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Wild Mountains of Tasmania (2006)

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Description

The Tasmanian World Heritage Area (WHA)

The Tasmanian wilderness is an area in the world that is extremely fragile and therefore must be protected. It has obtained the most criteria ever to be ranked WHA by the UNESCO. Hiking in there is to be surrounded by almost untouched nature. It&#39;s pure wilderness.

The preparation 
I planned a path ending with La Perouse and the moonridgewhich is a trade-off between time and distance to reach all 15 mountains. It links official tracks with off-track bushbashing in the dense vegetation. The bushwalking forum and several highly experienced Tasmanian walkers helped me to decide for this path, including escape options in case of injury. Several rivers must be crossed swimming or wading. It is forbidden to light up fire, hunt and pick up plants in the WHA so all food must be carried from the start. I plan 40 days of food which is the maximum weight and volume I can carry. 
 
Two weeks before leaving, I eat a lot of fat like full spoons of butter, peanut butter, fries... I expect to loose between 5 and 15 kg. 
 
It&#39;s hard to summarize 49 days of effort in the wilderness. I rather put here some conclusions about the trip. I have put some more day to day details on my blog and panoramic photos. These photos represent why I&rsquo;m going to these places. The beauty for my eyes is above the pain, the hunger, the cold and the loneliness. 
 
I started with 49 kg on my back (food, equipment) and possibly did the longest unsupported walk in Tasmania.&nbsp;

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On the 21-01-2007, I woke up with a swollen calf (leg) the weather was bad with thick clouds and it was still raining. I was very close to Federation peak. I stayed in my tent the entire day. The next day I saw some sun through and climbed the peak. I only had 1 MUST climb mountain left, Mt La Perouse. To reach it, I have to go down the Eastern Arthurs range, find the Lake Sydney track to Mt Bobs. I entered the last off-track part. 
 
The calf remained swollen during the 3 last weeks of the trip. It slowed me down and I decided not to go to Mt La Perouse but to escape and save my life ASAP (lack of food) by following the Salisbury River, the New Lagoon River to the south coast. While saving my life, my GPS broke. If I was not following the river, I would have been lost and probably dead. When I reached the south coast track, which I walked in 2004, I knew I would live. Five minutes after seeing the first humans in 13 days I cried because I was speechless. I finished at Cockle creek and 36 hours later I flew from Hobart to Sydney and 3 days later I was back in Belgium. I had lost 10 kg of my body weight.&nbsp;

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I was lucky and happy to be alive. The injury (swollen calf) was bad. I had the early stage of the&nbsp;Trench Foot&nbsp;disease. In Tasmania you cannot beat the wet, the mud off-track. I was proud of making the decision to abandon the last summit; it&rsquo;s a sign of courage and maturity to finish your adventure when your life is at stake. To cure the trench foot, I ate 16 pills per day during 2 months and the feeling in my toes came almost back to normal after a year.&nbsp;

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