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good news for piscivorous species. “In February and March we

get a lot of bait fish active,” Yani says. “So lots of albatross and

a lot of feeding frenzies. It’s just unreal sitting in the middle of

hundreds of albatross, watching them grab fish.”

We lap Tasman Island – where Sydney–Hobart race yachts

famously turn to starboard and head for the finish line – and

pay our respects to the resident fur seals, which slide into the

water and gambol around the boat to check us out.

Afterwards, Ben stops at the base of the Cape Pillar chasm,

and we gaze uncomprehendingly at sheer dolerite that extends

up for about 260m – nearly twice the height of the Sydney

Harbour Bridge arch. At the top is Chasm Lookout, which is so

far up we’d have trouble making out any people peering down.

M

ORE PEOPLE CAN see Cape Pillar’s rock spires on a boat

trip but the chance to see it at the cli“ top – a glorious,

isolated, windswept end-of-the-Earth spot – is the

privilege of multi-day walkers.

They trek here from Fortescue Bay the longer, harder way

• via Cape Hauy and the 490m summit of Mt Fortescue – or
  they take the short cut, on the mostly flat Cape Pillar Track,
  which travels inland through an impressively diverse range of

We cross into open ocean near Budget Head, in the shadow of

Arthurs Peak, tracking along the “black shore” – the south-facing

dolerite cli“s, which are renowned for their exposure to gale-force

winds. Now, with the sun on its cool-season, northerly track, the

cli“s are in shadow, mottled by lichen, thrusting upwards. “We

get comments about things being man-made but...this is just

nature; this is just awesome,” says deckhand Yani Armbruster.

Wave-washed cli“-base rubble is a riot of colour and intertidal

life, as University of Tasmania marine science research fellow

Neville Barrett points out. “The o“shore upwelling brings nutri-

ent-rich Southern Ocean waters and there’s more current and

more invertebrate life,” he says. “It’s a real hotspot for marine

endemism in south-eastern Australia.”

Fabulous sea creatures seen here include salps and giant pyro-

somes, which are both jellyfish-like invertebrates that belong

to the group known as tunicates. “The continental shelf is only

7–8km away and they tend to be washed up against the cli“s

by the currents, but not smashed, because of the deep water,”

Neville says. “There were so many salps earlier this year you

could almost walk on the water.”

The area doesn’t get the fish species diversity of tropical waters

but the fish here are often found in great numbers – which is COURTESY TOURISM TASMANIA

Founding fathers. From left, HWC’s

David Pears, Naree Crane, Trish and

Malcolm. HWC members helped

create many Coastal Trail tracks

before Tasman NP was proclaimed.

ag0914p064_tasman - 64 2014-08-12T13:10:53+10:00