A wintery walk through the Tarkine rain forest in NW Tasmania.
On this trip we did the Tarkine Drive which is a loop road (C218) starting near Edith Creek. Trowutta Arch is quite other-worldly and well worth a visit. The walk takes around 15 minutes each way and is pretty easy. Other highlights are the Milkshake Hills walk, Beckett Falls (currently closed in 2024) and Sumac Lookout. The entire drive will take you around an hour without stops.
The Balfour Track is an old pack horse trail that once led to the historic mining town of Balfour which, at it's peak, housed around 900 people. The township has a rather grim history with many of it's residents falling victim to typhoid, including physicians who were sent in to help.
The actual township of Balfour can be accessed via 4WD from a different direction; note that the Balfour Track is not the same as the 4WD track of the same name and doesn't actually lead to Balfour. It is around 3km each way and has no specific destination. It is simply a pleasant walk through the Tarkine rain forest. For photography the best time to visit is March to June when the fungi is in bloom. Unfortunately Dad had some camera issues on this trip so we didn't get many fungi shots.
In this video we covered about two thirds of the track which was mostly easy to follow however there is a section around the first river crossing (about 5 minutes from the carpark) where it can be a bit misleading. According to reports I've read, quite a few people have come unstuck here - and we were no different as it turns out.
Photography by Don Hawley.
Music by Electric Den.