Cataract Gorge, Tasmania.

Like a few other posts on my blog, I debated weather to include this recent trip, but parts of the gorge were pretty nice, rugged and a little challenging, so it made the cut.
I was on a "boys" weekend with a few mates, we flew down from Melbourne to Launcesten in northern Tasmania to see the Hawks play the Dogs at Aurora Stadium.

I spent a few mornings exploring the gorge so got to see it in its entirety. There are quite a number of walking tracks, some easy and a couple that are a little difficult, so the gorge suits everyone. 

I started all my walks from the First Basin car park, located at the main tourist part of the park. There is a coffee shop and a cool chair lift that takes you across river that is worth a go. 

With record recent rains in the area, the gorge was flooded and the river flowing furiously. Apparently there is a public swimming pool here as well but it had been engulfed. 

The gorge runs from west to east, pretty much in the center of town. From the main car park the ZigZag track heads west along the south side of the gorge. It will take a fit person about 20min to reach the end of the track which is at main road. You can return along the same route or cross the bridge and do the very easy walk along the  flat ash felt track to the north of the gorge. Return will take about 15 minutes. 

The ZigZag track is quite steep in parts and rough, but by the time you work up a sweat your at the end. Its worth a go as you get quite high up the gorge and there are some great views. 

Both the above tracks are the most popular in the region as they are short, but the highlight was the track that again started at the chair lift and headed west into the gorge. Its call the Duck Reach power station track. Its a loop so can be walked in either direction. 

I chose to cross the bridge and head on the northern side of the gorge. The track began to raise immediately with a couple of Ok lookouts on the way. Walking this section of the gorge is where you will feel the most isolated as there are no houses lining the gorge here and no sounds of cars. 

After a good 30 minutes of walking I had reached the top, and the turn off the the power station.

From here if you were carrying 30kg on your back it may take 45minutes, but 15-20 minutes and I was at the power station. This was me favorite part of the walk, dropping back down into the gorge, overlooking huge cliffs, the power station and a cool suspension bridge was a highlight. 

After a little break I crossed the bridge and started back. The track was straight forward. It rose and fell a little but nothing serious, most people would smash this last section. 

There were a few lookout on the return to the carpark with a number of trees that had to be navigated around that were across the track due to the recent storms. 

With no real sense of seclusion in the gorge it was hard to feel that I was anywhere remote. There were constantly joggers puffing past. In saying that the gorge was a great bit of fun on the mornings when the others in the group were tucked up in bed with a strange women they had met the night before. 

They did surprise me one of the days when they decided to have a little look at the famous Tassy landmark.  

2-3 hours will see you around the entire gorge, little longer if you take your time.

Its not hard to guess the hiker in the group, denim jeans not the best option for exploring nature.