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South Cape Walk

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Notes:

We always wanted to do the South Cape walk as it is part of the famous South Coast Walk which our kids have done.  It's some 8 km from Cockle Creek to the Cape and further if you head down to the beach and walk along it.  Overall we walked around 17 km.  The main difficulty was getting down to the beach, plus a few little hills near the cape itself, other than that it's rather flat all the way as you walk along the valley floor.  As with many Tasmanian walks, much of the walk is on boardwalk to protect the environment.  Only on solid rocky ground do you lose the boardwalk, in these areas you need to be careful due to the uneven terrain.  We were treating this as a walk, unusual for us, but we saw quite a few orchids along the track, perhaps part of the reason we took 7 hours to complete the trek.  The other is I'm a bit slow at walking.

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Maps:
 

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We signed the book and off we went. We soon found orchids to photograph Initially the track is a standard bush track.  Smooth at times but often rough, requiring care.
     
     
     
  The first of many bridges.  Boardwalks abound along the way.
     
     
     
  Walking in closed in forests is enchanting.  
     
    Approaching a fern area
  Can't beat a fern walk   
     
  Out into the open Duckboard to protect the environment
     
Back into the trees again    
  More board walking  
     
     
     
     
    Interesting! A fence.  A sign of the old times.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  Into bush again.   Stabilized dune country, close to the end now! 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    The Cape in sight
     
No Kidding, Thanks for the warning!   Very strong winds coming from the south
     
Steps down to the cliff edge. This is usually the end of the walk.  
     
Coastal views - amazing place    We headed along the cliff face so we could get down to the beach and check it out.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Steps down to the beach - quite steep.
     
     
     
     
     
   Initially a rock beach.   So hard to walk on.
     
    Looks like a storm coming
     
     
     
    Past the rocks to the sand
     
     
     
  Better go the tide looks like it's rolling in.   
     
  So much harder going up!  
     
     
     
  Black and sandy rock - quite different  
     
  Back in the bush and sheltered against the roaring wind. Heading home 
     
    Time to slow down and see things 
   
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  The sign out (and in) shelter At the start again - 7 hours latter
     
The real start Cockle Creek  Car park up the track
     

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Orchids we noticed along the way:
     
     
Caladenia carnea - Pink Fingers Chiloglottis gunnii  - Tall Bird Orchid Nemacianthus caudatus  - Mayfly Orchid
     
Corybas leaf  Prasophyllum brevilabre - Short Lip Leek Pterostylis nutans - Nodding Greenhood 
     
Pterostylis pedunculata - Maroonhood  Stegostyla cracens - Neat Caps Stegostyla transitoria - Green Caps

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