Overland Track

The most famous of the multi-day walking trails on offer in Tasmania is the Overland Track - a 65km path travelling through the heart of the island starting at Cradle Mountain and finishing at Lake St. Clair. It is extremely well established and therefore accessible to most wanting a challenging backpacker's hike. The variety of side-tracks on offer and the flexible schedule means that you could spend as little as four days sprinting through it or explore it leisurely over ten days. The general approach is six days hiking straight through.

The concept of carrying six days worth of provisions on your back over undulating trails is a concern. There is a careful balance needed between minimal packing and taking enough supplies and luxuries to get you comfortably and safely through the trip. From our experience, we would say 15-18kgs pack weight for women and 18-23kgs for men is optimal depending on your build. One lad on the trail, Jake, was carrying a back-breaking 35kgs - holy smokes!

We were very lucky with the weather with only a small amount of rain and a tiny bit of sleet/hail - that's good going for a Tasmanian summer! All of the hikers along the trail were friendly and like-minded, and the Rangers were plentiful, helpful and knowledgeable about the area.

Simply a fantastic trip and we would recommend it strongly to all who find this kind of thing appealing.