Walking and wild Australia: 16 days across three landscapes
Start with the honest problem. The three best walking regions in Australia do not share a season. The Larapinta in the red centre is at its best from May to August, when Tasmania's highlands are cold, wet and often under snow. Tasmania walks best from December to March, when the Larapinta is dangero
- Duration
- 16 days
- Pace
- Active
- Hotel changes
- 7
- Best months
- Apr, May, Sep, Oct
- From
- $5,440 per person
What there is, is a compromise that works: late April into early May, or September into October. The desert is walkable and not yet freezing at night, and Tasmania is cool and changeable but entirely manageable with the right layers. We build this route in those windows and we would rather explain the trade-off than pretend it does not exist.
Who it suits: walkers who want distance and landscape rather than summits, comfortable with six to eight hours on their feet and with weather that changes.
Day by day
Day 1: Arrive Sydney. Transfer, and nothing scheduled.
Day 2: The Sydney coast. Bondi to Coogee, about 4 miles (6 km), then the ferry to Manly and the Spit to Manly walk, about 6 miles (10 km) through bush that is inside a city of five million people. A good first day for legs that have been in a seat for a day.
Day 3: To the Blue Mountains. Out by road, then the Grand Canyon Track at Blackheath, about 3.7 miles (6 km) through a slot of rainforest below the escarpment. Two nights in Blackheath.
Day 4: The Blue Mountains. The descent to the Ruined Castle from Katoomba and back, about 8 miles (13 km) with a steep return, or the Wentworth Falls circuit and the National Pass, cut into the cliff a century ago. Both are better than anything at the lookouts.
Day 5: To Alice Springs. Back to Sydney and the flight to Alice, about three hours. Afternoon at the Alice Springs Desert Park, which is a much better briefing on the country you are about to walk than it sounds.
Day 6: West MacDonnell Ranges. Standley Chasm at the hour the light drops into it, then a section of the Larapinta Trail through Jay Creek. The full Larapinta is about 139 miles (223 km) in twelve sections and takes two weeks on its own. We walk the best of it in day sections from a fixed base, which is a legitimate way to do it and a great deal more comfortable.
Day 7: Ormiston Pound. The Ormiston Pound loop, about 5.5 miles (8.7 km), which finishes wading through the gorge itself. For anyone who wants it, an optional pre-dawn start on Mount Sonder, about 9.9 miles (16 km) return to 4,530 feet (1,380 m), for sunrise from the highest point in the region.
Day 8: To Kings Canyon. Drive south and west, roughly 200 miles (320 km) with Tylers Pass and Gosse Bluff on the way. Overnight at the canyon.
Day 9: The Rim Walk, then Uluru. The Kings Canyon Rim Walk at first light, about 3.7 miles (6 km), starting with a climb that everyone complains about for twenty minutes and nobody mentions afterwards. Drive to Yulara in the afternoon.
Day 10: Uluru and Kata Tjuta. The full Uluru base walk at dawn, about 6.6 miles (10.6 km), then Valley of the Winds at Kata Tjuta in the late afternoon, about 4.6 miles (7.4 km). Note that both close from mid-morning when the forecast reaches around 97°F (36°C), so the early start is a rule rather than a preference.
Day 11: To Tasmania. The long transfer day, and we do not disguise it. Ayers Rock to Hobart connects through Melbourne or Sydney and takes most of the day. Evening in Hobart.
Day 12: The Tasman Peninsula. Cape Hauy, about 5.6 miles (9 km) return on the first section of the Three Capes Track, with the dolerite columns at the end. The full Three Capes Track is about 30 miles (48 km) over four days with booked huts, and if you want that instead we build the trip around it.
Day 13: Freycinet. North to the east coast. The Wineglass Bay to Hazards Beach circuit, about 7 miles (11 km), which is the walk the famous photograph does not show you. Overnight at Coles Bay.
Day 14: The Bay of Fires. North again to the orange lichen boulders and empty beaches between Binalong Bay and Eddystone Point. A short walking day on purpose, before the highlands.
Day 15: Cradle Mountain. Across the island to the Cradle Mountain plateau. The Dove Lake Circuit, about 3.7 miles (6 km), then the climb to Marions Lookout for the view down the valley. The Overland Track, 40 miles (65 km) over six days, starts here: it is booked through the Tasmanian parks service for a fixed season, capped at a small number of walkers a day, and it is a different trip that we are happy to build.
Day 16: Cradle to departure. An early walk on the Face Track if the weather holds, then the drive to Launceston or Hobart for your flight.
What is included
Accommodation with breakfast, three internal flights, all ground transport including a private vehicle in the Northern Territory and a hire car in Tasmania, a walking guide for the Larapinta days and the Cradle Mountain day, park passes for Uluru and Kata Tjuta, Watarrka, Freycinet and Cradle Mountain, packed lunches on full walking days, route notes with distances and ascent, and a WhatsApp group with your specialist and our partners on the ground.
What we would change, and when
- Only one season available, and it is June to August? Drop Tasmania entirely, add the Flinders Ranges in South Australia, and give the Larapinta a full week. That is the better winter trip.
- Only December to March? Reverse it. Two weeks in Tasmania including the Overland Track, with Sydney at either end, and the red centre kept for another trip.
- Want the huts rather than the day walks? We build the Overland Track, the Three Capes Track or a supported six day Larapinta section with a walking company we have used for years.
Related
Shape this trip around us All Australia, planned around the flights, because that is what decides the trip trips
