Joan Ransley

How do you think you would cope if you were flown deep into the largest temperate wilderness in the world, abandoned and left to find your way out carrying everything you might need for the next nine days on your back? Each year about 1000 people come to South West Tasmania to do just that. Last year we were among them.

The South West Tasmanian Wilderness, a World Heritage site, is awesome. Layer upon layer of interlocking mountains, tangled rain forest, writhing blood red rivers and plains of pale green button grass make up this wilderness at the bottom of the earth.

Peter Dombrovskis, the Tasmanian photographer captures the essence of this wilderness in his dramatic and arresting photographs. His images inspired us to embark on what some thought a fool hardy trip. Dombrovskis spent years exploring, photographing and campaigning to protect this Tolkeinesque wilderness and, sadly, it is his last resting place.

There are no roads, houses, emails or phone reception in this uninhabited and remote land. But the craggy coast line, the temperate rain forest and alpine mountain tops are beautiful.

Our route, the South Coast Track, followed an aboriginal path – used latterly by survivors of ships wrecked by the fierce Southern Ocean – from Melalueca across the Ironbound mountains to an former whaling bay – Cockle Creek.

The Ironbound rise 850m above sea level and take about three hours to ascend with a heavy pack but a notorious seven hour descent follows through temperate rain forest and over huge slippery tree roots. Each step taken lands with a thud and the weight of a rucksack threatens to throw off balance even the sturdiest walker. Twisted ankles, wrenched knees and even broken legs were a real possibility. Fortunately our legs survived unscathed.

The wilderness is resistant to human advances. Perversely, this made it more interesting. We forded three tannin stained rivers swirling at such speeds we had to hang on to a rope for dear life.

Freak waves surged from the sea just as we slid around another rocky headland. And here, deep in the roaring forties, the weather could turn from bright sunshine to fierce rain squalls and even Antarctic blizzards in a matter of hours.

Sorting out the food to take on this arduous trip was a puzzle even for diet cognoscenti. A 20Kg pack was all each of us could carry and it had to hold everything we might need for nine days. Tent, sleeping bag, all climate clothes, food, first aid and food. Water was drawn from fast flowing streams as needed. It was safe to drink. After weighing our equipment we had a spare 9Kg. Was that enough for the food we needed?

We could have taken light weight freeze-dried meals but they taste synthetic, over spiced and are unpalatable. Experienced trekkers with gourmet leanings desiccate meals themselves but rehydration is slow – 30 minutes – too long for us.

We designed our diet around a few basic principles. The backbone of the diet was made up oats, pasta, lentils and cous cous – the staples. To these we added big flavours such as garlic, chili and olives. We also took lots of dried fruit and nuts which we love. And some grated parmesan and Jarlsberg cheese. And we added a treat or two.

Many people take highly flavoured cured meats such as Chorizo which can be chopped and added to pasta or lentils. We didn’t bother. A GP we met from Hobart was even carrying a fillet steak!

It was impossible to take much in the way of fresh fruit and vegetables, but we did include one banana, red pepper and courgette. Sealed in a plastic bag they kept fresh for the first few days.

Food not only nourishes the body, it lifts the spirit particularly when it is wet and cold. Fresh milk was out of the question so we did without and drank Lady Grey tea and lemon and ginger herbal infusions. Both taste good without milk.

Port is more alcoholic than wine and light to carry so an after dinner tot was always welcome with some luxurious dark chocolate.

Our ingredients were divided into portion sizes and sealed in plastic bags or contained in plastic boxes or bottles. We packed these into three supermarket bags, one for breakfasts, one for dinners and one for snacks and lunches.

Breakfast was muesli, made from oats, organic dried apricots, dates, dried coconut, pumpkin seeds and a little dried milk. To this we added a few thin slices of banana and ate it either cold water or cooked as a fruity porridge if the weather turned chilly.

Just about everyone we met ate porridge or muesli for breakfast because no other food is so sustaining.

The lunch menu was miso or pumpkin soup, oat cakes topped with shavings of cheese, peanut butter or bush honey.

We felt particularly proud of our light weight dinners. We had a rather tight menu cycle of three meals. Red lentils combined with fried garlic, chilies and a mixture of turmeric, ground cumin, coriander and dried onions to make a delicious Dahl and eaten with thin tortillas. Pasta with tuna fresh garlic herbs, olives, sun dried tomatoes and a sprinkling of Parmesan or couscous served with dried onions, garlic, raisins Jarsberg, and a few slithers of fresh pepper.

Dried slices of mango or papaya, dried apricots, pieces of liquorice, unsalted cashew nuts served as delicious snacks with a cup of tea.

We cooked using our lightweight gas burner ‘Pocket Rocket’, which folded neatly into a tiny triangular plastic box.

Two lightweight non-stick cooking pans, one shallow and one deep, were made of aluminium and also served as bowls for eating.

By the time we emerged at Cockle Creek we felt fit and strong, but had each lost 2Kg in weight. Our food had provided us with about two thousand calories a day, but our work load was at least twice that amount. But did we have scurvy?

Kay White a nutritional biochemist at Leeds University thinks not. “The body has about enough Vitamin C to last for about two weeks. And you would be amazed at how good the body is at scavenging for the nutrients it needs. Your diet would have been perfect”

I am not sure I would totally agree but we certainly thought we had managed pretty well – considering.