A couple of hours after we all flew in to Launceston yesterday, a late, big and spicy dinner cushioned us into an easy, almost tidal awakening this morning. This is the first day of our planned seven day walk in an area unknown to all of us; the area nestled between the Walls of Jerusalem and the Overland Track. The others, Marc, Michelle and Helen, had all done several longish walks with me over the years and, once we’d broken our fast on hand-picked field mushrooms, eggs and generous amounts of coffee, we were ready for anything I was going to subject them to.

Lake Myrtle from Mount Rogoona, day 6Rob Wildman

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Hilton camp spot on Chalice Lake, day 1Rob Wildman

The walk was supposed to follow a big figure eight and included some big names in the walking business: Grail Falls, Junction Lake, the spine-tingling Never Never and an exit route which took in the climbing of Mount Rogoona. I was the leader and I’d never walked any of these tracks before. In fact, I had to question whether there would be any tracks at all? For the next few days, were we going to be bashing scoparia, ripping the skin from our knees and struggling into camp so late that dinner was a disaster? Would we be meeting bogs so deep you almost lose your boots extracting yourself or would it be glades of moss covered rocks under sweet smelling pines? As always, in Tasmania, it was all of these and more.

Day 1 – Moses Creek to Chalice LakeFirst minor hiccup: two kilometres from the Moses Creek car park a tree had peeled over and blocked the road. There were many vehicles which were also in the same predicament as us and I was starting to wonder if this was going to be the remote bushwalking experience I had hoped for. Oh yeah, I hadn’t looked at the Tasmanian public holidays so this was a long weekend, and everyone was out.

The track from the end of Mersey Valley road to Chapter Lake (Grail Falls) is a real gem, a good one. Given how it meanders around the base of the hills and across a few streams, I had expected a very boggy start but except for some very small sections the track was a delight. Once it ascended the first real hill, it sauntered up through a beech and pine filled glade – I kept thinking I would see hobbits spring out from behind trees – until the track finally reached the start of the last section which would take us over the saddle. Just prior to the saddle is a mysterious patch of grass in a clearing which took us by surprise so we decided to just laze back in the sun and have lunch. Michelle, the carrier of all lunch things, was urging us to help her get rid of some weight.

After the saddle, and the quite steep descent into Chapter Lake, we bumbled our way past the “Junction Lake Sign”, which sits some 100 metres before you get to the

camping spots and the falls themselves. This is unexpected but absolutely correct so I thank the person who placed the sign in this position very much. We were then drifting around trying to decide whether to go, as planned, up to Chalice Lake or not. “Come on, let’s do it!” from the ebullient Helen was all we needed to force ourselves up the steep but straightforward ascent of Grail Falls, which was flowing extremely well at that time.

Once across the stream, half way to the lake, the track sidles many large rock platforms and opens out to vistas of the lake, with Twin Spires and Cathedral Mountain on the horizon. While it was overcast and a cool breeze drifted in from the west, the prospects looked good for a camp on the lake shore. Well that is, if you could find one. There were so few flat spots anywhere, and we had three tents, but we did find the Hilton outcrop complete with its own pond at our side. Down near the lake shore, we saw another two guys at various times wandering this way and that hunting down somewhere to spend the night. One actually carried a small blowup kayak and decided to test out the island some 80 metres off shore – only to be confounded by the scrub and slopes. By about 8 pm they had found their Xanadu on the far shore of the outlet stream.

At dusk, after the wind died completely, Chalice Lake encapsulated why it is a drawcard. You can’t stop clicking away but also often just sitting watching the night approach as the occasional fish would send silent ripples across the water.

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Day 2 – Chalice Lake, Twin Spires, Chapter LakeNext morning we did what everyone else seemed to be doing or had done – take the rough well cairned track to the top of the Cathedral Range near Twin Spires. From there, you get views over the valley in which the Overland runs from Pelion to Du Cane Gap and all the surrounding hills. Even Cradle Mountain at 25 kilometres distant was prominently visible with its sister, Barn Bluff, unmistakable at its side.

Getting back with plenty of time to spare, we decided to head back to Grail Falls and camp in the rather murky spots at the end of Chapter Lake. We had been told by a young, fit couple that the track down to Junction Lake from Chapter Lake was going to be very difficult so I thought we would grab a few extra hours in case this was true.

Descending the short steep route down the side of Grail Falls, Helen spiked her eye on a bush. Nothing remained in her eye and she could still see quite clearly but we stood transfixed as the blood oozed very slowly down the whites of her eyes, leaving her iris and pupil as normal. The effect was initially unnerving, but as Helen couldn’t see it and she was in no pain, we all adjusted to the half zombie in our midst.

The only other walker we met on this section was a tiger snake right at the point where you crane your neck back to try to see the falls and, of course, are not looking at the track. It didn’t move far out the way but just enough for us to cautiously shuffle past.

Day 3 – Chapter Lake, Cloister Lagoon, Junction LakeThe track from the end of Chapter Lake to Junction Lake, as Mr Chapman assures us in his writings, roughly follows the lake shore, heading up into the scrub and back down to the edge when it can and passing through the flat boggy section before you get to Cloister Lagoon itself. I am entirely confused now because the more we saw of this track we more we enjoyed it. The track

The Acropolis and Geryon, day 2 Rob Wildman

On the way to The Spires, Tent Tarn in the middle distance, day 2Marc Breton

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meandered from beautiful mossy beech forest to dry sclerophyll gum forest and then to wet spongy swampy bogs on its amble over the saddle and down to Junction Lake. The last few kilometres down the creek bed to the lake was one of the most serene walks I’ve done.

We had originally planned to be real adventurers and head up to Artemis Lake and then follow this, find our way across the Traveller Range to Du Cane Gap and then back through the Never Never. But the campsite at the lake and the hut itself were so magical we completely bonked out and decided instead to stay for two nights, do a day walk down and up the Never Never (or as far as we could get) and then see what else later on. We came across two walkers at about 7 pm near the hut trying to ascertain the start of the Lake Artemis track; one attempting to find it at water level and the other up the hill somewhere. They looked exhausted and one even fell in the cold river to chest-high depth in the stumble to find the route. After they eventually found the cairns up the hill and were out of earshot, we pondered on this edgy style of walking and the potential it had for real disaster.

As part of the preparation for this walk, I volunteered to prepare all the main meals, drying and devising tasty delights, and then distribute them to each person as equitably as possible. After a couple of nights of curries, it was spag bol tonight followed by a chocolate milk dessert and then, the peach brandy and cigars to round off. And yes we carried out the butts! These were real chat starters as we were resting on the one big rock overlooking the lake as the sun fell over another still and placid surface. Nothing was off the agenda. Families, because we all had them, work, walking stories and some attempts at the dire political situation were all in there. And there was a red sky so tomorrow was looking good already!

Dinner with Junction Lake Hut as background, day 3Marc Breton

Chapter Lake at dusk, day 2 Marc Breton

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Day 4 – Junction Lake, Never Never returnSo, the Never Never. If you trawl the net there are boundless stories of the traverse of this part of the Mersey River from Junction Lake down to Hartnett Falls and most of them are stories of scrub bashing, bogs and getting lost. I can very well understand how in severe weather this route can be treacherous, especially as it involves a log crossing over a swiftly flowing river. But on our day, with the sun shining for most of it, it was a real pleasure. Sure, there were several sections where the pad disappears or there are several pads at the same time, but there is only the river on your left and the mountain on your right – you are going to stumble on the pad sometime. Even the log crossing had several options all close to one another. The pad generally sticks close to the river, especially in the lower section below McCoy Falls (which is one of many spectacular features) but when trees have fallen and the track is blocked, walkers have made their own diversions, some of which head off into infinity and some which do work their way back to the river and the original pad.

We had given ourselves until two o’clock before we would turn around and luck was with us as we strolled into a mass of Overland walkers at the top of Hartnett Falls, who were surprised to see us, with

five minutes to spare. Many were doing the "luxury" walk and travelled with just day packs and were soaking up the water and the sun before heading on to Windy Ridge Hut.

Feather Falls from the Never Never, day 4Rob Wildman

Junction Lake, day 4Rob Wildman

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Twenty-two years before, I had walked the Overland with my, then fifteen year old son, Min. I had prepared a very short memorial to his memory as he had died almost one year previously, just before the pandemic. We all struggled to read the prepared letter and poems and by the time we were finished, other people were looking askance as they strolled passed this small bunch of weeping, hugging walkers.

The return trip was just as enjoyable and because we were now experienced, we cut almost an hour off the time. But the English garden look of the river downstream from the falls with flat, moss covered edges and a crystal clear babbling brook running in between, was something I’ll never forget.

Day 5 – Junction Lake, Lake Artemis, Meston HutThe next day we decided that we should also head up to Lake Artemis to see what we missed out on and to look at the country beyond. The track, difficult to find at first, lounges through a beautiful beech forest on its way to the crest over which was swampy ground and then about a kilometre of scratchy and narrow climbing before breaking out onto the ridge overlooking the lake. After seeing the scrub which surrounds the lake, we were very glad we didn’t attempt

the high route we’d planned before. The camp sites at Lake Artemis were positioned atop a flat space on a spit of land jutting out into the lake. The lake was very clear and this area would have made a wonderful night’s camp.

Having returned from this enjoyable short trip (its less than three kilometres to the lake), I’d heard or read that it was possible to camp on the southern shores of Lake Meston, the lake to the north-east of Junction Lake. As we approached this lake it became very obvious that this spot was not going to be our next camp. Thick bands of melaleuca covered the shores and the excellent track we were

One of the larger unnamed waterfalls in the Never Never, day 4Rob Wildman

Michelle, Helen, Rob just above Hartnett Falls, day 4 Marc Breton

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following wasn’t having anything to do with the lake itself, just skirting it. So we pushed on to the fairytale Meston Hut which was every bit as "goblinesque" as the Junction Lake hut. Marc found a short track which lead down to the actual shore of the lake where we threw ourselves into the water and then threw ourselves out just as fast.

A middle aged couple we met had nestled their tent onto the very edge of the lake and taken off to fish the northern shores during the unexpected good weather. This lake is famous for trout fishing and the lakes to the north and east right up to Lake Malbena are special areas for this activity. I can understand the fly fishing community’s objection to the prospect of rich, helicopter fishing tourists invading this pristine place.

Day 6 – Meston Hut, Mount Rogoona, Lake MyrtleToday, the second last, was to walk to the saddle on Mount Rogoona and then follow the cairned route to the top. We had, again, a spectacularly brilliant morning, with a fine soft mist on the surface of the lake but which had now disappeared and left us with the prospect of just getting sunburnt. The tracks we were following now were all very good; properly made and maintained trails. While the Mount Rogoona route came and went it also never really left us for long, taking us to a high point one ridge away from the actual summit of the mountain. We could have done the dip and last climb to reach this but we could see an amazing skyline as it was and looking down on Lake Myrtle, our next destination, was just a treat.

After talking to some other walkers on the track, and not having heard a weather forecast for over a week, it seems we were going to be in for some weather, even snow, over the next day or so. But heck, we had the gear, we had plenty of shelter and we were walking out. The only unknown was that we were unsure of the standard of the "short cut" – the Jacksons Creek track. Given very

Myrtle Lake, day 6 Rob Wildman

The "goblinesque" Meston Hut, day 5Rob Wildman

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