Walls of Jerusalem ~ Part 1: Getting There

I just got back from a pretty short-notice trip to Tasmania – and it was fantastic!! I have definitely been bitten by the Tassie bug and hope to go back many more times to explore more of this island state (that’s an Australian state, not a sovereign state…)

The main aim of this trip was to do some hiking, but being short notice there was no time to particularly build up any load-carrying fitness, so I wasn’t confident of doing a point-to-point hike, carrying everything on each leg. Instead therefore, we opted for a basecamp style of hiking, setting up our tent on arrival, and making day hikes out from our base.

Deciding that the place to be was the Walls of Jerusalem National Park, within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, our brief research showed us that we had to buy a permit before heading to the Park. We would also need to make sure that we took a camp stove and cooking gear that would not interfere with the natural environment, and a trowel for burying anything we left behind when there was no access to toilets. All food and gear would need to be carried in on foot, and all rubbish would need to be carried back out again too.

Our trip began in Hobart, where we had a little time to top up our kit with things that were deficient or that we couldn’t bring on the plane – we needed to get our map, gas for the Jetboil, camping food, snacks, I needed some long trousers, and additionally we just browsed the outdoorsy shops and book shops in Hobart, enjoyed the Salamanca Markets, and took in far more hearty food and good beer than was necessary.

Before heading out to a National Park in the Tasmanian Wilderness with plenty of kit that we had never used before, I decided that it would be a good idea to camp somewhere with facilities, somewhere that we could use all our gear, but if all went wrong then we wouldn’t be actually stranded. For our shake-out camp we headed to the small town of Deloraine, much closer to the Walls of Jerusalem National Park and boasting a riverside camping area.

Slightly melodramatic sign at the campsite

We set up the tent (a 3 person Vango Banshee) with no dramas, all the appropriate sleeping gear was there. The Jetboil worked just fine, and we even tested out our experimental purchase of a tube of condensed milk for our brews. This worked surprisingly well I have to say, and I enjoyed my riverside cuppa very much. The evening was perfected by watching playful duckbilled platypuses – the first I had ever seen – swimming about in the river. They were adorable, and I absolutely fell in love with them. The happy memories of watching them in the river was even enough to sustain my good mood through the various times during the night that I was woken by ridiculously loud trains passing next to the camp site, their horns blaring continuously and their lights making it bright as day inside the tent.

A platypus, having a good look at me having a good look at him.

The next morning we repacked all our gear, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Vango Banshee was pretty easy to pack away again back into its original neat format and small size. Getting breakfast on the way, the next stop was in Mole Creek to find out exactly where to buy the Parks passes from. The lady I spoke to directed us to the visitor office for King Solomon’s Caves down the road, from where we could purchase passes. This was pretty straight forward too; the Ranger did a quick sanity check on us to make sure we knew we couldn’t just bumble around the Park for a day visit and had the right gear, and the passes weren’t too pricey either at $30 each - another nice surprise.

There was now nothing stopping us, so with all kit for living and camping for 3-4 days packed into our larger hiking rucksacks, we headed for the NP. It took a fair amount of driving on gravel roads to make it to the car park for the NP, and then the only way into the actual Park is on foot. Following a well-defined track from the carpark, we signed into the Park at the unmanned Ranger Hut and then continued through the woods, heading mostly fairly steeply uphill, towards the Park. 

The road towards the National Park

We went at a steady pace, and I was relieved to find that my pack didn’t feel like it was getting any heavier as I got more tired. I put this down to the 'Bioflex' harness on my 10-year-old 65+10 litre Berghaus pack, which was well padded, fully adjustable, and extremely comfortable. This is the first time I have properly used my rucksack for real active stuff rather than just backpacking trips, so it was great to find that the harness was really comfortable even with a heavy load over rough terrain for several hours.

Part of the first section of trail, heading into the National Park

A few steep sections of trail, broken by short less-steep sections and occasional small creek crossings that were almost dry at the time we were hiking, brought us eventually to the Trappers Hut. This is a small wooden hut which is part of the history of the trail, and contains information boards to tell its story. Just upslope from the hut was a fallen tree and some exposed rocks which made a very convenient spot for a sit down and a brew, so we took our first break and fired up the Jetboil.

The Trappers Hut

Refreshed, we carried on upwards through the trees along the defined trail, until the steepest part of the trek in was over and we had reached more of a plateau region. Here the trees thinned out giving bigger views, and the ground was dotted with pretty tarns, named King Solomon's Jewels.

The trail continued to wind its way over the landscape, now more winding and with shorter and gentler climbs and descents. Here the path was dirt, there it passed over a section of rock. Here it pushed through shrubbery, there it passed the edge of a tarn. Each short climb or bend produced new and spectacular views.

Eventually, after more winding and undulation, the path led through some hilly parts to a bit of a valley floor, on the other side of which you could just make out the brightly coloured shapes of tents. A boardwalk continued the path across the valley and deposited us at Wild Dog Campsite.

Relieved to have arrived – no matter how comfortable the pack was I still had my limitations – I picked the first free camping platform I came across and dropped all my gear. Removing my boots felt gooood!! Having lived in north Queensland for over a year now, I rarely wear anything but flip flops (or ‘thongs’) so am not accustomed to walking in boots.

Camping on a wooden platform presents its own challenges, especially when your tent cannot stand by itself, like the Vango Banshee which is a tunnel construction and so requires tension in the fly sheet to keep it up. Eventually though, with a bit of ingenuity, perseverance, and some advice and extra string from the family on the next platform along, our home was erected and it was time for a warm jumper, a brew and some dinner.

It felt fantastic to finish off the day’s walking with some warm food prepared with a camp stove (even if the only preparation required for the freeze dried food we had chosen was to boil up some water and stir…), and another hot, sweet brew.

As a bit of a luxury I had brought some entertainment in the shape of a pack of cards and my Kindle Paperwhite. Playing ‘beanie’ until dark and then tucking into my layers of sleeping bag and liners, reading until sleepy, I felt very content :)