May 2026 - Clarence Coastal Trail to Roches Beach

Gerwyn, with some assistance from Fin, organised this one. We had been watching the weather coming in earlier in the week with some doubt, but Thursday foretold Friday’s fair weather and so we gave the go-ahead. We were ten today: Gerwyn, Wayne, Di, David, Fin, Caroline, Graham, Dorothy, Angie and Maryanne. We met at 10.30am at the carpark at the very southern end of Seven Mile Beach and took the coastal track to Roches Beach. For the first part of the trail we stayed low on the rocks alongside the beach, led by Caroline who knew this path.

We then climbed up to join the main path.

It was a short path, and well-trodden, with plenty of fellow walkers and their dogs to say hello (hello, hello) to.

Some pics — including a well-made stone bridge, some small magpie-lark like birds (pee wees?), water for walkers and dogs near an unusual (to us) house, some curious (to us) ant nests, and an incontrovertibly beautiful sky!

We took our snacks with a bit of a squeeze around the picnic table at Roches Beach.

Then headed back via the bush track.

All up, we walked about 8 kms, and took about 2 hours (including our snack stop). Probably more talkin’ than walkin’ – but jeez it was good to be out!

There was an animated debate about the best place for coffee/lunch, and at last we set off up Surf Rd to find a recommended new cafe. Success! We found Tidal Cafe, a converted container near the plant nursery on Surf Road.

We were lucky to have arrived before the 2 pm closing that we hadn’t known about. Good coffee, beautiful pastries (no joy for our coeliac walker-talker), plenty of seating, and a nice cruisy, outdoorsy, push-bikie, walkie, talkie vibe. The track notes start at Roches Beach, but we seemed to manage it without walking backwards: Clarence Coastal Trail - Roches Beach to Seven Mile Beach Track | Greater Hobart Trails

April 2026 - Nierinna Creek, Margate

This month's walk was organised by David. At 10am on a lovely sunny early winter morning, we gathered at the quiet carpark at the end of Burnaby Drive in Margate.

Our walkers were: David, Catherine, Peter, Fin, Angie, Lyn, Di, Maryanne and Dorothy. Maryanne was celebrating her brand new EV - we almost had a majority of clean electric vehicles over smelly ICE vehicles bringing us to the walk today.

The walk started with an easy stroll beside the level Nierinna Creek, skirting some lifestyle blocks above us. The poplars were glowing with their autumn colours, it was very pretty.

There were some quaint little bridges to cross, these are great spots for lingering and taking a closer look at the creek, which was actually pretty low today, not much water flowing.

We stopped for a drink at the top of a set of steps. Then it was onwards and downwards to drop down beside the creek again. Here we were in damp almost rainforest bushland, the air was quite moist.

Then it was up and up some more steps, till we reached the end of the trail at the road. Here we caught our breath, chatted some more, and then turned around to return back down to the rainforest.

At the bottom we found a bench to sit on for our morning tea. A leech found Fin's lunchbox (yikes), but no others were reported. We strolled back to our starting point.

We then drove to nearby Hopfields Brewery in Margate for some refreshing drinks and a very pleasant lunch. Our booking was for 1pm and I think we got there a little earlier than that. It was a great finishing touch to a very pleasant day out with our friends :)

November 2024 - Strathblane, Duckhole Lake

This "away game" morphed from Maria Island (to the north) to Strathblane (to the south), and it turned out to be a good call by this month's organiser, Angie. Thirteen of us (Angie, Di, Kat, Philip, Gerwyn, Wayne, Maryanne, Michael, Gary, Bob, Fin, Summa, Dorothy) rolled down the Huon Highway on Thursday, several of us stopping along the way for lunch and other refreshments. Di and Angie visited Frank's in Franklin, and after lunch visited the historic church and cemetery behind it.

Maryanne and Michael tried out Communion Cafe in Geeveston and pronounced it had the best toasties they had ever had. Angie and Di visited Hastings Cave and did the 30 minute walk around the pool and the 3pm guided tour of the cave - excellent.

We all found our way to "Rivers Run" lodge at Strathblane and to our various booked cabins and campsites. The cabins seem recently refurbished and the ablutions block was quite stylish! Eventually we landed together in the large and comfortable common kitchen. It was good to see each other again, after a few months of bad weather getting in the way of our walks (!). There was time for some nibbles with a glass of something, then salads were prepared for the barbie. The barbies were well set up in a nearby shed, which also offered a fireplace opportunity for the enthusiastic firelighters amongst us.

Friday dawned and decisions were made about whether to walk or to stay in camp to rest and recuperate. In the end, three EVs (yay! a new record for our group) drove to the start of the Duckhole Lake walk. The route is reasonably well signposted, with tourist blue signage. This access road was okay, gravel and a few potholes but driveable by most vehicles. Sadly you drive through hectares of harvested regrowth forest. Note - The walk sign is hidden on the right hand side of the road, and it is easy to cross over the little bridge without noticing the carpark area on the left hand side.

The 2.3km path to the lake (4.6km total) is pretty and fairly level, winding alongside a clear tannin-rich creek. This is a very enjoyable walk, clearly well looked after as one of the 60 Great Short Walks of Tasmania. There is good quality duckboarding and bridges where required. We were on the lookout for leeches, but Kat was the only person who spotted one.

Duckhole Lake is pretty, with Adamsons Peak in the background (on the left).

We stopped for our snacks, and then set off back again.

Back at the carpark, three intrepid walkers decided to do the walk to Adamsons Falls:

Sadly we discovered the road onwards from there was in bad shape, with trees fallen across and bigger potholes. The last straw was a big tree across the road with only a muddy bog on the side to get around it, no thanks. So we turned around and enjoyed a Thelma and Louise moment as we drove back carefully through the forestry devastation.

Another group had gone on to Hastings Cave and enjoyed a swim in the thermal pool. Back at our Rivers Run base, the rest of us enjoyed a lazy afternoon in the beer garden.

Gary harvested some fresh oysters and several of the group tried them out.

Tonight's dinner was taken in the tavern, and then we wandered up to the inviting fire in the bbq hut for an evening of tall tales and even some planning for our walks in 2025! Saturday morning saw us take off at different times and in different directions. It had been a lovely break, with good friends.