Port Davey

Not long after sunrise and coffee in the cockpit, Russ and I left the kids asleep, raised Tika’s anchor and headed out of Louisa Bay. An easterly breeze is rare in these parts, so we hoisted sails and enjoyed the run to South West Cape and then north toward Port Davey.

Looking back, this time is  one of the favoured memories of our entire trip. So many photographs capture tasty morsels of this remote and arresting place…..

The extensive waterways that sprawl deep into this little south-west corner of Tassie run from the wild Southern Ocean and rumble through an outer inlet (Port Davey) into a vast inner harbour (Bathurst.) There are no roads or electricity to this region. You must arrive by private boat, plane (there is a gravel airstrip at Melaleuca) or foot (the 84 km, 6-8 day South Coast trek runs from Cockle Creek)

As Tika entered the somewhat sheltered waters of Port Davey she was flanked by impressive ranges. We felt like we were on the edge of the earth. The morning after we had dropped anchor in the outer harbour, we went exploring up the Davy River in the dinghy….

We disturbed large flocks of black swans, who took flight, trumpeting with outstretched necks in protest. From day one we found ourselves in awe of this prehistoric landscape. The kids bounced out of their skins with the raw adventure of exploring the snaking river ringed by mountains and ancient forests.

The tea trees (Melaleucas) and button grass that dominate the banks, seep tannins into the water infusing the depths with a strong tea tinge and staining shallows with an almost iridescent tangerine hue…

The Davey River had us winding around tree-lined banks and deep into gorges. We battered the outboard on submerged rocks and gushed through rapids in narrow (and shallow) sections overlooked by towering Huon Pines. The Davey runs from the Frankland Range 53km through the Southwest National Park and empties into the Southern Ocean at Port Davey.

Below right; gazing out over the Breaksea Islands in Port Davey on a calm day. The windswept islets protect the outer harbour from the wild swells of the south west coast.

Below left; we motored from the outer harbour through the Bathurst channel and anchored off ‘Clayton’s Corner;’ a quiet alcove with a towering Mt Rugby behind it.

Clyde and Winsome Clayton ran fishing boats out of Port Davey from 1962 to 1976. Win was the sister of famous tin minor, explorer and artist; Deny King, who, along with his wife Margaret and children, also called Port Davey home. Win and Clyde’s homestead remains as a historical, boaties retreat…

We hiked up Balmoral Hill and Mt Beattie for views of Mt Rugby and Bathurst Harbour.

Below left; Clyde Clayton

Above Right; the Clayton’s cottage was full of woodsmoke and memorabilia. Complete with an AGA stove, a cast iron teapot and quirky gems like a stick in the bathtub to assist an animal’s escape. Visitors are welcome to set the fire, browse the book library and spend a lazy evening contemplating the isolated life of the people who had made this place home….

Below left; A photograph in the cabin enshrines a moment that Winsome Clayton shared with her beautiful garden of flowers, fruit trees and ornamentals.

Above; one day we left the outboard behind and sailed Tika-Taka all the way from Clayton’s corner, up the Melaleuca Inlet where we spent a night in the hiker’s hut built by Deny King. The Southwest track is, undoubtedly, one of the world’s more remote hiking trails and we dropped in unannounced like aliens beaming onto a planet. It felt a bit unfair as we hadn’t put in our 6-8 days of challenging hiking to get there! There were very few people around but the tired walkers we did bump into looked at us as if to say “where the hell did you come from?” (there is a runway at Melaleuca so tourists do get flown in from Hobart but outside of these flights the place is super quiet)

Above; the old boat shed at Melaleuca

Before the arrival of Europeans, the indigenous people of Tasmania; Palawa, had lived, isolated on the island for 8,000 years (since Tassie  separated from the mainland). Genocide wiped out most of the Aboriginal population during and after colonisation. There is still evidence of the Needwonnee people of Tassie’s south west and we took a stroll along a boardwalk that recognised the traditional owners of the land.

Buttongrass plains and heathland spanned out in the flats between the ranges. Next to the hiker’s huts we found an observation shack and feeders for the endangered Orange Bellied Parrot.

Below right; hours of fun sailing Tika-Taka on the flat waters of Bathurst Harbour…

There is incredible beauty in south west Tassie. It is a World Heritage area of 1.338 million hectares- 20% of the entire state of Tasmania! We found the rugged isolation very grounding and magical. On calm days the harbour was a glassy millpond and we were captivated by mountains, forests and reflections…

Between the button grass and melaleucas we find splashes of colour in the form of wildflowers….

No filters! stunning rust coloured waters filter through the tanins into the marine reserve.

Above left; spot Tika….

I am not sure that a day in Port Davey/Bathurst went by without a hike. We conquered Mt Beattie (250m), Mt Milner (185m) Mt Stokes (450m) and Mt Rugby (771m) to name a few. It felt good to work out our legs on the hills and the countless views and hours spent in a family huddle on various summits were precious. We watched sea eagles spin effortlessly on thermals and orientated ourselves against the backdrop of now familiar peaks and ranges.

Below Left; the anchor chain was matted with weed and mud hauled through water that looked like a dark henna tincture.

Above left; I never tired of the orange pools! They matched Tika’s sail covers  

Despite the chilly temperatures, I kept up my morning swims but the lack of any underwater vision unnerved me a little. I imagined the depths below me plunging so far into the earths core that no light filtered through. In fact, it is not that deep (3-7m on average) and interestingly, the tannins produce a unique phenomenon where divers (decked out with powerful underwater torches I imagine) can see marine invertebrates usually only found in the deepest of Oceans.

Knowing where we were in the world and how challenging it is to get there made Port Davey/Bathurst Harbour all the more delicious. The Southern Ocean and the crazy gales of the 40th latitudes made the calm waters seem especially blissful….

We exhaled steam into the crisp night at Spain Bay in the outer harbour. We had left the cosy confides if Tika’s saloon to witness the total lunar eclipse from the sand. We watched in silence when an Eastern Quoll wandered down the beach and sat right in front of us before meandering along the water’s edge. A beautiful encounter.

Leaving felt too soon. Incredibly, after crossing the Pacific, this is the place that the kids want to return to most. Ultimately, it was about the constant looming mountain ranges and the sheer size of Bathurst Harbour that left the biggest impression….

Next post; we sail through Hell’s Gates into Maquaire Harbour

This entry was posted in The Sail.