Phil and Richard's Tasmania Circumnavigation

Download and install Google Earth and then click the links on the right --->
to view Phil and Richard's locations

Check out photos from Phil and Richard's adventure in the photo gallery.

Phil And Richard would like to thank all their friends, relatives and others that helped them achieve their goal of paddling around Tasmania, without their help and support it would not have been possible. We were both totally blown away by how friendly everyone we met in Tasmania was, possible one of the last bastion of community spirit.

HELPERS IN TASMANIA

Matt Watton- Having paddled around Tasmania 3 times himself, the last time in a clockwise direction and in only 26 days Mat was a mine of information and an amazing support machine who sent us weather reports most days. Matt is a legend for his tenacity, skill and willingness to help others.
Dave Kelly - Dave stopped to chat to us while we were packing our kayaks in Devonport and ended up with our vehicle in his front yard for two months. He also received numerous packages from us in the post as we discarded gear that was not being used or had served its purpose. Dave has only recently become involved in sea kayaking but already has a wealth of knowledge in this field.
Dave & Karen Cole- provided us with support and accommodation. Dave was at uni with Richard and from all accounts appears to have run around every wild part of Tassie.
Terry Kingston- Thank you for your help and trust in letting us use the Smithton scout hall while we were there. An under cover dry place was invaluable as we packed for our next leg to Strahan.
Smithton Library librarian- for allowing us to charge up all our batteries.
The surfers from Burnie- who gave us a lift back from the store at Marrawah
The couple in Mawson Bay- who gave us hot water and hot cross buns on Good Friday.
John & Karen Bester- who gave us a cup of tea and brought their generator and drill down to the beach at Conical Rocks to help me fix Phil's broken rudder.
Officers at Strahan Police Station- who allowed us to plug our battery chargers in at the station.
Mick & Pam- the caretakers on maatsuyker island who gave us a tour of the lighthouse and then invited us in for tea and the most delicious home made raisin toast.
The Jehovah's Witness's at Southport who gave us bread rolls, tomatoes, apricots and apples when we arrived at our first store in over two weeks to find it had closed early as it was ANZAC Day.
John & Judy- at their amazing property in safety Cove (Port Arthur)for the water, tomatoes and their friendly attitude.
Jill at Adventure Bay General Store- for allowing us to recharge our batteries and for being so friendly. Jill, that locally made peanut butter you sell is the best I have ever tasted.
John Pretty- for allowing us the use of the scout hall at Battery Point, I am not sure what we would have done in Hobart with out it as the Sandy Bay camping park is no longer there.
Mr & Mrs Murray Boon in Pirates Bay- for the water and big bag of apples, they were delicious.
Jill at the Ampol Service station/cafe in Orford- for letting us charge our batteries and for the excellent Devonshire Tea.
The shack owner at Mariposa Point near Falmouth- who allowed us to camp on the beach.
Ray & Kerry, owners of Swan Island- who allowed us to camp on their private beach.
Jeff Jennings of Bridport- who picked our kayaks up in his trailer and put us up for the night. Jeff is the most amazing photography, still and video, as well as the president of the Maatsuyker Island Sea kayak Club.
John of Port Sorell- a Parks & Wildlife ranger who was very friendly and helpful.
There were many others who stopped and chatted to us and made our trip special, to all of you thank you for your time and friendship.

IN SYDNEY

The Barnes and Newman families for their love and support and for the time out that enabled us to be away for two months.
Fiona - the brains and skill behind the web site that kept everyone informed of our progress and well being, Fiona you are incredible.
John & Mardi Barnes & Andrew Perry- for meeting us at Cox's Bight and bringing with them all the fresh food, scones and cake, it was amazing.
Buzz Powell- for her support & friendship, you are special.
Lee Killingworth & Chris Paul- for the wealth of knowledge you provided.

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Updates from Phil and Richard:

29-03-2007: After hours of packing in the rain we left Devonport paddling into 30knot headwind and 3 metre swell. Paddled for one and a half hours and only got 6kms into Don River.

30-03-2007: Very strong head winds all day hence only 29km. Staying in Penguin. If this was Wed time trials we would take 4 hours. Better weather forecast but still cold.

31-03-2007: Much better weather. Managed 41km. Called into Burnie & Wynyard. We had just rounded Table Cape. Saw first dolphin & penguin.

01-04-2007: Traveled 43km along the most beautiful coastline hugging the shore. Had devonshire tea to die for in Boat Harbour. Climbed Rocky cape.

02-04-2007: Visit Stanley and climbed the Nut. Paddled around North Head and saw dozens of seals that played around our 'yaks. 35km. Camped at Anthony Beach.

04-04-2007: All packed with provisions for 10 days to get to Strahan. We paddled through Robins Passage to a camp on the beach at Woolnorth Point. 53km.

05-04-2007: Well the West Coast has lived up to reputation. 30knot Southerly with huge swells at times. Like a tempest coming between. 25km.

06-04-2007: Rounded most Westerly point riding magnificent swells and punching into more strong Southerly. Constant sound of huge sure sounding beach.

07-04-2007: Left at low tide. Had to carry kayaks 100m over jagged rocks to launch. Several spectacular reefs took us kms out to sea to avoid massive surf. Winds S.

08-04-2007: Conical Heads.

09-04-2007: Trial Harbour.

10-04-2007: Reached Strahan. Phil's rudder is broken so they will be there for a couple of days. SW winds.

11-04-2007: Email from Phil: "Basically we are in Strahan after making some emergency repairs to my rudder, I was pushed back by a gust of wind against a reef at Conical Rocks and it snapped my rudder off. Cable ties and a helpful guy in a shack on the beach got us going again. We are now making some more permanent repairs and possibly getting a replacement part. Also expecting a SW front coming through. We are charging batteries, electrical and human, and stocking up on food for the remote SW section. We expect to set off tomorrow, Thursday."

12-04-2007: At Edwards Bay. Packing this morning then beautiful paddle with dophins out of Macquarie Harbour. Rounded Cape Sorrel lighthouse into choppy seas.

14-04-2007: 15km North of Low Rocky Point. Climbed Hibbs Pyramid. Paddled a few kms up Wanderer River. Both well.

16-04-2007: At a small bay at North Head which is the NorthWest corner of Port Davey. Travelled 38km into head winds from the West. Fairly large seas. Pretty hard going but both well. Probably spending next few days around the Port Davey area.

17-04-2007: Both well. Paddled into Port Davey today and up the Bathurst Inlet. Now at the base of Melaleuca Inlet. paddled 37km today. Exact location is 43°22'920S, 146°07'893E. Tomorrow plan to paddle up to Melaleuca Lagoon and back out into Port Davey. Preparation for going around the Southwest Cape in the next day. Beautiful day with fantastic scenery.

18-04-2007: Camped in the South of Port Davey. A day of rain and strong Westerly winds. Richard would say it has been exciting and Phil would say it's been challenging. Tomorrow if the weather is good they're hoping to head down the Southwest coast - really exciting and terrifying.

19-04-2007: Absolutely fantastic day. Finished the West Coast and rounded Southwest Coast today. Roughest day so far, wind blowing, really choppy and raining, but so exciting. Rounded the cape about 2:30 and now in Ketcham Bay. Standing on the beach can see Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse on the coast in the distance which is the next goal. Both well and having a great time, been so exciting.

20-04-2007: Both well had a great day. Paddled off the coast today about 16km South of Tasmania to Maatsuyker Island. Paddled between the needles below the lighthouse and around the island. landed on an old landing site amongst fiords adn rocks and pretty stuff. Lots of fun. Climbed up the hill up a little track. Met the caretakers who showed the lighthouse, a real work of art even though it doesn't work any more. Camped beside the wind which is the old wynch that was used to pull stuff up to the beach. If it weren't dark would be able to see coast of Tasmania 15km away and a few hundred feet below. All that can be heard is the strange sound of mutton birds. The sun has come out so no more rain, at least for the enxt 5 minutes. Absolutely fantastic day. Tomorrow paddle back to the mainland and hopefully catch up with Richard's brother John and his wife Mardi.

21-04-2007: Phone message from Eric Barnes (Richard's father): Phil and Richard are back on the mainland and have met up with Richard's brother John and his Mardi, and Andrew Perry. They were interviewed thismorning on ABC 702 on the Macca program.
21-04-2007: Yesterday morning got up and left Maatsuyker. Paddled through a cave that goes right through to the south of the island. Paddled back to the mainland to and camped beside Point Eric. Camping there again tonight. Yesterday Richard's brother and his wife flew in with friend Andrew Perry and hot cross buns, fresh bread, cheese, etc. Went for a bushwalk and didn't do any paddling today. Tomorrow headinf off on their way again. Thismorning Richard called Macca from ABC Radio 702 to chat about where they were and what they're doing. All is well.

23-04-2007: Travelled 38km today. Camped at Rocky Harbour Inlet. Got up thismorning in the rain and cold and had breakfast with the other three (John & Mardi Barnes and Andrew Perry) and then packed up and said goodbye at the water. Been paddling mostly into a Southeasterly today which was quite strong at times with choppy seas. Nice to be back on the water. Now in the most beaituful inlet with the sun going down and the moon coming up. Richard cooking dinner. Having an absolutely excellent time.

24-04-2007: Fantastic day. Did 43km into head wind all the way. Came around South Cape and then Southeast Cape so are now officially on the East coast in Recherche Bay. Have a campfire which is exciting because previously not allowed campfires in the national park which was not fun when wet and cold. At Southeast Cape had paddled 999.9km so around the cape had done 1000km. Very happy because of the campfire.

25-04-2007: Underneath the stars as usual. Right underneath the lighthouse at the south of Bruny island on a rocky beach in front of a nice warm fire. This morning paddled up to south fall to do a bit of shopping. Got there just after midday and the shop had closed at midday for Anzac Day so didn't actually get anything. some people on the beach took pity and gave a bag of rolls. apricots, a tomato, and a couple of apples. Must look like charity cases. It was very nice of them. They also gave some "literature" to read. Both well ad hoping to paddle a bit more down Bruny island and hopefully get to Adventure Bay.

26-04-2007: 40km today. Some strong winds and very choppy for a while. Also some sheltered areas with lots of sea caves to explore. Camped at Discovery Bay. Shopping tomorrow and then North Bruny Island.

27-04-2007: Charged camera and phone batteries in cafe then set off at 1pm. Heavy seas. Ran out of daylight so camped near Trumpeter. Hope to make Hobart tomorrow. All is well.

28-04-2007: Paddled into Hobart in amazingly calm conditions. City hidden in mist. Staying in scout hall in Battery Point. Met Matt Watton who has been a great help with weather updates and heaps of other stuff. He recently completed his third circumnavigation of Tasmania in only 26 days. Tomorrow shop and leave midday. Raining.

29-04-2007: Shopped and got our images saved to disc. Not much opens Sundays. Left at 2:30 and paddled 21km to Iron Pot Lighthouse at the bottom of Derwent. It's raining, camped on sand, but happy.

30-04-2007: 41km today. Camped Wedge Bay on Tasman Peninsular. Paddled with pod of 60+ dolphins. Wonderful coastline of caves and gauntlets that calm conditions allow us to enter.

01-04-2007: 37km. Camped at Safety Bay below Port Arthur. Raoul Bay and Cape Raoul were definitely one of the highlights of the trip. Wind and sea have picked up and are set to increase. A scorpion crawled out of the firewood pile and warmed himself before wandering off. Lots of mozzies on trip but strangely bites don't itch. Heaps of different spiders.

02-04-2007: Very exciting day. The wind blew all night which was loud and fast and threatening. Woke up this morning and listened to the radio for the weather and there was a competition on ABC Hobart which Phil knew the answer to so he rang up to see if he could win and ended up with an interview which was fun. Then headed off paddling not sure what was going to happen because the wind was strong and seas choppy. Went to Cape Pillar where Tasman Island and the lighthouse are in the shelter of the rocks. The lighthouse was exciting and the rocks were amazing. Saw lots of seals and tuna jump out of the water. Paddled around the island and it was full-on choppy, very rough. Richard was sitting there stable as can be in his boat but Phil was terrified (but having fun). All is well and very exciting.

04-05-2007: Yesterday (03/05) morning had very big seas and high winds. Paddled out from Fortescue Bay but Phil didn't feel comfortable so came back in. Only paddled 7km. Went for a bush walk instead up along the coast north of the bay. Today things were a bit better. Did 27km into winds up to 13 knots. Explored some incredible caverns and arches including Pattersons Arch. Called into Pirates Bay and bought some provisions. Camped Deep Glen on Forester Peninsular with very own fairy penguin parade going up past the camp to their nests. High winds forcast for the next couple of days so will see how it goes. Not raining which is great. All is good.

05-05-2007: Camped on a surf beach in Cockle Bay on side of the Mercury Channel between the mainland and Maria Island. Moon is out, stars are out, a lovely evening. If anyone wants to know the fairy penguins get up about 5:30am and make a lot of noise. They also make noise during the night. Been paddling into the wind today with 30 knot winds. Pretty hard going for about 17 or 18km. After lunch the wind appeared to die down so cut across a bay then really strong winds from the north for the last couple of kms. Total of 37kms today. Pretty tired. Tomorrow plan to go across to Maria Island. Daily routine: 5:30 Richard wakes up to listen to weather report. 6:15 light fire and put billy on. 6:30-6:45 Richard gets up and they have breakfast and pack up. 8:30-9am get on the water. Sometime between 12-1pm lunch. 4-5pm try to find a campsite and spend time setting up camp and lighting the fire, cooking dinner, writing log, sending report to Fiona, washing up, and drying any wet stuff in front of the fire. 9-10pm Phil goes to bed and then sometime between then and 6:30 Richard goes to bed at "some time". All is well. It's a lot of fun!

06-05-2007: What a day! woke up to a beautiful sunday morning and paddled out of the bay where camp was. Blown across to Maria island with 15kmott winds. Paddled North along the island into fairly strong winds which just got stronger heading up to shoal Bay. Headed into a cove where there is a hut and a camping site. Had lunch hoping for the wind to die down but it didn't. Paddled back to Maria island and it was tiresome and slow slogging into strong head winds. A lot of hard work getting back. Did 27km today and are only 10km from the start this morning. In Emerald Cove with the moon shining across the water. Stars are out and not raining so all is good. Hard day but had the best dinner of the whole trip which Richard cooked. Tomorrow heading into a small town for provisions and to charge batteries.

07-05-2007: Only 22km today. Went into Orford to charge batteries and shop. calm all day until we left when a 15knot head wind came. Camped near Lords Bluff.

08-05-2007: Good day. Early start from a windy, rainy night. Northwesterly winds not too strong. 24km paddled before lunch. Sat on a nice beach on the mainland and then set off across the channel to Schouten Island which is 17km away. Came around the south side of the island into Chicken and Hen Bay. Paddled in with a pod of dolphins and an eagle overhead. Having diner in the middle of another penguin colony making a lot of racket. All up did 49.5km today. Tomorrow heading up the east side of Schouten Island to Wineglass Bay. Hopefully the winds will be the same as today or even better.

09-05-2007: What an exciting day! As mentioned previously the penguins get up at 5:30 but last night they got up at 4:30. What a racket, they were so noisy they almost drowned out Richard's snoring. Really windy this morning. After packing up the tents climbed up to the lighthouse on Chicken Head to look at the weather. Fortunately the wind had subsided. Set off into some choppy water but when at the east side of Schouten Island things were a lot better. Nice paddle up Schouten Passage to Freycinet Peninsular. Beautiful rock formations of pink granite. Past Cape Forester into Wineglass Bay. Even though there was a fairly strong westerly the water was still a beautiful turquoise blue. Had a late lunch in Wineglass Bay and then paddled up past Cape Tourville and the Nugget. Now camped in a small bay just north of it called Bluestone Bay. Tomorrow hope to head up to Bicheno. Did 40km today which was pretty good considering the winds. Both well. Absolutely beautiful evening. All the stars are out and not a cloud in sight.

10-05-2007: 30km today. In Bicheno for the night charging batteries. Sleeping in a park gazebo on benches. Paddled up along Friendly Beaches that have amazing blue water. All is good.

11-05-2007: What an incredible day. No wind at all, water like glass. Paddling along was like flying above the sea bed it was so clear. Sun shone all day. Practiced eskimo rolls until got brain freeze. Stopped for lunch and Richard went for a dip. Saw several dolphins. Did 46km. Camped on a beach.

12-05-2007: Interesting day. Calm sea but some big surf. Good job practiced eskimo rolls yesterday as a break came out of nowhere and tipped Richard. He rolled back up easy as you please. Stopped at Scamander and lost a map coming out through the surf. Camped off St Helens. 1613km traveled to date with about 300km to go.

13-05-2007: Richard spoke to Macca again. Paddled 40km. Camped right under Edistone Lighthouse. Very cold and windy.

14-05-2007: Camped at Swan island on the NE tip of Tasmania. Freezing! Arrived at about 4:30 to find that it is actually private property and told that were not allowed to stay. The owner was managed to be convinced to let them stay but they were not allowed to light a fire so wet and freezing. Spent an hour or so in Edistone Lighthouse in the morning before travelling 41km.

15-05-2007: Woke uip and padled back to the mainland in thic fog. Round Cape Portland at midday. Now on the North Coast again. Camped just east of Tomahawk. Weather fine. 44km today.

16-05-2007: 50km today. Now in Bridport staying the night with Jeff Jennings, president of Maatsuyker Kayak Club. Shower and a real bed tonight.

17-05-2007: Didn't leave Bridport until 11:30. Paddled 26km and camped east of Weymouth. Millions of very small but beautiful purple jelly fish in the water.

18-05-2007: 47km today. Big thunderstorm early this morning and rained most of the day. NE wind helped early but late Southerly made up work. In caravan park in Low Head. All good.

19-05-2007: 30km today. Very hard work in 25knot head wind and big seas. Only 18km left to do but stronger winds forecast for tomorrow. camped at Port Sorell with more penguins.

20-05-2007: FINISHED. 1940km. Now eating scones with coffee.

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