the Tarkine

Day One

Well, an eventful first day. I got dropped off by my partner Mog at around 4,30pm on the corner of the Murchison Highway and the road to Waratah. It was a sad departure as it'll be a month before we see each other again. Strange to think that we haven't spent more than a fortnight apart in the six odd years we've been seeing each other. So that and my heading off on my own into the bush for the first time since March last year had me feeling a bit out of sorts.

Mog was in a rush to catch the Spirit of Tasmania that leaves from Devonport on the north coast at 8pm. Thats about a 2ish hour drive from where she dropped me off.

Having dropped me off, I quickly got my bits together. There was the front and rear wheels to slide in and bolt up, the 2 Ortlieb rear panniers and bar bag plus a silicon nylon stuff sack large enough to take my tent poles, bike tools and two Platypus bottles with around four litres of water in them for a total of four and a half with a frame mounted bottle. While it could be considered a little unnecessary to carry so much water on the west coast of Tasmania, it really isn't. For one, Waratah is at a height of around 650 metres, quite high for the area.
Secondly, the driest month of the year, february, is just around the corner. Lastly, I was intending on heading to Magnet, an old mining town, one of the many that is now largely reclaimed by the bush. Having seen the condition of some of the rivers running through mining activity and looking at water quality reports, water from certain of these rivers may not be too conducive to health.

So, it didn't seem to take long at all to get to Waratah, a distance of about 7km of mostly flat tarmac road. I had a quick cycle around the town, noting in my GPS some of the more interesting places in town such as the Bischoff hotel, the cafe next door, Kenworthys Stump Hauler (whatever that is), Philosopher Smiths hut, a house advertising homemade patchwork quilts for sale and the general store. I remember some great homemade cakes at the general store from a previous wintery visit. They also sell petrol and diesel at a touch more than Tullah prices, $1.50 a litre for Unleaded, $1.60 for diesel.

Waratah is a lovely town, as long as the weathers good. There's unfortunately many days of the year when you can barely see it for the mist and driving rain. Being high up it tends to bear the brunt of bad weather brought on by the westerlies. However, sitting at the edge of the Tarkine with the views of forested peaks running away from the towns waterfall, its just beautiful on a sunny day. It also seems many of the houses have been cleaned up, including some fine colonial architecture, there are walkways and bridges skirting the pool in the centre of town, the emerging tourist attractions already mentioned and a general feel of a place well looked after.

Having looked around, I then headed out on the Savage river road, which if you're coming from the highway is a left turn at the general store. Cycling out of town is when you start to get a sense of the remoteness of the place. There's a sign on the left side of the road declaring the ownership of a hill, while another sits next to it telling you to keep off it, whichever hill it might be! Then there's the half overturned cars, perhaps the protect a caravan from the prevailing westerlies or the rusting hunks of odd looking machinery. There's certainly plenty to look at in wonder.

I took a quick detour at the road that having looked at the Landsat image from 2004 appeared to be the best bet for getting me some way close to Tullah. Its a track that heads pretty much straight souther towards the Huskisson river, passing by Mt. Ramsey, one of the best peaks in the Tarkine for those 360 views apparently. My initial thoughts were good. The track was quite wide, in fairly good condition abd quite flat. It doesn't take long to get cynical over such a seemingly good track however. I will head down it tomorrow but don't expect to be able to follow it as far as the map suggests.

Heading back onto the highway I stopped again a short distance further on to check out what was marked on the map as Arthur Dam, a dam not far from the headwaters of the Arthur river, one of the Tarkines most mighty. It didn't look so mighty though. Mud, sticks, dead trees and a widely meandering sliver of water is all the remained of the dam. I presume its lack of water is due to the drought and time of year. It was quite an eerie landscape, especially seeing the evidence of water having scoured out the banks into the dam. I'm sure it will be full again though.

Cycling on I then passed Butlers road, along which you can find the start of the Philosophers falls walk, an absolutely spectacular walk and waterfall, especially in the wetter months. Its not recommended for anyone who might have trouble ducking and weaving under and over horizontal, fallen myrtles and so on, negotiating steep and loose banks and following from one pink ribbon to the next. While not easy it shouldn't take more than about 3 hours and is well worthwhile to get a taste of what Gondwanan rainforest is all about.

Not long after this is the Magnet road. The road actually goes over both sides, a bit of arareity here and is just before a sign declaring the need to slow to 45km hour due to tight bends. I took the right turn here. There's a quarry a little further along that marks the end of the easier track. Past here it starts to get steep, looser and thinner. There is about 300m of height to loose winding down into the thin and long Magnet valley. I managed to lose control a couple of times, once having my bike ride up and into some strong saplings, I was very grateful when the bike seemed to come out undamaged. I decided not to be so gung-ho. I should have really dropped my tyres pressure to float better over the rocks.

I'm now camped up a couple of kms along the river valley, in amongst heaps of thick, old glass and pottery pieces. You start to see various bits of the town as you spend time here. Most appearing only as you look around and through the encroaching bush.  Here's what Charles Whitham in his book Land of Riches and Beauty had to say about Magnet,

Magnet is more primitive than Waratah, as if it were not quite sure of its future, and does not care to go in for fancy dress or decoration.  It is a "one-pub" settlement, 5 miles in a straight line from Waratah, but 11 miles if you go by the serpentine tramway. Its elevation is about 1,400 feet, and the mine is at the end of a deep and narrow valley, through which a creek swirls its ungainly course, just leaving barely enough room for the huts and cottages that clutch the slopes.

As this trip is fairly short and my first this year, its to some extent a tester, especially of new equipment. My initial thoughts so far are,

The Tubus LOCC rear rack has started to rub on the rear wheel on the left side. I will need to unscrew it and readjust to give more clearance on that side. With the Pugsleys frame being offset, it makes fitting a standard rack difficult.

I forgot toilet paper. Buggar.

The cinch straps I have are crap. I have been eyeing up shockles as a much better alternative, especially for packrafting and strapping the bike down to it.

This is my last day at work for a while, and i'm writing this entry. Its been a mad rush to get things done in time and the hour draws closer to my leaving. Today is friday. Tomorrow at 9pm I will be leaving the dock at Port Melbourne on the Spirit of Tasmania, heading out of the bay and across the Bass Strait to Devonport. Tonight i'd like to be having a couple of relaxing beers, but feel I may be packing frantically instead!

I'm thinking about trails....