233km in Tasmania

Tim, Kate and myself have just returned from doing 17 days/233km of hiking in Tasmania.

Hiking in Tasmania really is something special. There are so many trails and places to camp, and with an all-parks pass it is very cheap. I could live here someday, for a time at least. Maybe based in Hobart. With more research I could come up with a comprehensive list, but for now I can say I would like to hike up Mt Wellington - I drove up here but forbid myself from walking the distance of several metres from the carpark onto the adjacent Pinnacle (the peak of Mt Wellington) in favour of saving the moment until I had hiked up the mountain from much lower down. I would also like to spend a weekend camping and hiking on Bruny Island, a week or so hiking the South West Track, Maria Island, Flinders Island and more time exploring the Walls of Jerusalem National Park.

Over the past three weeks these are the hikes we have done:

• Walls of Jerusalem (2 days)
  
• The Overland Track: Entry #1 (3 days)
  
• The Overland Track: Entry #2 (1 day)
  
• The Overland Track: Entry #3 (3 days)
  
• Cape Pillar (3 days)
  
• Freycinet Peninsula (3 days)
  
• Bay of Fires (3 days)
  

We used Lonely Planet's Walking in Australia guide which is well recommended for it's excellent maps and walk notes. Borrow or buy the book, or alternatively download a pdf of just the Tasmania chapter for as little as $8 from the Lonely Planet website.

I also spent some time around Launceston, visited Bruny Island, camped at Binnalong Bay on the Bay of Fires and explored Richmond.