Our second night in Bothwell was very wet and when we woke up on Wednesday ready to set off to Mt Field, it was to be greeted by a sea of yellow mud. Bothwell Caravan Park has been covered with gravel and, when the rain hits it, it liquefies. We couldn’t wait to get away, although, when we got to Mt Field, it was similar. This time, the mud was black. The Land of the Giants Caravan Park is inside the boundary of the Mt Field National Park. When we last stayed there, probably 1978, it was on a grassed area with plenty of room. Now it has been moved to a stand of tall trees closer to the river. This is all very romantic but no grass grows under the trees and, when it rains, the ground turns to black slurry. It also cost $28 per night which is at the top end of the market. I might have thought the government would want to encourage people to use the parks; charging $28 plus an entrance fee will only drive them away. I shouldn’t complain too much because the park is certainly worth a visit. When we lived in Hobart between 1975 and 1986, we came here often. Jamie did his first ski-ing here, we slept in the snow for the first time, we did our first serious bush-walking along the Tarn Shelf, so there are great memories. I did a Snow Survival course here one time. We had to carry all our gear for five days and stay dry and warm for all that time. The first night we stayed in tents, the second night in a snow cave and the third night in an igloo we built. All went fine until a warm front came through on the third night and the igloo collapsed on us. The fourth night was spent in a hut, drying out. One other time, a friend and I decided we would walk into a small hut at Lake Belcher, with our kids. For one reason or another, we didn’t get to the carpark until about 4 o’clock on the Friday and had to find our way to the hut in the dark. It was snowing as well. We crossed the Humboldt River twice I think. Jamie would only have been 12 or so. A great adventure! Anyway, back to the present day.
Although it has been raining for days, Marilyn and I decided we would attempt a walk along the Tarn Shelf. The whole area has been carved out by a glacier and one part of it is a flat ‘shelf’ of land on the side of the mountain. All along it are small mountain lakes or tarns, surrounded by alpine vegetation. There are little huts as well and we thought we would try to reach Twilight Tarn which was about 2 hours walking. The first stage was a 16Km drive up the mountain to Lake Dobson, then a slog up a track to the beginning of the various walks. The drive was fine but we found the hard climb up the track just too difficult. The rain was coming down hard and it seemed much further than we had remembered.
After an hour of trudging up the steep slope, we turned a corner and saw that there was as much to do again, it was time to head for home. We were saturated, cold and tired, and realized that it was 25 years since we had last done this walk and time has caught up with us. When we got back to the caravan, we noticed that the river has risen about a foot. I checked with the ranger who assured us there was no danger of being flooded. I hope they’re not famous last words.
Although it has been raining for days, Marilyn and I decided we would attempt a walk along the Tarn Shelf. The whole area has been carved out by a glacier and one part of it is a flat ‘shelf’ of land on the side of the mountain. All along it are small mountain lakes or tarns, surrounded by alpine vegetation. There are little huts as well and we thought we would try to reach Twilight Tarn which was about 2 hours walking. The first stage was a 16Km drive up the mountain to Lake Dobson, then a slog up a track to the beginning of the various walks. The drive was fine but we found the hard climb up the track just too difficult. The rain was coming down hard and it seemed much further than we had remembered. 
After an hour of trudging up the steep slope, we turned a corner and saw that there was as much to do again, it was time to head for home. We were saturated, cold and tired, and realized that it was 25 years since we had last done this walk and time has caught up with us. When we got back to the caravan, we noticed that the river has risen about a foot. I checked with the ranger who assured us there was no danger of being flooded. I hope they’re not famous last words.
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