South Coast Track - Day 6

Granite Beach to Lion Rock

This day is known to be the second hardest on the walk because it involves crossing the South Cape Range. The South Cape Range is, where we crossed it, 465 m high and, to make matters worse it is notorious for being very muddy.

Our day started badly because, having woken up, we discovered that our friendly antechinus had ruined two of our water bladders and it had also overcome Paul’s antechinus defences and gotten into his food. Coincidentally, my water bladder also broke at the same time and our water carry ability was severely diminished. Fortunately, David had a 4L water carrier which we pressed into service as a water bottle for the rest of the trip.

Day 6 - Hill Profile

The hill profile doesn’t show you the mud, but it does show you that, at 465m, the South Cape Range is a reasonable obstacle to get over. Once we got to the eastern side of the Range the mud dried up and walking became easier.

Antechinus Havoc

You can see the effort that Paul went to to protect his food from the antechinus, just to be thwarted. His food bag was ripped, the contents were spoiled and two muesli bars had disappeared altogether, never to be seen again.

The Culprit

These loveable looking marsupials are a nightmare for bushwalkers. Aside from damaging our water sacks and getting into Paul's food, one ate a hole in John's pack at Deadman's Bay when we did the walk 22 years earlier.

Views back over Granite Beach

As we climbed the South Cape Range we got occasional views back over the territory we had walked during the last few days.

Panormama

This is a panorama taken towards the top of the South Cape Range. You can see on the left, Granite Beach, which we had left earlier that day. You can also see the jagged top of the Ironbound Range which we had crossed on day 3 of our walk.

The track

The track over the South Cape Range is famous for its mud. We were lucky because we had quite good conditions. Tassie has been pretty dry and we only had one morning's rain during the walk. Despite this, the track over the South Cape Range was still a slow and muddy affair.

The track

Here you can see where years of bushwalkers and water have carved a narrow slot in the mud.