Like Robinson Crusoe we halted mid-stride, crouched and pondered the footprints in the sand. Only a few impressions survived the morning’s high tide, but here in the middle of a four-kilometre stretch of beach in remote, north-east Tasmania, the barefoot size twelves conjured all the mystery of Man Friday.
Other off-shore hazards include thick kelp forests and Great White sharks that prey on seals, but having identified Man Friday – a beachcombing couple appeared at the southern end of Cod Bay before passing us on their way back to the access road at Stumpy Bay – we were in no mood for tragedy. The solitude had worked its magic as we spread out on the 9 km walk to the first day’s destination, Forester Beach Camp, an eco-friendly structure secluded behind white sand dunes at the northern end of Purdon Bay.
With the sun at our backs we tackled the remaining sweep of Cod Bay, stretching stiff calf muscles in the soft sand while pausing to pick up a perfect seashell, or admire an artist’s palette of seaweed – lipstick pink and lime green – arranged on the sand by a sugary wave. We had come a long way in a short space of time, it seemed - the exponential benefit of escaping into wilderness.
The Bay of Fires Walk is the latest offering from Cradle Mountain Huts, the company that built five private huts along Tasmania’s famous Overland Track. The 60 km route from Lake St Clare to Cradle Mountain is renowned as one of Australia’s top bushwalks, but the Bay of Fires experience is rapidly gaining similar acclaim as one of our best beach walks.
The four-day trip starts in Brisbane Street, Launceston, where backpacks are checked against a sensibly austere gear list, water bottles are filled and picnic lunches stowed before a quick group photo with two young Tasmanian guides – in our case the cheery and resourceful, Selina and Kristin.
The drive north to Stumpy Bay passes through some of Tasmania’s finest wine producing valleys, the pastoral village of Scottsdale and the historic tin-mining town of Derby. Nearing Stumpy Bay our guides proved their skill by spotting an echidna and a couple of Bennetts wallabies. After farewelling our driver we headed south on foot past Boulder Point and Cobler Rocks, gazing north across Bass Strait to Flinders Island and Cape Barron before settling into our rhythm on the long plod round Cod Bay.
We reached Forester Beach Camp late in the afternoon and by the time we’d dropped our packs in our rooms, Selina and Kristin had tabled two delicious Tasmanian cheese platters and a couple of very decent Ninth Island wines, one of Pipers Brook’s best labels.
Comfortable as the camp was, we tore ourselves away from the treats on offer and returned to the peace and quiet of the beach for a refreshing dip between clusters of bright orange boulders. The emerald water was brisk but after the day’s walk wriggling our toes into the crunchy sand provided a soothing foot massage.
Back at the camp we rugged up in readiness for the evening. Then we returned to the beach and discovered another track through the dunes to what our map called Mount William’s Marsupial Lawns. Squinting against the setting sun, we used our binoculars to spot two cleverly camouflaged eastern grey kangaroos in an all-but-dry waterhole and a black-faced Bennetts wallaby standing stone-still by a tree less than 20m away.
After a hearty barbecue dinner and enough wine to enhance the already excellent prospect of a great night’s sleep, we returned to the beach and backtracked to an estuary where our torches discovered a pack of thirsty wallabies. A big fat wombat, foraging outside camp, completed day one’s wildlife viewing before we fell asleep.
Day two dawned clear and bright for our seven-hour trek over 14 km to the famed Bay of Fires Lodge - and a celebratory feast! After another inland foray across the Marsupial Lawns we re-emerged onto the beach and began our walk in earnest, beckoned by the promise of lunch at Eddystone Point Lighthouse.
The morning passed quickly – a scenic procession of pure white sand, clumps of orange granite rusty with lichen, an emerald sea splashed with diamond-white waves – a fisherman here, a Pacific Gull there. At Eddystone Point we shed our packs and our shirts before revelling in translucent waves, devouring lunch and sunning ourselves on a secluded beach littered with boulders and baked kelp.
From here the Bay of Fires fanned south to the dunes of Abbotsbury Peninsula, concealing our destination in bush 40m above a spectacularly rocky stretch of coast. This stretch also concealed beaches composed entirely of seashells that crunched underfoot. Kristin told us these huge Aboriginal middens were the legacy of tribes that migrated to the area to feed on shellfish, mutton birds and seals thousands of years ago. The same tribes unwittingly gave the Bay its name when French Explorer, Captain Tobias Forneaux, saw their camp fires burning as he sailed past in 1773.
For us, the sight of a school of dolphins frolicking in the waves was just enough to propel us up the final steep climb at the end of our 14 km hike. We arrived on the balcony of the architecturally acclaimed Bay of Fires Lodge to the applause of the previous day’s arrivals.
We spent the next two nights here, feasting on gourmet meals before studying the moon through a powerful telescope, with a glass of Ninth Island heaven in hand. By day we kayaked across Anson Bay and surfed the breakers in the empty coves beneath the lodge.
As memories go, the Bay of Fires burns bright.
The starting point is Launceston and direct flights are available from most capital cities.
The Bay of Fires Walk
A four day experience including all transport, guides, accommodation, meals and some gear. Maximum group size is 10 people.
The Bay of Fires is located in Mount William National Park,north-east Tasmania. The walk starts from the northern access road at Stumpy Bay, covering 9 km in about four hours to reach Forester Beach Camp on the first day. The second day’s walk covers 14 km in about seven hours from Forester Beach Camp to the Bay of Fires Lodge. The lodge serves as a base for two nights with third day options including fishing, surfing, kayaking and walking. Groups leave the lodge at noon on thefourth day for the return journey to Launceston via Pipers Brook Winery. The walk’s grade is easy.
Departures daily from October to early May.
Phone: (03) 6391 9339.
Tasmania Parks & Wildlife
Discover Tasmania
January: 12 - 21C
Spring and autumn: 8 - 17C.
Tasmania gets a lot of rain – so bring wet weather gear whatever the time of year.
4WD
