BushwalkBushwalkTaking some time to think through and plan before you start booking, can make a really positive difference to your on-track experience. Checklists are not meant to overwhelm, they help us to work on just one thing at a time and in a logical order. Don't rush the process, enjoy the planning and dreaming phase.
Let's just make sure the walk suits you and the friends you are walking with. It is far better to find out now, than halfway through your first day.
If you are not sure about some of these, then plan to get out and find out before committing to a long walking experience.
Walking Experience
Have you done some bushwalking/hiking/ tramping and enjoyed it?
Are you comfortable with camping in a tent when it is raining and cold?
Are you okay with walking in the rain, snow, strong winds and other extreme weather?
Are you okay with preparing your menu before and preparing your food on track?
(We do have lots of tips in this app to help)
Fitness (for you and your friends)
Are you able to carry all your own gear (about 15-18kg) in your pack?
Are you agile and fit enough to walk on uneven, slippery and muddy ground?
Are you able to walk for between 3-7 hours a day for a week?
(17km is the longest distance between two huts, you can camp partway if needed)
Are you okay with walking up/down steep and long hills? (At the start of day 1, you will climb over 300 vertical metres with your full pack)
Cost and Resourcing
Do you have time to plan, book and do some preparation walks?
Do you have the (bushwalking, camping, first aid) skills within your group to safely enjoy the track?
Are you able to spend around $1000-$2000 on your adventure?
($230 track and NP fee, $400-$500 airfare/ferry from mainland AU to Tassie, $200 track head transport, $200 on accommodation before and after. You still have food, equipment, snacks and other expenses - it adds up quickly).
If you have concerns on some of these, think through how you might develop the skills and resources you need to get the most out of the track. You might push your plans back a bit to give your more time, invite a friend with the skills you need, join a bushwalking club to learn from others. This is a great walk, I am not trying to turn you off it, I just want you to know what you are getting into and have an awesome time.
Another option if you do not feel fully equipped is to pay a commercial operator to guide you on track. A higher cost option allows you to walk with minimal gear and stay in private cabins each night. There is also lower-cost option where you carry your gear and sleeping in tents, but your guide will organise everything, prepare meals and help you along the way.
Summer (and shoulder months) are the most popular times to walk the Overland Track. December, January & February are the the most popular months for good reasons. It is the warmer time of year, the days are longer and sunnier and the weather is generally more favourable (less chance of snow and extreme cold).
It does still snow in summer and you are likely to get rain and some extreme weather.
Book your starting date - If walking between 1 October to 31 May book early and there will be a fee. During the colder months, there is still a booking system but there is no charge.
If you are planning on walking outside these warmer months, you will need extra gear and skills to walk and navigate safely in deep snow. You also need to be comfortable camping in snow and walking without seeing other people on track.
Before committing to a specific start date, make sure you can book a track pass for you and all your group members and have time to get into shape as well as organise transport, gear, food and accommodation.
It is really helpful to think about 'why' you and your friends are walking. Imagine if you set off on the track looking forward to a lazy, social and photographic journey whilst your friend is looking forward to a fast-paced, fitness freak trip.
Spend a few minutes now thinking about 'what good looks like' for your trip. Encourage your friends to do the same. Looks for where your motivations line up and differ - you can work it out if you are aware of the differences and plan for it.
Here are a few ideas to think about.
* How fast do you want to walk?
* How many days do you want to spend on track?
* Do you aim to sleep in your tent or use the huts?
* Are you looking forward to meeting other walkers (or want to keep to yourself)?
* What time do you want to start walking each morning?
* Do you want to do any side trips? Which ones?
* Do you want a rest day?
* Do you want to cook up gourmet meals (or maybe just eat for calories)?
* Do you plan to walk Lake St Clair (or catch the ferry)?
In a similar way, think about your travel and accommodation plans. Do you want to fly in and out of Tassie and maximise your time on track, or would you like to spend some time soaking up other experiences on the Apple Isle?
Booking
If walking between 1 October to 31 May you must book your starting date and pay a fee. Outside these times you still need to book, but there is no booking fee.
Bookings open at 9am on July 1 each year. Days in December & January can book out in the first few hours. The last week in December can book out in minutes.
During this fee-based booking season (October to May), you must start walking on your booked day but you can choose to walk at any pace you want. The booking does not guarantee you a bed in any hut or a tent platform. Tent sites and huts are based on a first-come basis. The booking system is a good tool used by Parks staff - to help manage overcrowding, care for the local environment and pay for the great facilities & services they provide. During fee-based booking season, you must also walk from North to South (from Cradle Mountain area to Lake St Clair). If you need to pull out due to injury, illness, lack of fitness, weather etc you can backtrack to the start.
The booking fee is $200 ($160 for children and pensioners) . There is no fee for children under 5 years of age -- taking young children is a big commitment. The track is not recommended for kids under 8.
The booking system limits the track to a maximum of 60 people starting per day. This is broken into 3 groups:
* 34 independent walkers (individual walkers or groups of 8 or less. These people can use the online booking system and have access to the public huts and tent platforms/campsites were available.)
* 13 group members (These are for large family groups, schools, community groups and commercial operators and they book to use group tent platform sites. If this is you, you can't book using the online system, please contact the Overland Track Administrator on (03) 6165 4254 or email: overlandtrack@parks.tas.gov.au)
* 13 walkers using the Private huts (These are only available to people on a commercial tour with Cradle Mountain Huts using private hut accommodation. In this case the tour leader will take care of your track booking for you).
The main group of people you will be walking with are the 34 independent walkers.
Things can go wrong and I highly recommend you get travel insurance or at the very least ambulance insurance. I hope you will not need it, but you do not want to be stressing over the cost of treatment or emergency transport if it is needed. Also if you are forced to cancel your trip, travel insurance may well refund many of your larger costs.
Ambulance Insurance: Even the most experienced and well-prepared walker can get seriously sick or injured on track. It is rare but if you need to be transported to hospital by air or road ambulance, there may be a multiple-thousand dollar bill. If you have private health insurance check your policy as you are likely already covered (but check your policy). Otherwise ambulance insurance is around $50 - not a big outlay but can save you a massive bill.
Travel Insurance: Travel insurance generally covers cancellations, medical treatment, acquiring a disability, death, personal liability, evacuation, loss/damage (of your equipment) and delays. Travel insurance for a trip like this will cost around $100, a very small fee for what it covers. Remember that insurance only covers the costs under specific situations (such as severe sickness or injury that prevents you travelling, not just changing your mind), so check out the details and make sure the insurance will work for you.
It's very handy in case you need to cancel your trip due a family member becoming very sick, dropping your DSLR camera in the lake, tripping over and break your arm mid-walk, or something else that would be expensive to recover from.
If the $100 sounds expensive, think about how you might pay a large medical transport bill or cope if you are forced to cancel your trip with non-refundable tickets.
PRO TIP - Buy your travel insurance early. Good travel insurance will pay out if you are forced to cancel your trip due to your illness or that of a close friend/family member. So get the coverage as soon as you start booking.
Unless you are lucky enough to already live there, you will need to get to Tasmania. You have two main options - fly or ferry.
If flying, Launceston seems logistically easy to fly in and out of, but Hobart is also an option.
Alternatively, there is a ferry from Melbourne to Devonport. The ferry takes about 12 hours and you can take your car. You can choose to travel during the day or overnight (with beds an optional extra). It is generally cheaper to fly if you are not planning on taking a car.
Even if you are driving, you need to think about transport to the track heads.
There are bus services from major centres across Tasmania to the two track heads.
If you have a car, you are generally best leaving it at the end of the walk and getting a lift (or a bus) back to the start.
Also, many people finish their walk at Narcissus, in which case you will also want to book the ferry to take you across Lake St Clair to the visitor centre at Cynthia Bay. There are 3 service most days, and bookings are flexible so if you finish a day or so early or late, they will work it out. I usually walk the lake, it is lovely way to finish.
It is good to have a bit of space before and after your walk. It allows you to get your last minute things organised, have a good sleep after travelling and gives you a buffer if other things are delayed. Besides, there is more to Tasmania than the Overland Track - check out a few other things whilst you are there.
I strongly recommend staying the night near the start of the walk. It allows you time to settle in and see Dove Lake, then start the walk fresh and early. Check out Waldheim Cabins, they are rustic but right at the start of the Overland Track so you can put your pack on and start walking without waiting for the shuttle bus.
Preparing
Don't leave packing until the last minute. Working out your gear early means that you have the option to update or source any gear that you are missing. Leaving it until the last minute limits your options and will likely cost you a lot more.
Look through this list of gear and consider what you already have. Is your gear lightweight, suited for the conditions and in good order?
If you are missing gear, you can hire, buy or borrow from a friend.
I highly recommend a 'shake down' trip. Pack what you plan to carry for the Overland Track and head out on an overnight walk to test your set up. Best to do this in the cooler months.
You do not need to be able to run a marathon, but the fitter you are the more you will enjoy your time on track.
You will be walking around 10km a day (17km is the longest day). There are some big hills, about 300 vertical metres. All this with a pack and perhaps in the rain.
I encourage you to start improving your fitness for track now. The fitter, stronger and more agile you are, the better. You will not only enjoy the walking more, but be able to soak up the view, enjoy more side trips and lower your risk of injury.
So start walking whenever you can. Walk to work. Perhaps park further away from the office or train station and walk. Also start wearing your pack with a bit of weight in it, building up the weight over a few weeks.
As much as you can, walk using the boots and socks you plan to wear on track. This not only helps your boots to settle in but also helps your feet build muscles to suit.
Also, get out on some actual bush walks with your pack and boots. There is no better training than actually bush walking in a variety of conditions. If it rains, then get out and enjoy walking in the rain. Encourage your walking buddies to do the same.
Bushwalking is fun, so get more into it. The best way to prepare for the Overland Track is to do some other multiday walks before.
This gives you a chance to;
* Build your fitness
* Try out and refine your gear
* Test you menus & cooking
* See how well you get along with your friends
* Test out walking in different weather conditions
* Build up navigation and other bushcrafft skills
Check out the popular and easier two or three day walks in your area to get started with.
I have been accused (and found guilty) of being a bushwalking food snob (I prefer the term connoisseur). There is no need to 'rough it' with food - good and yummy food takes a little planning but this is also an enjoyable process.
Experiment with meals and quantities at home, especially if you are dehydrating your own meals. Pack some track lunches for work. Try some new and crazy ideas.
One trip my kids challenged me to make Sushi on track. We did it for half of our lunches and loved it. It was a bit of a hassle, so it is not high on my recommend list but the point is that really yummy and out there foods are viable if you want to experiment.
If you are doing well with your food then think about a happy hour snack as well. Cheese and crackers, port (decanted into a small plastic bottle), chips, popcorn, dips, soup, hot chocolates, nuts, dried fruit and fruit cake are all great options. If you enjoy meeting new friends, take some to share with others at the hut.