Tag Archives: Howrah Point

Enjoying Little Howrah Beach on Stage 4 of my walk along the Derwent River

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It was a relief to arrive at the calm peaceful Little Howrah Beach, after the constancy of the rock hopping stage around Howrah Point.  Looking back in the direction from where I had walked, the photo below shows my view across five kilometres of Derwent Harbour towards Mount Wellington and Hobart city beneath.

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I sat on a boulder and comfortably munched on some morning tea snacks.  The serenity of this Beach was remarkable.

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Across the road from the Beach I could see a tiny shopping centre: including a newsagent, pharmacy, hair salon and paint shop.  Public Toilets were located closer to the northern end of the Beach.

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Once walking again, the end of the 200 metre sandy beach was reached quickly and I picked a path through a short cluster of rocks before coming again onto the sand.  At this point I had choices; I could walk up to the Shoreline Shopping Centre for a drink or continue along the 1.2 kilometre Howrah Beach.

Walking around Howrah Point to Little Howrah Beach on Stage 4 of my walk along the Derwent River

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This is not a walk I would recommend to others.

After leaving the main Clarence Foreshore Trail and for a while, I seemed to be walking on private property in someone’s garden; however there were clear markings that others had walked this way before. I realised people would not own all the land they mowed and that the Foreshore here would be public land.

Six minutes into this walk, the only way forward was to clamber down onto the rocks and, like a happy goat, wander up and down and up and down to continue.  Initially I rocked and rolled on large moving pebbles (ankle twisters) and from then on I was more observant about where each footstep was placed than looking at the scenery.

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Another five minutes later I was surprised to look up at a house with a flag pole on which flew the Tasmanian State flag. It is not often this flag is seen except on Government House and near our State Parliament building.

Continuing along, I enjoyed the colour of endless rocks with their bright lichens in every shade of yellow through to burnt orange. In places, the lichens almost ‘inflamed’ the rocks. Fabulous!

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Fences and gateways often barred entry to the homes perched above the rocks. A woman mowing her lawn waved to me.  Only idiots or friends would walk where I did.  To be fair, a lot of the rock walking was easy and a pleasant experience. However, since it took around 50 minutes for me to walk around Howrah Point to Little Howrah Beach, you can imagine that towards the end of the time and when I could see the main Howrah Beach in the distance, I did not want to retrace my steps. The difficulties were yet to come. If I had stayed on the main Clarence Foreshore Trail, perhaps I needed only to have walked for 15 minutes to reach the first beach for the day.

Within metres of reaching Little Howrah Beach, the Derwent River’s water reached the inaccessible bank. The few rocks above the water level were smooth and slippery with green water plants. Overhanging the bank were spiky branches from dead bushes.  Need I say more? This was not a safe place to walk. But I did continue and quite soon I sloshed up at the open ground adjacent to Little Howrah Beach.

Walking through Tranmere to the start of Howrah Point on Stage 4 of my walk along the Derwent River

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As I walked back towards the city, the Clarence Foreshore Trail started as a concreted pathway for cyclists and pedestrians, then stopped and started as a formal walkway; sometimes I walked on the road and sometimes on the grassy verge.  Car traffic was almost non-existent. At bus stop 30 there were seats to enjoy the view, and a shelter offered protection from the weather. The air was perfumed with the smell of cypress trees expressing their oils as the early morning sun heated their branches. Magpie birds warbled musically from the trees. I spotted the occasional Pied Oyster Catcher, Cormorants holding their breath and diving deep for fish, and a single speed boat whizzing up the River in the distance. Very few people around.

When the track dipped down as a gravel pathway edging the Derwent River, the mowed lawns of the back yards of houses edged this walkway. Green. Peaceful. And without fences, I could appreciate the large picture windows installed in many houses, for the view of the Derwent Harbour and further beyond. Groves of Casuarina trees barely whispered in the slightest of breezes. Stands of almighty gum trees occasionally blocked the sun. Plump yellow beaked Dominican Gulls rested on sunny rocks above the moving water. Pairs of plovers hoping to protect their babies screamed overhead. A tourist sight-seeing aeroplane droned along the river. Walkers with their smiling happy Labradors, German Shepherds, Shitsus and all manner of other canines greeted me.

This was easy strolling but I was always edgy and watchful for any cyclists that might wish to share the pathway.

I saw evidence of Landcare – new trees have been planted, staked and surrounded with protective plastic. Occasionally I noticed public tracks from this Trail that went back up the hill to Tranmere Road, giving walkers the option of where they walked as they continued along the River. Occasionally I came across public seats where you could, if you wished, rest and enjoy the magnificent views. Swings and slides could be used by kids at the small Anulka Park.

Around 50 minutes after leaving the bus, I arrived at a sign which provided a list of plant species in Clarence, and which offered information about weeds and escaping exotics and the dangers these pose to our native vegetation. At this point, the Trail curved uphill and this is the way any future walker should go.  The alternative is comparatively difficult and dangerous.  However, I did not know this at the time and I decided to stay low and hug the Derwent River edge. I was about to walk around Howrah Point.

My route for Stage 4 walking along the Derwent River

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Yesterday’s route took me from Tranmere to Bellerive on the Derwent River’s eastern shore of the Greater Hobart Area.

  1. I caught the Number 615 bus to Camelot Park and got off at bus stop 31 in Tranmere just before 9am. The bus continued onto it final stop 31, while I crossed the road to look down on the rocky foreshore, before striding out along the concreted Clarence Foreshore Trail (CFT) back towards the city.

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  1. When I reached bus stop 29, public toilets were located next to the Trail. I continued along the Trail to the left on a gravel path separating the rocks and water from the back yards of houses lining the river. Fifty odd minutes after leaving the bus, and after passing Punch’s Reef and Anulka Park, I arrived at a significant curve in the Trail. At that point it seemed to be returning up to the roadway for continuation on a concreted pathway next to Tranmere Road.
  2. Instead I walked on northwards, next to the river on a grassy terrace but was eventually forced down onto the rocks of Howrah Point. Fifty minutes later I arrived at the southern end of Little Howrah Beach where I sat and ate some of my lunch. I would not recommend followers take this route because when the tide is in, some rocks will be impassable. At other times some uncovered rocks will be slippery with moss. In addition, there are overhanging prickly bushes which will scratch if you follow this way. I suspect staying on the Clarence Foreshore Trail would have taken half an hour or more off my walk.

The photo below shows the tranquillity of Little Howrah Beach.

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  1. Half way along the road next to the Little Howrah Beach is bus stop 21. Close by are public toilets.
  2. It took 6 minutes to walk the length of this short beach, a minute to walk over a tiny rocky shoreline, and then 30 minutes to walk the long Howrah Beach. The photo below shows the Howrah Beach. Second Bluff is the treed area at the end of the beach.

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  1. From Howrah Beach, I walked up and around the Second Bluff headland on a well-marked path (the rocks below would be impossible to walk around) and arrived at the start of the Bellerive Beach approximately a quarter of an hour later. The leisurely stroll along Bellerive Beach took about 30 minutes. The photo below was clicked looking back along Bellerive Beach after my walk was completed.

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Near this end of the beach a large football and cricket ground is evident through the trees.  Between this ground and the beach you will find public toilets.

  1. I took the stairs at the northern end of Bellerive Beach up onto Victoria Esplanade, turned left and followed the road around Kangaroo Bluff to Bellerive Bluff where this fourth stage of my walk along the Derwent finished.

This Bluff marks the point where the small Kangaroo Bay opens off tto the east of the Derwent River. Northwards across the water I could see Rosny Point which will be the starting point for the next leg of this journey.

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On the other side of the river, the city centre featured prominently below Mount Wellington.

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A number 608 bus runs through this part of Bellerive and continues onto Hobart. Alternatively, if you continue walking along the edge of Kangaroo Bay, then through the Bellerive Village onto Cambridge Road, buses can be hailed to stop at Bus Stop 8 for travel into Hobart city.

How much of the Derwent River have I walked?

I strolled very slowly for almost five hours. If followers choose to stay on the Clarence Foreshore Trail and are not as engaged as I was in making notes and taking photographs, I believe this walk will take a comfortable 3 and a half hours including snack breaks. In total, I probably walked about 10 kilometres because of the convoluted nature of the Howrah Point rocks and other non-Clarence Foreshore Trail pathways which I followed from time to time.  In relation to meeting my goal to walk the 249 kilometre length of the Derwent River, I gained another 4 kms; the total distance covered so far is now 19.5 kilometres.