Our Mt Victoria hike was a whirlwind tour, where we got to see a bit of Tasmania we hadn’t seen before.
Our trip started late Saturday afternoon with a drive to Bridport from our Beauty Point housesit. We decided to take the flat road, rather than the windy one, over the mountains to Scottsdale.
Deb Hunter, who had gone ahead of us, sent an SOS message that she had not been able to source any decent ice cream in Scottsdale, so we had to come up with the goods in Bridport.
Moments later, with an ice cream carton securely stashed in between a sandwich of cold zero % beer, we sped off to Ringarooma, a tiny dot on the map we had never visited before. We discovered that it, Ringarooma, has great charm and an amazing wood sculptor. In the distance Mt Victoria beckoned.
As we approached our meeting place of Ralph Falls, I was reminded of the Black Forest in Germany, as we wound tightly around the edge of the mountain with native bush on one side and steep drops down to an emerald green valley with cows on the other. It was pretty sensational to be enveloped by myrtle, sassafras and eucalypts (not that the Black Forest has any of these).
The temperature kept dropping the higher we drove, and I soon wondered if we were going to end up at the top of Mt Victoria, rather than walk it. But eventually we reached Ralph Falls car park and met up with Deb Hunter.
As it was nearly dark, we quickly pulled out the tent we hadn’t used in five years (it had been in Norway waiting for us), so there were a few things to fix after such a long time without use.
Having forgotten our sleeping mats, we improvised with a yoga mat and a sheepskin, then joined Deb for dinner. The ice cream was cracked open for dessert even though it was pretty chilly in the dusk air. With ice cream in the belly, we all dove into our respective tents and had a good sleep.
The sun woke us the next morning as it streamed in through the little cluster of trees we had camped inside. After another round of ice cream and breakfast, we hit the hiking trail to Ralph Falls, a spectacular walk through thickets of sassafras and myrtle to several lookouts looking over the Ringarooma valley.
Entering the forest on the path to Ralph Falls
Creek crossing on the way to Ralph Falls lookout
Ralph Falls lookout with view of the valley back towards Ringarooma
Bearded tree
Ralph Falls
Twisted forest
Twisted forest
Bearded forest
Waratah
Lookout with view of New River valley towards Cashs Falls
Orchid
Boardwalk back to the car park
As we completed the loop walk, we piled in the car and headed towards Pyengena - the wrong direction. Fortunately, so did Sarah Poulton and her sister Emma, who were on their way to the trailhead from Launceston. Eventually we met up on the same road, and travelled together to the right place, to start the hike almost an hour later than planned.
The dolorite columns of Mt Victoria towered over us as we got ready for the walk. At first, we ascended through rainforest and mud, then thick brush, until we hit an open scree and boulder field that provided amazing views.
Gradual ascent through the myrtle
Happy bushwalkers
First sighting of the boulders. Could this be Mt Victoria’s top?
First panorama looking westish with Mt Saddleback and Mt Barrow in far distance.
A short break in the scree field
Standing stone monolith
Sarah nearing the top
Trig point on Mt Victoria
I am superwoman
View north, same green valley behind the ridge as seen at Ralph Falls
View towards the east coast and Ben Lomond national park
After a nice lunch at the top, we all head back down
Negotiating the boulders
The stone landscape of Mt Victoria
The path up to Mt Victoria is not very long, but it’s certainly technical. The last metres to the summit required some good nerves and heads for heights, as well as spotting for one another as you scramble tall boulders to the summit. The 360-degree views at the top are stunning to say the least - you can see all the way to Mt Barrow and Ben Lomond to the west, Flinders Island to the north, and Elephant Pass and St Patricks Head to the east.
After a rapid descent, H and I drove the car back to Chudleigh via the Mathinna forestry road, then another back road to Upper Esk before hitting gravel all the way through native forest to White Hills, which is a fancy place where they grow wine grapes outside Launceston.
We did some more back roads to Perth via Evandale, passing by some huge old estates, and had a pit stop at Perth under the bridge, for a much needed toilet break and juicy mango.
We just love discovering this amazing island we live on, and the absolute magical beauty that it holds no matter where you are. Thanks to the good company of those who joined us on this Map of Tassie hike!
See below for our route: