of a weekend. Got there on dark, no spots left, just starting to rain ...

I took my kids there for their first camping trips - when they were about three or four - in the late 90s and early 00s. Our favourite spot, I forget the number, was at the eastern corner; really sheltered, but you opened your tent fly to look straight out to the sea.

The bay is brilliant for swimming, with that lava reef sheltering it from the Bass Strait swell.

We've only been back to the Mainland for "family Christmas" visits since moving to Tas., so we haven't been back. I grew up in Geelong, with the Ocean Road as something of our backyard. My Mum was a Guides leader, so we could get the keys to their Moggs Creek camping ground any time they weren't using it. Remembering the Otway Coast in the 70s and early 80s, it's quite saddened me to see what's become of it in the last 20 years; the opening of the Cumberland resort at Lorne seemed to be the beginning of the rot.

[Speculator]

Spent 2 days at Lees Paddocks on the weekend, and we practically had the place to ourselves. We were expecting to see a lot of people, but only day-walkers on the way in and out really. Both huts were empty. There weren't even any cows!

L8r.

[corvus]

How lucky were you and yours.
c

[frank_in_oz]

We usually head there 3- 4 time a year and have been going there for 30 years+

The first time I went there was back in the 80s, when there were still shacks there. Utter disaster of a weekend. Got there on dark, no spots left, just starting to rain ...

I took my kids there for their first camping trips - when they were about three or four - in the late 90s and early 00s. Our favourite spot, I forget the number, was at the eastern corner; really sheltered, but you opened your tent fly to look straight out to the sea.

The bay is brilliant for swimming, with that lava reef sheltering it from the Bass Strait swell.

Yes, It was our kids first camping trip, I think the youngest was about 2. It was also our first weekend away as a couple in 1977! Got bogged in the sand on the way in!

We used to travel there fairly "lighty" and now take about 3 tonne of gear......


There are more pics here: http://frankinoz.blogspot.com/2008/01/b ... ow-up.html

And this pic of a double rainbow is taken near the area you called your favourite spot.