Blue Tier Plateau, Tasmania

The North East of Tasmania just keeps giving!  Today we drove to the Blue Tier Plateau where we had two walks ear-marked.  The drive up to the plateau is along a very narrow gravel road that winds up the mountain to a height of well over 600 metres.   This area is renowned for its fantastic Mountain Bike Rides and we pass a shuttle bus loaded with people and bikes who are heading to one of the many tracks.  It takes us more than an hour to reach the Poimena Car Park that is the start of the Moon Valley Rim Walk.

This is a circular hike and we are a little unsure as to what direction to start as we had forgotten to download the All Trails map that would guide us.  We eventually decided on a clockwise direction.  This part of the walk is relatively flat as it follows along the road but the scenery is stunning. There is a whitish fungi that is growing on the ground and gives the impression of snow.  It is quite fitting for this walk that has an almost alpine feel to it.

The walk is only a short 3.5km but around the halfway mark we lose the track.  It is very confusing as to which way to head next and without a map we are walking blind.  We decided to get back onto the road and follow it for a while to see if we can pick up the trail.  After another 1km or so we realise that we are almost certainly heading the wrong direction so we about turn and make our way back down the road to where the car is parked.  From here we make the decision to do an out and back hike to the top of Mt. Poimena and return to the car from here.  It was a good decision because even though it is quite a steep walk in parts, the view is stunning.  Some of the way we are walking on spongy moss and then the trail turns to a rocky path that takes us to the summit.  We are now standing at a height of over 800m and it feels like we are on top of the world.  It is hard to know which direction to point the camera.  We can see all the way to St. Helens and the ocean looking to the East and then west we are looking out towards the high mountains of the Weldborough Pass.  I've seen some mighty fine views in our travels but I think this one takes the cake.  Magnificent.

The walk ended up being around 5.5k after we lost our way, but it was all worth it.  Back in the car, and with no mobile coverage, we had to resort to a good old reliable map to find our way to the next destination - Big Tree Walk.  It was another long drive across narrow roads to reach this walk.  At one point we came up to a corner to find another car that had spun out of control (driving too fast) and was just bringing himself back on the road.  I don't know whether it is an age thing (probably) but to our way of thinking Tasmanian drivers travel these winding roads way too fast and don't allow any room for error.  White lines on bitumen roads are just a suggestion as nine times out of ten they come at you on your side of the road.  It's pretty scary when you are towing the van!

Big Tree Walk is very different to the previous walk.  It is all downhill on the way in and it has a Jurassic Park feel to it.  There are giant tree ferns and the biggest trees I have ever seen.  We intended to walk the 1km to Big Tree that is Australia's widest living tree that stands 60 metres high with a girth of 19.4 metres.  It would take 15 people with arms spread to reach around this tree.  Unfortunately though we came to a fallen tree and with the recent rain we could not pick a path around it without sinking ankle deep in mud.  We turned around.  The walk back to the car, all uphill, is quite arduous but slow and steady wins the race.

It was a lovely way to spend the morning and we were back in St. Helens around 1.30 just in time to order fish and chips from the food truck that was a recommendation.  We had a 30 minute wait but as the caravan park was only a two minute drive away we went home to wait.  The Fish and Chips were delicious and went down a treat after our hiking.

Tomorrow there is a forecast of showers so it will be a good day to go driving.