Tag Archives: lakes

Recapping the walk along the Derwent River

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I lived the walk along the Derwent with a vital obsession but, after so many months intensely engaged on other projects, now some of the details are vague. To re-immerse myself into the experience, I am writing this post.

In addition, I suspect it will be a great help to people who have become followers of my blog during the past 6 months.  Despite my inactivity, it surprises me how many visitors and views the blog gets daily, how many different posts are read, and how many different countries around the world are represented.

In August 2014, from an impulsive unplanned idea, I took a bus to a spot near the mouth of the Derwent River on the eastern shore, walked to the sea then retraced my steps and began the walk towards the source of this great river approximately 214kms inland.  On day trips, and around other life commitments, I walked in stages along the eastern shore until I reached the Bridgewater Bridge which crosses the Derwent approximately 43 kms upstream.

Instead of continuing inland, I crossed the bridge and headed back on the western shore towards the southernmost  mouth of the River.  Most of the walks along the eastern and western shores between the sea and the Bridgewater Bridge were along designated pathways, although some informal track walking, road walking and beach walking was required during my trips.

Then I returned to the Bridgewater Bridge and began the journey inland expecting only to walk on the side of the river that made passage easiest.  I had no intention to walk both sides from this point onwards in anticipation the landscape would be inaccessible for a number of reasons or particularly wild with dense and difficult forests. I walked to New Norfolk on the western/southern side of the Derwent but from then on, I switched from side to side. Using maps I determined where I must take up each new stage of a walk while switching from side to side, so that I could say I had traipsed the entire length of the Derwent River.

The farthest inland stages of my walk are easily defined.  I walked from near the township of Tarraleah besides Canal 1 (along which is transported Derwent River water) above the actual River bed, past Clark Dam, and around majestic Lake King William to the township of Derwent Bridge.  From there I followed the river to its source at St Clair Lagoon dam.  In case some people believe the source of the Derwent is further inland, I walked onwards to the weir where the Derwent Basin empties into the St Clair Lagoon via passing the southern end of Lake St Clair.

Between New Norfolk and the area near  Tarraleah, my walk beside the River was in country near  townships (some of which were located at a great distance from the River) such as Bushy Park, Gretna, Hamilton, Ouse, and Wayatinah.  This necessitated additional travel to or from the highway and roads, on which these towns exist, to reach the river or to return home from a walk along the river.

Inland, the water of the Derwent River is controlled by dams constructed to create hydro-electricity for Tasmania: I walked past them all. From the end of the river closest to the mouth, these are the Meadowbank, Cluny, Repulse, Catagunya, Wayatinah, Clark and St Clair Lagoon dams.  Each of these has a bank of water behind them:  Meadowbank Lake, Cluny Lagoon, Lake Repulse, Lake Catagunya, Wayatinah Lagoon, Lake King William and St Clair Lagoon.  Most of these dams and bodies of water has a power station: Meadowbank Power Station, Cluny Power Station, Repulse Power Station, Catagunya Power Station, Wayatinah Power Station and Butlers Gorge Power Station.  I was privileged to be shown around one of these power stations during one walk.

Water from the Derwent passes through two other power stations:  Nieterana mini hydro and the Liapootah Power Station.  I did not follow the trail of these Derwent River managed flows.  The water from other locations inland passes through the Lake Echo Power station and Tungatinah Power Station then flows into the Derwent after power generation, thereby increasing the volume of water flowing downstream.  I did not walk along these feeder rivers.

The few stages of the walks which have not been recorded in this blog, are in all the zone between Gretna and the area near Tarraleah – a stretch of perhaps  120 km.  I have written up and posted most of the walks in this zone, and now it’s time to add the missing sections.

The euphoria continues

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Yesterday a friend An drove me up along the Derwent River where we stopped off at a few dams, power stations and lakes. I was studying the terrain at ground level (our most recent Service Tasmania maps are aged and Google Earth photos are not current either), seeing where forestry and hydro tracks existed and determining where I will need to make my way through bush ‘with walls’. I can see a line of fiction here – turning an almost impassable density of bush into a character (an evil character – even though the bush is sublimely beautiful and bountiful) that has to be overcome.  My strategy will be as always, one slow step at a time and then the bush won’t even know I have come and gone (although my muscles will).

I walked some small sections yesterday, but I won’t write them up until I have walked in the areas westwards from Gretna to those sections.  I know now that it is difficult for some local readers to understand where I have been and therefore, if I change the blog posts from being a chronological record, it may be even more unclear.  Besides, by writing the stories in order and finishing with the last walk to the source it will be clear I have walked the Derwent.

Yesterday explorations and walks were as uplifting as the previous day’s flight; it was as equally wonderful, just different.  I feel gushy with delight when I am in the bush on a blue sky day, with no wind, and with a temp that rises sufficiently but not so that I boil.  Once I am sitting on rocks in the river bed with my lunch, listening to the birds, and sensing the spirit of the place, my life feels so right.  This is the place for me.

Then, despite the day’s experiences already being a treat, life added a new wonderful surprise.  Recently one of my blog followers, Justy, alerted me to the fact she and her partner were engaged in creating a new work of art for GASP beside the Derwent River at Glenorchy, a city in the Greater Hobart Area.  As part of their project, they had already walked along the Derwent River in Cumbria, England and now were planning to walk from the sea to the source of the Derwent early next year.  I hadn’t met them and only communicated a few times by email.  But yesterday, as An drove me towards Cluny Dam, I saw two women step from their car.  I waved and smiled as you do on a country road. As we drove on, I said to An “I bet they’re the two women who are engaged in the GASP project, out conducting a reconnaissance trip”. There was no reason to believe this except I felt I knew it to be the truth (the bush works its miracles). Nevertheless we continued on and had parked near the northern end of Cluny Lagoon when the two women drove past us. Again we waved. On a later road we found ourselves coming towards each other from opposite directions, so An waved them to a stop. The women looked at us queryingly. “Are either of you Justy or Margaret? we asked.” “Yes”, they responded. Instantly I called out, “I’m Helen”.  Their nod of acknowledgement followed. And then we all poured out of our cars, and hugged and had a lively chat standing on a dusty road in strong Spring sunlight. It was a brilliant unexpected meeting and capped off what had been a day of immense discovery and pleasure.

Best wishes for your project Justy and Margaret!

From the sea to the source; stories of a river on the other side of the globe

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Two years ago, Helen Ivison published River Derwent: From Sea to Source (Amberley Publishing).

 Ivison River Derwent

 The promotional puff declares this book ‘brings to light tales and stories of fascinating events, landmarks and people. River Derwent: From Sea to Source is essential reading for anyone who knows this river well, and also for those who are visiting the River Derwent for the first time.’  But what is the author referring to?

Hers is the Derwent River in the Cumbrian region of England which flows from the mountainous Lakes District in two strands, one of which starts near Styhead Tarn. The two strands meet at Grains Gill, and continue in a north easterly direction as a single river towards an expanse known as Derwent Water. The river passes through this ‘lake’ then eases into a north westerly direction across country before flowing onwards through Bassenthwaite Lake. Finally, the English Derwent River turns westwards and empties into the Irish Sea.

By contrast Tasmania’s Derwent River flows generally in a south easterly direction from Lake St Clair, through steep narrow gorges, curving around farmlands, before passing between the two sides of the Greater Hobart Area into Storm Bay. The man-made lakes of Lake King William, Wayatinah Lagoon, Lake Catagunya, Lake Repulse, Cluny Lagoon and Meadowbank Lake all disrupt the progress of the River. These lakes have resulted from dam building as part of hydro-electricity generating projects over the past century.

Derwent Valley Gazette

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Despite the Derwent River emptying into the sea approximately 60Kms east from New Norfolk, reference to the Derwent Valley usually centres on New Norfolk and further west then north west. The reach of the Derwent Valley’s newspaper extends further to the highlands around the hundreds of lakes in central Tasmania. The Gazette (http://www.pressreader.com/australia/the-gazette-derwent-valley/textview)  is the ‘voice of the valley’.

The Gazette front page Aug 2015

I expect this regular newspaper will provide insights into local conditions and activities which might impact on my future walks.  For example, I have discovered there will be an Ouse & Highlands Festival on Saturday the 17th October. An entry on the Facebook site https://www.facebook.com/Ouse.festival) gives an indication of progress: ‘As part of the Children”s entertainment at the Festival we now have The Balloon Lady booked in as well as a Face Painter. It’s looking good.’ Another future activity will be the first stage of a trout fishing contest, the Tasmanian Trout Classic scheduled for the 29 and 30th August somewhere near New Norfolk.  Subsequent stages will be held at Arthurs Lake and the Great Lake.  Apparently last year’s contest attracted ‘huge interest from around the Valley, with a great crowd at daily weigh-in.’ It is a different world in the Valley: recent players at the New Norfolk Golf Club found ‘the entire course was frozen, but that didn’t stop some red-hot scoring.’

I look forward to reading more snippets of information about that new world inland from Hobart.

Limited access roads, and limited direct access to the river from the land: Stage 14 of my walk along the Derwent River

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A few times during my Stage 14 walk I noticed a sign ‘Limited Access Road’ and sometimes another sign indicating the Roads and Jetties Act 1935. This was true, for example, in the Sorell Creek area as I walked to New Norfolk. I wondered if this was Tasmanian state legislation affecting land ownership to the edge of the Derwent River.  Blog followers will have read my annoyance at not being able to walk along the exact river edge from time to time, because private property occupies the space and this is often gated and fenced. On my return home from the Stage 14 walk, I delved deeply into various pieces of legislation and other sites. This is what I discovered.

At http://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/publications/river-access-angler-rights-and-responsibilities, I learned that angler rights and responsibilities were as follows: “All anglers have an important role in maintaining good relations between landowners and the angling community. Firstly, anglers should understand that access is a privilege not a right, and secondly, when in doubt, ask permission. In Tasmania, most private land titles extend to the bank of the river and some titles extend to the middle of the river. This can mean that you may be trespassing, which is a criminal offence, even if you are wading in the river.

Rivers also flow through public land such as Crown Reserves, State Forests, National Parks, Hydro property and Conservation Areas. Whilst public access is usually permitted, different entry conditions may apply depending on the management authority.

The Inland Fisheries Service has been working to develop access to angling waters with a focus on improving foot access to major river fisheries. Much of this has involved negotiating with landowners and establishing formal agreements regarding access for anglers. Access points are now clearly marked with signs at the access locations on seven major river fisheries around the State.

Apart from registered private fisheries, Tasmania’s fishery is public property – the fish are not the property of the landowner. However, the land that surrounds public water is subject to title and the rights of the landowner to control access to the river or lake is at their discretion. Anglers must ensure that they are on public land or that they have sought the permission of the landowner to access the river or lake they wish to fish.

The majority of lakes in Tasmania exist on Hydro Tasmania or reserve land (Crown, National Parks etc) and public access is generally permitted across the land to the lakes and around the lake shores. Hydro does control access to areas where there is infrastructure or there are safety issues with public access. These areas are generally signposted with appropriate warnings.

Rivers generally traverse a number of different land tenures along their length, which may be a combination of reserves and private land. Land title generally extends to the edge of the river, and occasionally to the middle of the river. Land tenure can be searched on the LIST Tasmanian Property Database (www.thelist.tas.gov.au). Another useful tool is the Tasmanian 1:25000 map series, available from Service Tasmania. These show river reserves where they exist and anglers are permitted to access these areas provided they do not have to cross private property to reach them. The most important principle is ‘Access is a privilege not a right – when in doubt ask permission’.”

Stiles across fences have been installed for anglers and I saw a few of these during Stage 14 of my walk along the Derwent River.  These usefully provide access to sections but do not allow a continuous uninterrupted walk along the river’s edge.

 Stile jpeg

An 2007 article on the site http://www.exploroz.com/Forum/Topic/45914/Public_access_to_waterways_on_private_land.aspx

confirms this situation is similar across Australia, and it debunks some myths.

How does this get changed to allow easy public access to the river in Tasmania?  The permission must come from a State government minister under the Crowns Act 1976 (http://www.thelaw.tas.gov.au/tocview/index.w3p;cond=;doc_id=28%2B%2B1976%2BGS74%40EN%2B20131211000000;histon=;prompt=;rec=;term=). Clause 57 states: “Reservation of land abutting on streams. Where, in the opinion of the Minister, it is desirable to reserve Crown land –

(a) abutting on any permanent river, stream, or lake; or

(b) that is contiguous to the sea or an estuary –

he shall reserve, from any sale of that Crown land, land to the extent of at least 15 metres in width on each bank of the river, stream, lake, or the high-water mark of the sea or estuary.” I cannot imagine any government minister taking ‘rights’ away from current owners, so the chances of my lobbying successfully for a clear walking path next to the Derwent River are probably zero and zilch.

By the way, the interpretation clauses of the Roads and Jetties Act 1935 includes: a “country road means a road not being or forming portion of a State highway or subsidiary road, but does not include a street in any town”. I was reminded of an earlier post which tried to determine how a ‘back road’ might be defined.