On Sunday, another legendary Ramblers hike. It began from the Titanic, not in the deep waters of the North Atlantic but on the highway at Cephania. Stick with me kid and pick up new facts like this. We stayed at Gowrie Park on Saturday night in the new camper van and then the shirt stretch of highway, meeting the other 21 ramblers.

In 2009, this road was finally closed. It went to the now abandoned town of Lorinna. It winds its way around Round Mountain, above steep gullies and crosses Machinery Creek. It was always a narrow, rough road with vertiginous drops to the trees massed above the creeks, in 2008, Kentish Council received an estimate of the cost to make this road safer. Not safe,just safer. It was in the millions.

It’s been 14 years and the road surface is barely recognisable in many areas. It’s a medium walk, the standard I mean, the actual hike is better described as outstanding. The treed mountains and hills, the jagged cliffs, the broken mountains, the ferns and mosses and the fascinating geology with great faults directing the creeks and momentum to leaping waterfalls.

It does my heart good to see how quickly nature reclaims and restores its landscapes once humans neglect maintenance of structures like roads. In twenty years, no one would even suspect it was ever a road. There is no trace of Lorinna township even now.

Everyone enjoyed the walk. There were many high points, crossing the creek on rocks, crossing another on broken pallet boards ( how did they get there), and lunch beside the creeks with its pools and boulders.

We had Tassie weather at its Autumn best, cool, sunny, a few clouds and no rain.

Special thanks to Trevor and Neville who prepared the walk.

Great day.