S 43°01’48.7"
E 146°17'25.5"E
With more than 40% of Tasmania’s 26,000 square miles protected as either National Parks or UNESO World Heritage sites, I’m bursting with excitement as I leave the developed world behind and set out to explore the south eastern corner of the island.
An extremely controversial system of enormous hydroelectric dams was constructed in the early 70s, at the time the poster child for a conservation fight in Australia. The dams resulted in the creation of the enormous Lake Pedder, and the damming of the once wild and mighty Gordan River. Although I feel conflicted about the enormous impact on the region, there is one lasting critical piece of infrastructure that meets my needs - gravel roads deep into the wilderness.
Before 1970 this enormous expanse was entirely inaccessible by vehicle, and to this day fly in hiking and wilderness fishing trips are a daily occurrence due to the vastness of the wilderness. The few gravel roads used in the dam construction are now open to the public, which means I can explore literally to the end of the road in multiple stunning locations and rarely see another vehicle.
At 560 ft. The Gordan dan River dam is the highest in Australia, and walking right across the dam wall invokes a very strong feeling of vertigo. As with everything in Tasmania there is no security, no restrictions and even safety signs and fences are at a minimum, and I’m free to roam the whole area, walking up and down enormous staircase and across the dam itself.
Moving North I spend almost a week on the infamous “Road to Nowhere” - the one and only road that slices through the Great Western Wilderness of Tasmania. This gravel road sees very little traffic and requires a crossing on a tiny cable ferry across the Corina river where a bridge has never been constructed.
With so few vehicles and people wildlife is abundant, and I’m excited to spot an endangered Tasmanian devil (Yes, the cartoon character “Taz” is based on a real animal), an eastern Quoll and more platypuses, echidnas, wallabies and other small hopping animals than I can count!
On the coast I tackle the Sandy Cape Track, infamous for it’s deep beach sand, stunning views and quicksand. Water flowing onto the beach from multiple rivers and creeks causes the beach sand to become exceptionally soft and dangerous, and each year multiple 4x4s are lost to the sand. Once stuck fast it’s just a matter of minutes before they are inundated and destroyed by the crashing waves, a fate I’m very happy to avoid in my house-on-wheels Jeep.
Slowing down to the pace of Tasmania feels like the right thing to do, and I spend a week exploring the mountains, lakes, and rivers of the area. Tiny logging and mining exploration roads dot the landscape, providing endless opportunities to roam in my Jeep.
As far as the Jeep goes, the GEOLANDAR X-AT tires continue to perform flawlessly across a wide range of conditions. For the Sandy Cape beach driving I aired the tires down to 10 psi to increase the contact area and increase traction, and was impressed at the level of grip in the deep soft sand. In gravel, mud and the occasional small rock garden they have done everything I have asked of them without a single complaint or issue. After more than 10,000 miles tread wear is only barely noticeable, an impressive feat given the weight of the Gladiator.
Now I must catch a ten hour ferry back to mainland Australia where I will make a few minor adjustments to my Jeep setup before striking out to explore the state of South Australia.
-Dan Grec
CategoriesConsumer NewsTeam Yokohama
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