SOUTH CAPE BAY WALK, 15KMS IN THE WILD
Trip Start
Oct 05, 2009
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42
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Trip End
Oct 31, 2013
South cape bay tasmania, Tasmania, Australia
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
THE SOUTH CAPE BAY WALK
Once again having picked a warm and sunny day for this great walk into the Southwest National Park we were keen to get going when we arrived at the Cockle Bay car park. It is just a 45 minute drive from our house in Dover so we were able to check the forecast before setting out.We had lunch and water, and raincoats, sweaters in case of a weather change- it didn't change and we encountered a perfectly mild sunny day.
the South Cape Bay Track can be divided into 3 sections: the first section weaves through forest,
the second across buttongrass plains
and the third through sandy coastal scrub.
It is an easy walk and on this beautiful warm sunny day we were happy to be here doing it.
We meet serious walkers with huge backpacks and walking sticks heading back from a further wilderness and notice in the walkers' registration book that some of those starting out with us today are going as far as Melaleuca three/four days away.
Arriving at South Cape Bay we clamboured down the stairs for a walk along this wild beach, with only the great Southern Ocean between us and Antarctica. Huge trees of kelp whirled around in the water at shore and we spent an hour taking in the majestic scenery; Australia's southern most land mass was to our left, pretty well unaccessible.
We unpacked our turkey sandwich and homebaked orange cake and sat in the shade of the cliff to watch nature do its best.
The cliffs are weathered and slippery and we wonder how it would be here during bad weather.
We are indeed happy to have achieved this walk that we sadly gave up on 5 years ago
Comments
These photographs are beautiful. It is a really scenic place. Was the water cold? No swimming? How long did the walk take?
We walked this great track this morning. The sign at the begining of the track gives a 4hr return time. We walked the track in 3hrs but we were really stepping it out as we had a limited time frame. The water at cockle creek was not as cold as expected but we did not swim at cape bay. Must be a popular surfing beach as we passed a couple of surfers walking in and reports are that swimming is good if the waves arent to big or rough. Beautiful scenery and would recommend this walk.