5 Days in Tasmania’s Wilderness – Port Davey

Thursday morning, 14 March (just 5 days after returning from the Antarctic): I flew to Port Davey in Tasmania’s Southwest National Park for 4 nights on OnBoard Expeditions’ Odalisque III.

The map at this LINK will help locate this amazing wilderness.

To get there, I hopped on a seaplane (my first ever seaplane ride) at Cambridge Airport near Hobart to fly to Tasmania’s Wilderness Heritage Area. Since it was too windy for us to take off from the sea, five of us were driven to this small airport where we boarded the Cessna Caravan and flew towards Bruny Island following the coast a little further south before turning west.

Our destination was Bathurst Harbour, “just around the corner” from Port Davey, where we landed on the water close to the beautiful catamaran, Odalisque III. Matt (Captain) and Pete (guide, photographer, birder) brought one of her two tenders out to meet us, and moments later we were on the boat, meeting the other six passengers who’d arrived a few hours earlier, and three crew.

All the crew were fantastic. BJ and Nancye worked tirelessly to make sure we were happy, comfortable and safe, and the food was amazing, thanks to our chef, Thomas.

Other than three of us, all the guests were from Tasmania where there seems to be 1 degree-of-separation (or less) – they all know each other through one other person. It was truly astonishing to listen to them making these connections.

After lunch, we were in the tenders on our way to Clayton’s Corner, an old jetty in the next bay over from our mooring; from there we walked up a short slope to a small cottage hidden amongst the trees. It had been built by early settlers, Win and Clyde Clayton, and is now being restored by locals. The original wood-burning stove, armchairs, glass storage containers and even a small black & white TV, are still there.

A short walk along the track from the cottage and we were surrounded by large mountain peaks off in the distance, the glorious smells of eucalypts and the sounds of birds, some of which I managed to see. This is a beautiful place in the bush – very, very different to the Antarctic where I’d been just 8 days earlier.

Back on the boat we motored west towards Port Davey where our adventures continued for the next four days. Along the way the bush came down to the water on either side, and mountains were high behind them, with huge gums and some Huon pines. Pete pointed out a bay that had been used by whalers to process whales when whaling was allowed. It now looks very peaceful.

A group of black swans took off ahead of us, their feet leaving “dents” in the water as they ran on the surface and rapidly flapped their wings to gain altitude. A sea-eagle soared high above the water and then perched on a branch not far from its huge nest.

Motoring towards the bay that would be our anchorage for 24 hours, we could see the Southern Ocean ahead of us, large waves hitting a line of islands that provided us with some protection from the swell. In a few days, we would visit this rugged set of islands with their blowholes, dramatic rock formations and caves.

Each day was filled with amazing sights, strolls along beaches, cruises in the tenders along the rocky shorelines, and for some, hikes up to peaks on some of the islands. Each late afternoon we would sail to our next anchorage.

The ocean, particularly its colour, fascinated me – more on this further down. This whole area is a Marine Reserve, which, while bringing many regulations and restrictions on where you can/can’t walk, take or tie-up boats, fish and so on, ensures that there are few boats and people.

The terrain on the mainland and islands is filled with craggy rocks with high mountains and hills behind, and a few sandy beaches. Close to the water, their white quartzite rock base becomes more visible, often as a band of white above the sea.

We saw birds in most locations: gulls, grey herons, black swans, cormorants and magnificent sea eagles soaring high above the land and water.

Walking amongst the large trees and thick bush there was little evidence of roos, wallabies, wombats and Tassie devils although I’m told that they are there. I’m sure there were non-legged animals as well – fortunately I didn’t see any of these. Interestingly, one of the small islands next to the Southern Ocean, is apparently filled with black rabbits (introduced by whalers and settlers).

There is very little top-soil covering the underlying rock on the hills and slopes, and with significant rainfall through the year, tannins that are washed into the ocean give it a very brown-orange colour. From a distance, it sometimes looked inky black.

We saw one seal enjoying a small shark that it had caught, so when we were in the tenders, and also from Odalisque, I was sure I was seeing heads of other seals popping up near the edges of the rocky shoreline.

But no – this was kelp billowing and moving with the waves and currents.

I learned that there are three types of kelp: the green sheet-like kelp (Ulva) that we see around bay beaches, giant kelp (Macrocystis) and massive leathery bull kelp (Durvillaea). The giant and leathery bull kelp grow here deep in the sea floor and it was mesmerizing to look down into the water and see it moving with the currents, knowing that it was sheltering fish, shellfish and other invertebrates.

One morning we took the tenders up a narrow gorge that had been carved out between two sets of mountain ranges, the rocks on either side reaching high up above us, as the brackish water gently flowed to the ocean. Birds flitted from tree to tree, and I managed to photograph some chestnut teal ducks with their bright green heads, as well as one very hard to photograph Azure Kingfisher – it’s somewhat blurred photo will remain hidden in my Lightroom files!

On our last afternoon in Port Hardy, while other guests were climbing or enjoying time out on a quiet beach, Matt took me to an area with birds quietly feeding close to the shore. As we approached grey cranes took to the air, and further along black swans did the same – I finally have some sharp photos!

On our last morning, now back on our mooring in Bathurst Harbour, we took the tenders to Melaleuca, a nearby settlement. This has an airstrip as well as the very interesting Needwonnee Walk through the bush where we learned about the traditional owners of this area.

All too soon we were back on the tenders, motoring back to Odalisque III, the seaplane arriving shortly after to pick up the first group of guests.

While the crew cleaned and readied the boat for the next guests in a week or two, three of us enjoyed a delightful cruise with Pete to some nearby rocky islands – it really is fascinating to see the shapes they take on over so many millennia, and the plants that survive such harsh conditions.

Then it was our turn to transfer to the sea-plane with all the crew, and take off from the water for our flight back to Hobart, while Odalisque III was left at the mooring to wait for the next cruise.

It had been an amazing few days in a wonderfully remote part of Australia.