Days 7-8: Osmiridium Beach to Granite Beach, Rest Day
Spectacular coast, a peaceful rivulet and a waterfall on a rocky beach
On beautiful Surprise Beach.
Today’s hike of just 7.7km (4.8mi) is another short day, followed by a ‘rest’ day to enjoy the beauty of Granite Beach, one of our favourite campsites on the track. Many hikers will be puzzled by this approach, but we still have two spare days of food, the weather is perfect, and we are in no hurry.
Leisurely hikers will understand that when you have the luxury of no deadline or distance, you can spend time just being rather than doing. Sure, we watched birds, explored the creek and the point, talked, and sat on sunwarmed stones after a refreshing shower under the extraordinary waterfall on the beach. Those who paint or draw will have much to inspire them; twitchers will enjoy the birds. But a lot of the time we just sat in companionable silence, in the moment, in a beautiful corner of the world.
Once again, elevation gain and loss are not especially demanding. From Osmiridium you traverse inland for a few kilometres before descending to rejoin the coast at the beautiful Surprise Beach. You have a crossing at Surprise Rivulet at the eastern end of the beach, another pretty spot to soak in the ambience. Next, there's a steep climb out through Surprise Bay campsite, continuing over Shoemaker Point then down onto rocky Granite Beach with its smooth pebbles and coloured sands. Camp is at the end of the beach, up on a little cliff and beside the waterfall creek.
How to Make Today Easier
You have the option of Track Cutters 4.5km (2.8mi) further along for a 12.2 km (7.6mi) day from Granite Beach, but we don't recommend this for slower hikers. Many hikers — including us — find the day from Granite Beach to South Cape Rivulet equally or more demanding than the Ironbounds because of the muddy terrain, and Granite Beach is a much nicer campsite than Track Cutters (also known, uninvitingly, as Poo Corner). A short day is better.
Waiting for low tide on Granite Beach will make your traverse easier on the sand rather than the stones, though there will always be a little on the eastern end. You may also need to wait for low tide at the eastern end of Surprise Beach.
You could also split this day in two by foregoing a rest day. You’d stop at Surprise Beach, then have a short day to Granite Beach the next day (rather than a complete rest day) and still have time for a shower under the waterfall at Granite Beach! We find that the zero-day approach works better for us.
Walk with Us:
Inland, initially through heath and buttongrass with fine views of the mountains.
Then into magnificent old growth rainforest, with huge old trees dripping with ferns.
Surely everyone on the track takes this picture! The hollow is big enough for a tent!
Limpid green light in a grove of towering Man Ferns (Dicksonia antarctica), with more ferns growing on the tree fern trunks.
Mossy fallen logs over the track
... and more ferns everywhere in the understorey.
The Scarlet Waxycap (Hygrocybe coccinea) and yes, it really is that colour!
You cross a tiny creek filled with tiny fish darting in the shallows. They are probably Common Galaxias (G. maculatus).
Then you're onto Surprise Beach, here at the eastern end. You have plenty of sand now, but at higher tides beware sneaky waves that can, well, surprise you.
Around the corner is Surprise Bay Rivulet.
Crossing Surprise Rivulet. It's a lovely spot and, after donning our boots, we sit on the rocks for a while in the sunshine.
A steep scramble up off the beach.
A Yellow-Footed Antechinus (A. flavipes). This little insectivorous marsupial is looking a little worse for wear; it's possibly a juvenile. It's past the breeding season but the males basically spend all their energy chasing females and shagging, then conveniently die to leave all the food resources and shelter for the females and their offspring. A brutal but efficient evolutionary quirk to ensure the survival of your genes, if not yourself!
Surprise Bay Campsite. It's pleasant and a good option if you have a different itinerary and the end of the day lands you here. But we have further to go.
Exiting the forest and nearing the imposing Fluted Cliffs and South Cape
Then it's onto Granite Beach...
... via a scramble down a somewhat dilapidated ladder.
The waves streak the multicoloured sands into beautiful patterns.
Depending on the tide, you will have a little or a lot of rock-hopping; on stormy days you may need to await low tide. This is at the eastern end of the beach with little sand, here crossing Sandstone Creek, which has campsites either side under the trees. It's another 200m (220yds) to Granite Beach waterfall and the campsite up on the headland. It would be extremely easy to lose your footing crossing the rocks when they are submerged.
It's an easy scramble up beside the waterfall. A waterfall on the beach, just metres from the sea! Extraordinary!
Collect water upstream from where the track crosses the creek.
Geoff has worked as a hydrologist for decades. Here he's collecting water from the fastest-flowing, clearest section, with the mouth of the bottle pointed downstream to minimise large particles being swept inside. He also collects from below the surface, whilst avoiding stirring up bottom sediments.
Camp is sheltered and cosy. As for every night excepting Louisa River East, we have the entire grounds to ourselves. It really is quite unusual, as we have read many trip reports where hikers meet dozens of people and share campgrounds with ten others. We've seen perhaps a dozen hikers the entire time.
The campsite is so beautiful: perhaps a rest day here might be nice? With two spare days of food, we would still have one left should we be held up at South Cape Rivulet.
Moderate (not heavy rain) is on the way, not tomorrow but the day after. Tomorrow's forecast is warm and sunny and we are in no hurry, so decide on a rest day to enjoy Granite Beach. It means a rainy hike to South Cape Rivulet, but so be it. Were the forecast for heavy rain and/or stormy southerly conditions that might push waves high into the inlet, continuing would be the best option, but the current forecast isn't a problem.
On your rest day, explore upstream to this little rock pool...
... or follow the creek back down to the cliff edge.
It's a grand spot to sit in nice weather, with marvellous views from the clifftop across the bay to Shoemaker Point.
And of course, don't forget that invigorating shower on the beach! The wet stones are slippery, but the ones in the sun are wonderfully warm. A great spot to spend the day wearing as little as you please: you can see hikers approaching down the beach from afar to the west, and also hear them approaching from the top, with plenty of time for modesty. After your shower, apply bug repellant if you decide to strip off: in this weather, the midges are biting.
Watch seabirds land nearby to drink at the outlet near the sand, dolphins frolicking further out in the bay, listen to the chink of small pebbles as the waves and tide come in. It is good to be alive.
We acknowledge the Tasmanian Aboriginal people and their enduring custodianship of lutruwita (Tasmania).
