Barn Bluff from the Overland TrackStephen Lake

Tasmania's Overland Track (OLT) in Cradle Mountain Lake StClair National Park is perhaps Australia's most well known bushwalk. The OLT goes for 74 kilometres from Cradle Valley in the north to Cynthia Bay in the south, although most walkers stop at Narcissus Hut at 58 kilometres. Each year 8-9000 people walk the OLT, and nearby walks in the national park are very popular with day trippers and overnight walkers. Several aspects of the OLT are discussed in this article.

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BackgroundAborigines have occupied the area for at least 10,000 years. In the 1820s, several surveyors explored what is now the Cradle Mountain—Lake St Clair National Park (CMNP). As the land was opened up, graziers and miners visited.

In 1912 Waldheim Chalet opened. Gustav Weindorfer led walks to nearby features as far south as Barn Bluff, and, of course, up Cradle. In 1922, 64,000 ha on what would later be the CMNP was gazetted as Scenic Reserve. In 1928, a Major Smith devised the term "overland track" to assist with seeking funding for the two reserves, Cradle Mountain and Lake St Clair. The Boards of the two reserves supported an overland track to link them. In 1935 funds were available to create a track that would be viable for guided tours and pack horses. When works were finished in 1937, the track was unofficially named the "Overland Track".

In 1936 the first Overland Track hut was built at Pelion, followed by Pine Valley Hut in 1942. A lot of the older huts on the track burned down over the years due to walkers leaving wood fires unattended. Modern huts are much better than those of the early days.

It is estimated that in the 1971-72 summer season, nearly 1500 walkers completed the OLT. Numbers are currently in the 8-9000 region. There's also thousands of tourists who do short walks at the Cradle and Lake St Clair ends. Visitors have a significant local economic impact. Numbers have increased, which means that there are more funds for maintenance and improvements, which may be a driver for more visitors.

The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (WHA) covers about 1.38 million hectares. The WHA includes CMNP. In 1982 These and other areas were placed on the World Heritage list, international recognition of their natural and cultural heritage values. The WHA was expanded in size in 1989.

The OLT has a significant national and international profile. It has become an icon as one of the most popular overnight bushwalks in Australia, and is the best known of

Tasmania’s overnight bushwalks. Part of the appeal is that while the terrain and weather may be a challenge, the distances each day are short, the huts are mainly quite good, the track is easy to follow, and – above all – the scenery is spectacular.

Overland Track bookingsOLT walks must be booked for trips commencing between 1 October and 31 May. For this period there's a limit of 34 walkers per day, all southbound. The weather for 1 July to 30 September ensures that not many walk during winter.

The booking system has scope for improvement. I've suggested changes since mid-2016 and nothing has happened. The most obvious issue is that bookings open at 9am on 1 July each year. I asked the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service (PWS) about this and was advised: “The current system of bookings opening on 1 July each year is linked to our Departmental financial reporting system and our business planning cycle. This system has existed since the booking system was introduced in 2005.” This seems to me to be a dusty answer. Every other holiday entity that I have dealt with can take payment in one financial year for use in the next financial year, so why can't PWS do this? PWS said that "improvements to the booking system are also under way." However, PWS declined to give details or a timeframe.

If bookings were able to be made prior to 1 July, then people who need or want to get a particular date can do so much earlier, easier and with more certainty. The 2017 bookings opened on a Saturday, so if there was a problem it was not possible to call PWS. Also, some days booked out very quickly. PWS said that the 2017 bookings were faster than usual. Bookings for 2018-19 open on a Sunday, so obtaining PWS advice on that day is impossible.

2017-18 booking patternStarting late on 1 July 2017 every ten days or so, about three times a month, I took screen shots for the peak OLT months of December 2017 and January 2018. When most days were booked out. Here are the figures.

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Barn Bluff looking southStephen Lake

By late on 1 July there were four OLT places left after 25 December. By 10 July there were just five OLT places left after 21 December. Bookings continued at a more or less steadt rate until November, with the booking rate easing slightly in September. It's similar

for January bookings, although not as pronounced. On 1 July, five days in the first two weeks of January had no or a small number of spaces. By 10 July there were five places available for 1-11 January inclusive. At 5.48pm on 1 July 2017, nearly nine hours after bookings opened, 43% of places for December and January had been booked. The demand is there for OLT bookings to be opened earlier.

Here are the figures by the month showing the number of places left for each month out of 1054 (34 a day for 31 days), that expressed as a percentage, and the total booked for both months combined.

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Waterfall Valley Hut from the helipad

The cabins Waldheim cabins are within the national park, and are very conveniently located for an early start on the OLT. At $95 for a four person cabin for one night they are excellent value. The Waldheim booking pattern is similar to that of the OLT. By late on 1 July, three cabins were booked for 14 December, and 28 December had just one cabin available. Ten days later all the cabins for 28 December were booked. By the end of July, from 12 December there were 44 vacancies out of 168 possibles, 26% vacant, with just three vacancies after 23 December.

The cabin keys are available after 1.00pm, which does not assist walkers who come on the bus arriving at 11.20am. The reason for the 1.00pm key collection is due to the huts needing to be cleaned. With a checkout time of 10.00am and a few hours to clean the huts, the 1.00pm time makes sense. One option to make an earlier key collection viable is to have a checkout time of 9.30am, which seems reasonable for people going bushwalking. Also, have the booking form state when they party intends to leave. If bushwalkers leave at 8.00am then cleaning for that hut can be started first. Finally, ask

Waldheim cabins bookings for December on 31 JulyStephen Lake

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From Pine Forest Moor looking south past Mt Pelion

Wombat on a board track

Rough track

Echo Point pier and Lake St ClairMatt McClelland

The top may be bare, chicken wire, or bitumen.

Steps range from fairly shallow to quite deep, The latter would be easier with a walking pole. Some steep rocky steps are probably tricky in the wet.

It was nice to see the new track next to a slowly recovering old track. Forty or more years ago the OLT was very muddy, now thankfully gone. Those with long memories will be happy to consign Pigsty Ponds and other places to history. The new boardwalk to Mount Oakleigh is most welcome. Other places like parts of the South Coast Track have been similarly treated, to the advantage of the environment and walkers.

However, the downside is that if it's too easy then more people will be attracted, some of whom may be ill-equipped, unfit, lack adequate experience, or lack adequate gear.

Camping platformsThere are focal points on the OLT and elsewhere, notably at huts, where platforms have been installed. Unfortunately the platforms lack two subtle aspects that would improve them. The platforms are built flat, which is not to my liking. A few years ago when I camped on a platform at Windy Ridge I became quite wet, with a lot of water flowing under the tent. A better design would

be to have the boards slightly sloping so that water runs off the long edge of the boards. In the opposite direction, if the boards were slightly curved then water would run away from the tent. The angles do not have to be much, just a few degrees. Sadly, the platforms will last for ages. Another solution is to cut shallow grooves in the boards to make water stop on its journey to the tent floor.

Windy Ridge HutThis hut was purpose built about 10 years ago, and does not meet contemporary standards, never has, and, without modifications, never will. Basic designs that have been know for a century or more were ignored. There is no effective airlock on the main door; a futile attempt has been made to combine an air lock with a drying room. This space has mesh about 100 mm high around most of the walls.

There is no air lock on the common room door, so warm air is easily lost to the outside. The common room heater is a few metres up a wall, nearly totally ineffective. The common room ceiling is a massive five metres or so high, quite foolish. The bunk rooms are on a different level to the common room, with the drafty air lock aka drying room between. The lower bunks are on the floor, next to cold air, which sinks. I'm advised that in winter

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the bunkroom celings drip, making only the cold lower bunks viable. The bunk rooms are gloomy. It would have been easy to build a raised path between the hut and the toilet. Instead, users must go down steps, along a short series of paths, then up steps.

The hut quickly obtained a new name – Windy Fridge.

A far better design is for a hut on one level, with contiguous entry, common and bunk rooms. Air locks should be on all external doors. Ceiling at about 2700-3300 mm work. A heater at floor level is best. Have a separate drying room. Older OLT huts have superior designs, and are much warmer. Windemere was about 12ºC on a cool day. Once people came in the temperature rose to 15ºC. When people were cooking it was very nice, 20ºC. Windemere has a large porch, no air lock, contiguous common room and bunk room, and ceilings up to about 3 metres high.

Over several years a number of PWS staff have been asked in person about Windy Ridge. The above shortcomings were cited, and all staff declined to respond, to defend the design. A few just rolled their eyes with an expression that spoke volumes. When asked about Three Capes the PWS staff were very descriptive, advising that while several things could have been done better, overall

Three Capes has been a huge success. No such comments were made about Windy Ridge.

I asked PWS why Windy Ridge was so badly designed. I asked about having an airlock installed on the common room door, and having the drafty main entry "air lock“ made more airtight. A satisfactory answer was not received. The matter is being investigated by the Auditor General.

Post tripPWS sent a survey to me a few weeks after ending the OLT. I found the survey somewhat long with questions that were hard to answer or seemed to me to have limited relevance. For example, one question asked if the OLT was easier or harder than expected. The answer surely reflects the level of experience of the walker. The survey had a lot of questions, and in the end I gave up. It was taking too long to complete. A survey at Cynthia Bay may lead to more respones. It would be much faster and easier to do the survey on paper. While this may get more responses, PWS resources would be needed to key the results. A scanner that recognises text may work.

Tasmania PWS were sent a late draft of this article and declined to comment in detail on any of the matters raised.

Windy Ridge Hut front door, no airlockStephen Lake