Bushwalks and hikes in Tasmania and the world
Castra Falls, Castra Circuit, Jun 2016.
The main blog on the Castra circuit is to be found in the link below:
http://www.natureloverswalks.com/step-falls-castr…lls-silver-falls/
This entry is here for people searching for individual falls to see what they look like. For directions and the full story, please turn to the link above.
Silver Falls , Castra Circuit. Jun 2016
Originally, I listed the three falls of this circuit: namely, Step Falls, Castra Falls and Silver Falls, in the one post. However, I have realised that some people search for a single waterfall, and therefore miss the ones not in prominence in the header, so I am giving each waterfall that has happened to its own blog, but with a reference back to the main blog that actually describes how to get there and what it was like. Photos are here just to make it pretty :-). For the main blog for these falls turn to:
http://www.natureloverswalks.com/step-falls-castr…lls-silver-falls/
Freycinet National Park – a winter visit. June 2016
What a terrible dilemma we had. It was created by the fact that Tassie (Tasmania) is a mountainous island, with more beauty to offer than most places can dream about (which is why we choose to live here). It was a long weekend, and I had to choose between going to the mountains, where some early snow was scheduled to fall, making the already mesmeric landscape a stunning white, or going to the sea, where the weather would be milder, and the rolling tides and swells would make interesting patterns as the water surged. I consulted my dog, who said to stay at home, but that was not a popular vote.
We sat at our little table for two, innocently eating our meals, and in came two friends from Hobart Walking Club, who chatted to us while we ate. Then two from the Northwest Walking Club came in; more chatting. Then my friend and fellow expeditioner, Pete, from Hobart Club spotted us, so came to say “Hi’, followed by two more friends that I knew from the Eldons expedition. Next there was Sally, an old workmate of Bruce’s, and a lady from my Pilates class. The list goes on, and includes my climbing partner and “sister-in-crime”, Angela. We had a merry night, and didn’t leave until quite late. That’s fine. That’s what head torches were made for, isn’t it?
Castro Circuit: Step Falls, Castra Falls, Silver Falls and more. Jun 2016
From our very first steps, we loved this walk. Fungi were everywhere, but this was a waterfall walk, so I tried to ignore these delicate beauties, and left my macro lens in the bottom of the pack so as to not be even more boring by changing lenses the whole time. Oh the shame of it all, but I did admire them anyway as I walked past.
Well, I did say I admired them en passant. I decided I could photograph them with my wide-angle lens and that would not take up so much time.
The second falls on the list, the Castra Falls, had a rope to hold, which Bruce greatly appreciated. (All these Falls are done as side routes from the main circuit, as I hope my map at the end makes clear.)
Climbing back up from the Castra Falls
The Castra Cascades were pleasant enough, but not as beautiful as the many river scenes along the way, … and very shortly after that, we were at the junction of the Castra Rivulet we had been following, and Nietta Creek, which we were about to pursue. We’d been exercising for a total of 45 minutes at this stage (which included side trips, but not photos). This was a really pretty spot with a kind of beach – perfect for lunch. I ate hurriedly, as I wanted to explore a track that went off to the right here, to what was called a “Secret place”. I was unsure about where it went and what it was, as, unlike the other side routes, it gave no time estimation. I left Bruce quietly eating and set off along the steep banks on my mystery journey. After 16 minutes, the tapes seemed to have run out, and even if they hadn’t, I felt my time had. The scene below was what I found. I photographed just with hand-held camera on 1/10th second, as I feared Bruce might be getting cold and wondering what on earth his wife was up to. No longer wondering the whole time if this was the secret place, or this, I moved more quickly, and was back at the junction in 11 minutes.
From the junction, the beautiful Nietta Creek is followed upstream until Silver Falls are reached. This part of the route is wonderful, as you are right beside the stream the whole way.
The side track to Silver Falls is the tiniest deviation from the circuit, and this was my favourite of the Falls. Another short but steep push and the top was reached.
Silver Falls, falls number three
We had parked the car at the second entrance to the forest, maybe two hundred metres from the first, but the other side of the rivulet, in case the stream was flooded. As you can see from the photo below, it wasn’t, so we completed the circuit in the forest and were soon back at the car. (If the water is high, you can do this tiny stretch on the road.)
Apparently this beautiful circuit was destroyed in a huge storm a few years back, but has now been repaired by local volunteers, to whom go my heartfelt thanks. The tapes and path are clear, signage is fantastic, but, better than that, it remains a real bushwalk and not one of these wretched manicured tourist highways. You do have to concentrate a little; you can fall over or trip, you need to look for the next tape and use your brain a tiny bit. The freedom to fall or to make a slight error is a marvellous manumission in this over-cosseted, litigation-terrified age.
Our route. Hopefully you can see that there is a main circuit, with Falls off to the side, usually involving a climb down. Tasmaps, being their usual inefficient selves, have not only omitted the path, but have misnamed and misplaced the position of the falls in their habitual cavalier attitude to the needs of walkers and tourists who might want to use the maps for something purposeful. I have blocked out the incorrect names. We walked anti-clockwise. The narrative (combined with map reading) should make it clear which falls are which. Step Falls are correctly named and placed.
Mt Proteus
Dawn, summit day
Angela had three days clear (as did I); we decided Mt Proteus was a suitable mountain for this time of year and that time span. We knew Maureen needed Proteus on her way to completing all the Abels, so invited her too, and an expedition (albeit a little one) was born. Off we set excitedly on the Arm River track, heading west, and then the Overland Track heading north until our camping spot, just north of Pelion West (Pine Forest Moor). What lay in store for us? For the moment, light drizzle and not much of a view. Happy to have the day completed so we could get cozy in our tents, we filled up with water from the idyllic creek below, so lush you almost needed sunglasses to cut the vibrance, and retreated to our colourful homes among the pencil pines (Athrotaxis cypressoides – which grows between 700 and 1300 ms asl and has nothing to do with the pine family at all [or with pencils]. Homesick early settlers called anything evergreen “pine”). It was protected enough there under cover for us to have a relatively leisurely setting up process, and to spend a little time carefully choosing our piece of real estate for the night.
You should have heard me gasp with delight when I emerged into the open on the morning of the second (summit) day and saw the expanse of white depicted in the two photos above. I was thrilled with the freshness and delicacy of it all. This is the terrain we had to cross for many kilometres to meet our mountain. We found it tiring, as we had to lift our legs very high to get over that grass, sometimes unexpectedly falling in holes – often filled with water – hardly a welcome outcome on a morning such as this. We had had to don wet socks and boots at the start of the day, so accidental soakings were not quite as disastrous as might be imagined, but our toes were numb and frozen nonetheless. There were also two bands of pretty dense bauera bush, but they didn’t last very long, being narrow, and just as I was starting to wonder if it was going to be a fight the whole way, the vegetation became calf high, and we had easy access to the summit, now not far away.
It had taken 2 hours 38 to reach the summit. The book had said two; I had feared three, so this was a pretty good compromise. I had allowed for a possible ten-hour day when I asked the others if they minded starting at 7.30, so maybe we had won a little time. Off we set on our return journey. Once we knew which type of undergrowth in this area fared better (scoparia scattered amongst fern grass was faster than button grass, which we managed to mostly avoid on the rebound), we were able to cut a bit off our time, and after a tidy 2 hrs 7 mins we were back at our wonderful fairyland campsite, ready to relax with a cuppa before packing up our tents and moving on.
We squandered a little of our won time by being a tiny bit slow at packing up (I’d allowed an hour), and we were not ready to set out before 3.15. Maths said it would probably be dark by the time we reached Pelion Hut. Maths was unfortunately right, but we knew this was likely. I wanted a tiny break for a drink at Pelion Creek, and another for photography at Frog Flats. I also couldn’t resist a set of photos as we rounded a corner and saw Pelion West in the clear afternoon light. Cathedral mountain also looked a treat. These things take time …. Angela had predicted that we’d be able to do without head torches until 5.45 and she was right to the exact minute. By this stage it was becoming downright dangerous, as the boardwalk has steps that you couldn’t see in the dark, and falling would have been treacherous. Also, many of the boards lacked chicken-wire, and the ice of the morning had lingered on boards and leaves the whole day, turning the Overland Track into an elongated skating rink. The final twenty minutes were done by torchlight.
I was hoping for another lovely frosted morning next day, but thick mist regaled us in our waking moments. At least it meant I didn’t hold the others up with too much photography. Off we set into the mist, hands burning with the cold, hoping that the climb to the high point on this track would warm us up.
