Trip report - South West Cape circuit

[north-north-west]

Or maybe not. Road to Cockle Creek is closed, South Coast Track is closed, Port Davey Track is closed, Par Avion have suspended flights into Melaleuca.

[kahtadin]

Well, I've got plenty of plan B's. The track to the north you've mentioned. Flinders. East Coast. Pubs. Not necessarily in that order...

[north-north-west]

Flinders or Tarkine or pub crawl sounds good.

[charlesdarwin1986]

Hi. Love this post. Can you please give estimate of kms or hours hiking per day or per section? Thanks

[farefam]

Did the circuit recently. I agree that SW cape is not worth the effort due to the very thick and very tough scrub. It was obvious that very few people manage to get through it. Beware of a false lead as you approach Faults Bay as it can cost you 1 to 3 hours of lost time when what you think is the main track inexplicably stops at a creek. There is an excellent large camp at Spain Bay but you may need to travel to the creek in the eastern beach to find any fresh water. Overall it is an excellent walk (other than for the section along the muddy Port Davey track) and I suggest you allow for several rest days along the way to fully explore the bays. The sections of rerouted track are an improvement from the original, but the section over Amy Range is choked with bakers in places.

[tas-man]

I assume the spell check didn't like "bauera!"

Did the circuit recently. I agree that SW cape is not worth the effort due to the very thick and very tough scrub. It was obvious that very few people manage to get through it. Beware of a false lead as you approach Faults Bay as it can cost you 1 to 3 hours of lost time when what you think is the main track inexplicably stops at a creek. There is an excellent large camp at Spain Bay but you may need to travel to the creek in the eastern beach to find any fresh water. Overall it is an excellent walk (other than for the section along the muddy Port Davey track) and I suggest you allow for several rest days along the way to fully explore the bays. The sections of rerouted track are an improvement from the original, but the section over Amy Range is choked with baurea in places.

This section of track really needs some pruning trips as the excellent track work from two decades ago has lasted well, but lack of traffic is allowing the track to become overgrown.

[Ndevr]

Just to add some balance, camping out on the Cape goes down as one of my greatest nights camping.
I regard it as a 'must do' if the weather is in your favour.
Fantastic views all around.
Yes there's some scrub-bashing, but more than worth the effort.

[farefam]

I had reasonable weather but don't think Southwest Cape is worth the side trip. The scrub is very thick and tough and clothes shredding, and the end on view of the cape isn't that attractive IMO compared to the side on view from the air, sea or from Window Pane Bay. The rest of the circuit is great though.