Lose yourself in Tarkine's beauty

WET ancient forests grow in a rugged corner of Tasmania called the Tarkine, writes Peter Gosnell.

wilderness

HE said he was from Washington. His name was Dick. Dick had just emerged from the rainforest, exhausted, sweat-soaked and in the company of two seamed and brawny locals.

Only minutes before, his rescuers had been taking their ease on the veranda of the Corinna Hotel. Then up walked an agitated Mrs Dick.

With admirable self-control she requested that they interrupt their languid consumption of beer and tobacco long enough to "please find my husband".

Once Dick had introduced himself, he recounted how he became disoriented on the short, level and well-marked path along the Whyte River, a tributary of the Pieman River on Tasmania's West Coast.

We Australians politely sipped our beers, and wondered how a man could lose his way within cooee of the only pub for miles.

We Australians comprised five: Aran, our guide from Tasmanian Expeditions, the Apple Isle's specialist arm of World Expeditions, guests Nick, Linda and Rhonda, and me. We were into the middle of our six-day Tarkine and North West Coast tour.

The tour begins in Launceston; after climbing aboard Aran's four-wheel drive we head west on the Bass Highway. The plan is to drive to Wynyard on the northwest coast. There we'll take a quick stroll along the top of the cape before moving on to Rocky Cape for a beach stroll and lunch. After that it's on to Stanley for the night.

The real prize of this trip lies south. The Tarkine comprises about 400,000ha of wilderness. It is the largest remaining patch of cool rainforest on the planet but to get to its soul we have to pass first through divine farm country on the C219 back road before skirting the South Arthur Forests and the Milkshakes Hill Forest Reserve. We climb above the forests and come to wide plains.

There is growing anticipation as we begin the last leg: down through the settlement of Balfour, abandoned but for "one crazy guy", until with surprising abruptness we arrive.

Corinna sits on the Pieman River's waterlogged banks about 15km upriver from where its tannin-tainted waters spill into the Southern Ocean. Once a bustling gold-mining town, it now hosts those seeking the wondrous flora of the Tarkine forest.

Aran books us into the Old Pub, a tiny building refurbished to sleep about 10. It is a snug base as we spend the next three days exploring this remote and hidden world of forest and fungi, streams and wild, lonely seas. We hire kayaks from the punt operator and explore the Pieman's upper reaches and tributaries.

Rain drums on the Old Pub's metal roof the next morning. Undeterred we set out in the Sweetwater, an 8m wake-boarder. By the time the river mouth is in view the rain has stopped.

The shacks of Pieman Heads occupy a few hectares of the southern bank a few hundred metres from the mouth.

Our plan is to walk up the coast to Rupert Point. Each day presents such an invigorating experience as we wander more coastlines, scale mounts Donaldson and Murchison and finish with a few beers or a glass of wine on the veranda of the Corinna Pub.

The writer was a guest of Tasmania Expeditions and Tourism Tasmania.

Go2 TARKINE

The deal
Tasmania Expeditions' six-day Tarkine and the Northwest Coast trip (introductory to moderate) runs from October to May and is priced from $1995 a person.

Getting there
Virgin Australia flies daily to Launceston. See virginaustralia.com.au

More:
tasmanianexpeditions.com.au
discoverthetarkine.com.au