‘This curiosity that keeps me going’: Veteran bushwalker Peter Marmion on circumnavigating Tassie on foot
From scaling Rosny Hill as a curious seven-year-old to traversing Tasmania’s untamed coasts, Peter Marmion’s remarkable journey reflects a lifelong curiosity for exploration.
From the calm waters of the Bellerive Yacht Club, Peter Marmion can map out his journey from a young boy enchanted by nature to one of Tasmania’s most experienced bushwalkers.
“When I was seven, my mate and I climbed up Rosny Hill,” he recalled.
“We were so excited to do it. But then we got up there and we saw Kunanyi and we thought that’s our next challenge, and when you finally get up there, you can see right into the mountains of South West Tasmania.”
What started as a way to keep busy during the school holidays blossomed into a lifelong passion, with the respected wilderness guide recently ticking off his most ambitious journey yet: circumnavigating Tassie on foot.
He shared his experience in a fully-booked lunchtime talk session at The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery earlier this week, focusing on his insights of traversing the particularly untamed, and World Heritage-listed coastline between Port Davey and Strahan.
Circumnavigation of the state on foot took him a total of 190 days to cover about 2200km and was spread over several decades.
“I’d always had this idea of walking the whole West Coast with a few mates but then I thought, ‘well why don’t we do the whole lot?’” Mr Marmion said.
“But I ended up being the only one who was keen.”
Mr Marmion completed the journey in stages – many of which he was already familiar with having walked them over his decades of exploration.
Now 67, he said bushwalking was a good way of keeping fit.
“I don’t like going to gyms,” he said.
“Some of the country, especially on the West Coast, is really challenging because it’s difficult to get through scrubby country or shore platforms with cliffs.
“But through consistently walking you maintain that level of fitness, so I never have to go on fitness drives.”
Despite this, Mr Marmion said most of the preparation was mental, with the most successful bushwalkers undertaking significant research ahead of the journey – of both the terrain, and its history.
It was something he aimed to raise awareness of through his work.
“When I was a young bushwalker I didn’t realise that I was following the ancient paths of Tasmanian Aboriginal people,” he said.
“You can still feel that presence in those wild places.”
He also hoped to continue raising awareness of the physical and mental health benefits of bushwalking, which he said were becoming more readily embraced by the community.
“It always gives me a big thrill when I go up Kunanyi and I can see so many people of all different ages recreating on that mountain that sits at out back door,” he said.
“I think as a society, with health costs soaring we’ve got to do so much more about preventative health, and I think we’re starting to understand more how things like forest bathing and breathing fresh air is actually good for you.
“It’s important to understand that it’s not hippie stuff.”
That wasn’t the only change he had noticed over decades of bushwalking.
Environmental changes, particularly along the east coast, were just as striking.
“The loss of giant kelp beds is a huge thing. Ninety-nine per cent of those kelp beds have disappeared in less than half of my lifetime,” he said.
“Everywhere I walk on the coast, I see plastic from international sources or our domestic fishing industry.
“We’ve got to do something about stopping that at the source, but a lot of the coastline that I’ve walked, from Recherche Bay to Woolnorth Point for example, remains untouched.
“We’re so lucky in Tasmania that so much of our land is conserved, and we’ve got these large swathes of untouched coastlines.”
Never one to shy away from a challenge, Mr Marmion is working on a new book.
The book, titled Coasting, will be a collection of stories about the people he has met, and the lessons he has learnt over his journey along Tasmania’s coasts.
They were lessons he hoped to pass onto the next generation of bushwalkers, nature-lovers and explores, which will hopefully include his seven grandchildren.
“I’ve learnt that you shouldn’t get too comfortable and cozy, because there’s always the next thing,” he said.
“I’ve always loved Tasmania so much … I’ve got this passion to get to know it as well as I possibly can.
“It’s this curiosity that keeps me going.”
Hobart’s Incat scores third electric Nordic ferry deal
