Smoke on the Water (Corinna, Pieman River, Four Mile Beach, Tasmania)

Welcome to day three in the Tarkine, dear reader. Tasmania and the rain forest have not escaped the bushfires that have ravaged other states in recent years. The bushfires have singed our published itinerary as well as the landscape and today we are not kayaking but travelling down the Pieman River by boat. Leaving at first light meant breakfast was served at 5:45am. Another early start for us and an earlier one for Nick and Hayden who prepare our breakfast. 

Heading for the coast on the Pieman River

By 7:30am the boat was motoring quietly down the misty Pieman River. Unlike the freezing trip Jayne and I experienced in Katherine a while back, the cabin was enclosed and reasonably warm. The fog was supplemented by smoke from areas still smouldering along the river. Hence today's title as chosen by Dave, that classic Deep Purple anthem from 1972, many years before he was born. As the sun climbed over the mountains the impact of the fires became clearer. The eucalypt forested areas were severely burnt, often to the waterline. The rainforest generally faired better in most areas, acting as a barrier to the flames.

The damage was worse closer to the coast.

I have sequence of these ... maybe flying swan wall art?

We disembarked at the head of the river and donned our packs to walk through a small fishing settlement of ‘summer shacks’ down to the beach. Dave and I were the first ones onto the pristine sand of the river where the tide had receded and therefore we had the opportunity to scout for tracks. The prints of a paddy melon and wombat told us we were not the first that morning. We followed the river down to its mouth and then turned south and walked along Four Mile Beach to Conical Rocks. Had the fires not devastated the area we would have been turning to the north and walking to Point Rupert. Maybe another time.

Wombat and Bennett's Wallaby tracks.

Looking back at where we should have been walking.

The roundtrip was around 10km, commencing on the beach and then heading slightly inland to avoid rock scrambling and deep channels carved from the ocean. The wallabies and pademelons soon materialised and were bounding away in every direction. We had an hour to explore the conical rocks area, get in touch with nature, forget we live in the city and restore our spirit. 

A wallaby on the move.

The area was a mass of granite boulders sheltering us from the Southern Ocean and the swell that propelled the waves onto the rocks. There were rock pools protected from the surge of the sea at low tide that contained starfish and other marine life. 

A Hooded Plover.

A non-cooperative starfish moving into the shadows.

The conical rocks.

More of the rocks.

Atop one of the massive granite outcrops, we discovered two plunge pools. The sizeable rock in the pool responsible for its existence acted as a seat. I could imagine sitting there on a hot summer’s day, cooling in the water, watching the endless succession of waves rolling from the open ocean, sipping on a glass of wine.

A great place to cool off and watch the ocean.

We regathered to enjoy a cup of tea and a snack before commencing the walk back to the heads. Happily we could walk at our own pace. The group came together at the intersection of beach and track and then walked another km or so to a where a creek entered the sea. There was a small rock platform that served as our lunch table. Magically from Nick and Hayden’s huge packs, lunch requisites appeared. Fresh ciabatta rolls, ham, cheese, salad, and condiments. It was all there.

Lunch is served.

There were more tracks to be observed in the undisturbed sand. We found wallaby and finally evidence of a Tasmanian Devil. Some other people appeared on the beach, indicating the boat had arrived from Corinna. One lone walker with a full pack approached us. She was a worker from Corinna who had a couple of days off and was heading for a campsite towards the end of the beach for some solitude. It is a magic place but extremely difficult to get to for the average walker. 

Tassie Devil tracks.

Boots off and packs on, we walked in the shore wash back to the waiting ferry. The skipper motored across to the other side of the river to show us a white-bellied sea eagle sitting on a branch just above the water line. Most unusual to see one down so low. Then it was back to Corinna with a slight pause at the nest of the sea eagle. There were patches where smouldering embers had been whipped up into smoke, otherwise it was a crowded if uneventful trip. We shared the boat, Arcadia II, with the day trippers.

White-bellied Sea Eagle.

We had some time to spare in the afternoon so Dave and I opted to do the Whyte River walk, a loop around Corinna. Much of the walk was along the banks of the Whyte River. The first part of the walk was through rain forest where the mud spires of the burrowing crayfish littered the side of the path. There were numerous fungi as well, particularly bracket fungus growing to quite a size on many trees.

A bracket fungi map of Australia.

Burrowing crayfish spire.

The walk beside the river was supposed to be a great place to spot platypus. It may well be, but not while we were there. It certainly is platypus country with muddy tree strewn banks and nesting place aplenty, but they remained home and didn’t come out to see us.

Corinna is an old gold mining settlement.

After a luxurious hot shower, it was down to the pub for pre-dinner drinks. Hayden appeared carrying trays of nibbles and announced that dinner would be served at the tables on the pub lawn. It was another amazing meal: Italian sausage, wallaby, potato salad, snow peas, broccoli and more. The cloud increased as the night deepened. No photography tonight.

The end of day 3 brought about two firsts, one for me and one for Dave. He had no blisters! And I wore my pyjama pants to the pub. One of us is on trend with the younger generation.

Until tomorrow.