Geoff Murray: Rupert Point in Tasmania

I have for a long time intended to visit Rupert Point in Tasmania’s west coast Tarkine. I finally managed to organise driving up to Corinna, board the majestic old Arcadia II and chug the 17kms down to Pieman Heads where the skipper took me across to the northern side of the river in an inflatable dinghy.

I had been warned that water would be scarce and that proved to be the case. Setting up camp a couple of kilometres north of the river I had to return to a fisherman’s shack at Pieman Heads and fill my water bag from the tank. The rest of the day was spent lying in my tent with the doors tied back to escape the incredibly persistent March flies that were present by the score. Fortunately my Mont Moondance II tent has excellent ventilation and allowed me to keep semi cool in the 30+ degree heat.

Come late afternoon I packed my camera gear and wandered the couple of kilometres up to Rupert Point. This was the first time I had visited this place so I had one evening and one morning to find good viewpoints. Fortunately the light was kind to me and I found a couple of nice spots to photograph. I have seen quite a few shots of Rupert and most photographers seem to take the same image but I was keen on finding something new. The March flies hadn’t gone yet so I resorted to wearing my waterproofs, Mont Latitude trousers and a Mont Lightspeed jacket so I could concentrate on taking photographs and ignore the flies. Hot, but successful Eventually, the March flies went. Then the mosquitoes arrived….

I was back at my tent at 9.20pm, quickly grabbed a bit of food then hopped into my tent to escape the mosquitoes. It rained a little overnight and conditions were really nice the next morning so I walked back to Rupert Point and found another couple of nice images. Then it was back to the tent, pack everything up and walk back to Pieman Heads to wait to be picked up by the Arcadia’s skipper for the return to Corinna.

Overall, a brilliant 2 days on the west coast.