You can survive in the wilderness...
(Photo by Mike Brocklehurst)
Tasmania has some of the finest multi-day bushwalks on Earth. There are tracks along remote coastlines, across glaciated highland landscapes, through ancient rainforests and on the rim of mighty sea cliffs. The island’s bushwalks will offer you challenges, pleasures and rewards – but only if you plan and prepare your trip properly.
Most Tasmanian bushwalks are in wilderness areas, where you’ll be camping out overnight, far from roads and settlements. If you need emergency assistance, it can be hard to make contact – and help may not come immediately. That means you need to be self-reliant and well-equipped, with the right gear to keep you out of trouble in the first place – and the skills to cope with problems if they do arise.
This web site will help you plan and prepare your Tasmanian wilderness experience so you can reach the end of the track safely. It won’t tell you everything about survival in the wilderness, but it gives you the basics – where to go, what to take, what situations you’ll need to be prepared for and where to find more detailed information.
...but will the wilderness survive you?
There’s another important side to wilderness survival – and that’s the survival of the wilderness itself.
Places that have stayed much the same for thousands of years can be very easily damaged by thoughtless or careless human activity. We want you to discover and enjoy our island’s wild places – and we want you to leave them unchanged.
If the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area and our other national parks are to remain among the world’s great wilderness areas, a lot depends on you. By understanding and practising the principles of Leave No Trace bushwalking, the wilderness will stay wild and unharmed, so that you and others can enjoy them the same way, next trip.