Day 15 – Mt McCall Track    

 Today we got up early, well at 6:50 which seemed early, so we could get to Queenstown by 9:00 and pick up the key and permit for our drive.  We packed up quickly, and were soon on the road.  We got to Queenstown by about 8:40, then went to the caltex to get some fuel.  They were really friendly at the caltex, just like the other day when I had been.  I asked them where I could wash my car off before taking the Mt McCall track which is a parks requirement, and he said just to use the hose he had around the back, and he gave me a sponge as well.  He was just too happy to help.  They are friendly there.   

Anyway we got to the Ranger station just after 9:00 and the Ranger was ready for us.  He checked if the car was clean, and gave us a permit and key, that is after I signed my life away reading all the disclaimers about remote travel and danger.  The park Ranger was helpful and described the track and some other things to see around the place.  All the park Rangers seem to be pretty good and really enthusiastic about their part of the world.

 We drove up Mt Jukes road, past Darwin Dam and the dam wall towards Mt McCall track, in the world heritage area.  We reached a big solid gate, which we opened with our fancy tamper proof key we had been given.  The track was easy at first and we soon came to the helicopter pad that the protesters used when protesting about damming up the Franklin and Gordon rivers in the early 80’s for hydro electricity.  It still had the big NO DAMS triangle sign painted on it, although it was fading. 

The protestors gained international attention and made a huge fuss in Australian politics.  When the Tassie Government held a referendum they asked voters to choose between two dams, but instead 33% of voters wrote ‘No Dams’ even though they were told it would make their vote invalid, and a total of 46% deliberately made their votes informal.  Eventually after many protest blockades, media attention and political games, a vote went to the high court which voted 4 votes to 3 that the Commonwealth Government had the power to stop the dam, so it was stopped.  During the process the area had also been listed as a World Heritage area due to it’s unique, pristine and untouched wilderness, one of the last of it’s kind in the world.  On the down side, I guess it means we need to burn more coal and gas to get our electricity.

 We went on up the track, and climbed over the first mountain.  The views were excellent from the top, with views all around of mountains going off into the distance into the world heritage area, and mountains with stone caps and interesting shapes.   We saw a few wallabies and birds along the way too.  Mt McCall was a bit steeper and rocky, but not too bad, we got to the end and had ham tomato and cheese sandwiches for lunch, but we weren’t that hungry because we had pigged out on savoury shapes on the way, well I had. 

At the end of the track was a park bench and a 300m drop down to the Franklin River.  There was a path that lead to the river down the steep mountain side.  It kind of followed the remains of an old rail haulage that also went to the bottom.  We climbed down the track which was steep and had chains to use for climbing in some areas.  It was an excellent view of the river at the bottom and we felt quite isolated.  It was hard work getting there and took about 2.5 hours return.

 We snacked on chocolate on our return, and Jo did the driving back out to the Bird River track.  The Bird River track was a really pretty drive down an old railway path that had been cut into the sides of hills in areas, with moss and ferns all around, it was really good.  At the end was a walk, which we didn’t have time for, but looked really good.  I think we’ll have to come back for it one day.

Back in Queenstown the Ranger was still around at 6:00 when we returned the key.  We told him of the collapsed section of the walking track we had done, which he was interested in hearing about.  We headed back out of Queenstown through the hills heading in the Hobart direction towards Maydena our next destination.  We stopped at Nelson falls up the road, and continued on to camp at Collingwood River.  We are just off the main highway near the river, and there are a few mosquitoes about.