Lost in the Remote Tasmanian Wilderness
We were lost in a wilderness area in winter without food, shelter or adequate clothing in days before mobile phones and Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs).
Our group set out to climb 1286m Wylds Craig Mountain in remote South West Tasmania.
We left Launceston on Friday night. It was very late when we arrived at our camp site past Maydena, a distance of about 240 kilometres. We set up camp near the start of the track.
After breakfast on Saturday morning we started out on our day walk. We planned to get back to camp after lunch on top of the mountain. Even thought it was winter, the weather in the morning was fairly warm. Some people wore shorts.
It was a fairly tough walk, but most of us were young, energetic and fit. On the way to the mountain we had to climb over lots of logs and bush bash our way through horizontal scrub. We walked through lots of pandani plants. The mountain climb was pretty steep. I remember collapsing in the snow to have a rest, thinking I could wait there till the others came down.
I kept going though and we all reached the top. The weather changed dramatically on the way up. By the time we reached the mountain peak, it started to rain heavily, and thick mist came down over the mountain. There are supposed to be magnificent views of the Florentine Valley and mountains nearby, but all we could see was very thick clouds.
After a quick lunch, we were keen to get down off the freezing mountain. When we got down out of the mist nothing looked familiar. We spent hours climbing up and down ridges looking for the way back to camp, but when it started to get dark, we knew we had to spend the night in the bush.
We gathered lots of bracken ferns to lie on. Only one person out of fourteen of us had a box of matches so we all gathered wood and lit a huge fire. We all lay down in a circle snuggled up to each other to try and keep warm and tried to sleep.
I remember waking to the smell of burning rubber during the night. Someone’s boots had caught fire. They still had them on their feet.
It rained most of the night. We woke at daybreak and shared one orange and two cold sausages between fourteen of us for breakfast. One girl had that food left over from lunch. It was all we had to eat since lunchtime the day before.
We then started walking again. We were all cold, tired and weak. Eventually we found the Florentine River and walked in water up to our thighs.
At one point as we walked along through the freezing cold river someone at the front of the line said, “don’t worry, if we’re not back by tonight, they will send out the search and rescue”. I was dismayed when I heard someone at the back of the line say, “we are the search and rescue”. Some of the older experienced walkers did belong to the bushwalking club’s search and rescue team. They were often called out to search for lost bushwalkers.
By Sunday lunchtime we were all getting very hungry and weak. I began to worry if we would ever get out.
Eventually after crossing the river and climbing up another ridge we found an old forestry road. The road led back to our camp. We were elated to have survived our ordeal.
We were all exhausted and starving. After eating all the food we could find and getting into dry clean clothes, we laid down and slept until it was time to pack up and head for home.
I learnt a lot from that trip. On all walks now I always carry waterproof matches and cigarette lighter, take extra food, torch, first aid kit, rain jacket and extra warm clothes. I’ve done a navigation course and also carry a compass. I make sure I go walking with experienced people who carry a PLB.
I thought I was exhausted near the top of that mountain, but I managed to keep walking for many hours afterwards up and down ridges until it got dark. It was a good lesson to learn you have strength and more energy than you think you have, so you should never give up. The main thing I learnt was I have a lot more reserves than I thought I did.
It was the first and only time I’ve ever been lost in the bush and had to sleep out in the open.
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