No glow in the dark fungi here, but there was plenty of old ragged looking ones, probably been a bit dry for them, on the positive note no leeches or mozzies.

Coachwood Glen, Blackheath.

ANZAC Day 2026

A few images from the Sydney March.

The last day, Bert Nichols to Narcissus Hut.

We needed to get to the ferry wharf by 11:30 am and given the skepticism of the usual Tassie walk estimates we elected to ensure we had plenty of time which meant leaving the hut by 6am, which is a good hour before sunrise, hence walking the dark by headtorch. It was a 3 hour advertised walk so i figured we would probably take about 4 with the usual photo stops and breaks 🙂

Ironically it actually was a pretty easy walk and very close to the 3 hours. It was not like previous days where you could get bogged down in roots, rocks and mud, it was just like walking the coast track in Sydney, very similar bush and trees.

We made with plenty of time and had the luxury of being able to burn the last of our gas for the last couple of teas, as a fun fact, we took two gas canisters, one 230gram one and one 100gram (as backup) we pretty much used the whole of the 230 gram one, we typically boiled water (drinks and dinner) for each evening meal and not all breakfasts (mostly just drinks) so for two people the two canisters is probably a good option. We did boil some water for drinking, but mostly relied on the purifier tablets, in hindsight i might try the mechanical filters instead of the chemical ones, you could also probably just get away with just being careful where you pick you water from, the chances of getting a bug is pretty slim, however on the flip side its one thing that could really take you out for a few days…

Day 5 – Kia Ora to Bert Nichols (aka Windy Ridge)

Definitely shorts weather by this day, boots had all dried out, no need for gloves and swapping merino wool layers for quick dry hiking shirt. As an aside, I was actually worried out the hot days and the heat, cold weather I’m good with, but hot days are a bit of my nemesis. Nothing worse than having to slap on layers of sunscreen and sweating all day – hence i really try to opt for long sleeve collar shirts and a good hat for sun protection, I have found the lightweight merino tops (say around 170 or 160gsm) are a good compromise for cold and warm days, the ones I have (from IO merino) have collars too which is much better than the open neck ones, I took two of these and also a stock hiking shirt (collar with long sleeve) for the potential of much hotter days, worked pretty good. I would probably only consider taking a singlet as well since sleeping in wool was actually too hot, even in the tent.

Tasmanian walks seem to have some interesting estimates for completion time, they basically state their times are for moderately fit peeps doing the walk without breaks, I thought for Mount Ossa i would have a crack at this see if I was indeed moderately fit and could achieve their published time.

Now, its 2.6km each way from the Pelion gap platform with a 482m ascent, seems pretty reasonable right, they advertise that its a 3-4 hour return trip which gives some clues that its not just a walk in the park, scramble time.

I pretty well fanged it up there as fast as i could and only stopped for a couple of photos, its actually pretty tough in some spots, for me anyway, these were where the gradient is like just going up a long continuous flight of stairs, I found this harder than say the rock scrambling where i think my long legs help 🙂 Gerry’s hot tip for rock scrambling, look for the big flat ones, seven big steps on a large flat rock is much easier than 20 little steps over scree rocks 🙂

After being showed up by the oldies in our room in the cabin who were sleeping on the bunks with no mats I did manage to get up in time to see a bit of the sunrise over Mount Oakleigh and Barn Bluff, which unbeknown to me is actually a pretty iconic spot and shot for the overland track. I suspect the ease at which you can just roll out of bed and onto the helicopter pad contributes to the popularity of the scene.

Afterwards we embarked on the walk from Pelion Hut to Kia Ora with the potential for the Mount Ossa side trip, if time and knees permitted 🙂 The weather was looking pretty good (depending on your perspective) with sun shining and only a few wisps of clouds present. I’m certainly much more of a overcast and cloudy day person but this was a welcome change from the first few days of being pretty wet.

The B-sides from Day 3.