Gravelly Beach to Swan Point - 22nd May

With the days growing quite short as we approach winter, we are less likely to venture far into the wilderness, but there are some lovely walks that can be easily reached in the northern region, and some of them are less well known. There is a walking track north from Gravelly Beach via Little Swan Point that takes us through a band of bushland along the banks of the Tamar and into a more open area to reach Swan Point, with its curious gravel spit that juts out into the river. Here, your leader will share the story of a dramatic midnight rescue about 180 years ago that had long term implications worldwide. Mystified? Join us for the walk.
Not able to walk? You could drive to Swan Point and potter around. We would expect to walk there by 11 am, so you could join us for our break and devotional.
Walk Details:
The track begins at the northern end of Beach Road, and follows through a band of bushland for just under 1 km to reach Little Swan Point, where we can get a better view of the river before continuing northwest for another 1 km, after which the going becomes more open, and a few hundred metres further north, we are walking on Foreshore Road, which eventually continues as Swan Point Esplanade and takes us to Swan Point itself, a walk of 4 km from Gravelly Beach. We return by the same route, so the total trip is 8 km. Walk time is about 1 hour each way, with a long break at Swan Point. We expect to be walking by 10 am, and back to the cars by 1 pm.
There are a couple of cafes at Gravelly Beach, and the bakery at Exeter, as well as the picnic area and playground at Gravelly Beach, if you want to have a lunch break in the area after the walk.

Meeting Times and Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone your walk leader, Basil Tkaczuk, ph. 0438 664 402 or reply to this email by early Friday evening, 21st May, to book in. The departure time is 9:00 am from the Door of Hope Church car park, Launceston, but you are welcome to meet us at the start of the walk, but please be there by 9:40 am. Please let Basil know if you are meeting the group at start of walk. For this walk, you don't need to let the leader know in advance if bringing other people, unless you need to arrange transport.

To access this area from northern Tasmania: From Launceston, follow the West Tamar Highway through Riverside and continue to the Gravelly Beach Road turnoff - about 22 km. Turn right, and follow the road a further 4 km. Continue past the picnic areas and shops at Gravelly Beach, and past the beach area to where Beach Road branches to the right. Follow Beach Rd about 700 metres to the end. The track begins below the steep bank to the east of the end of the road. Allow 30 minutes from Launceston to the start of the walk.

Warnings:
Please take note of the weather forecast on the day. No drinking water on the walk, so please bring your own, as well as a morning tea snack. While the track is well formed, sensible footware is advised, but gaiters definitely not needed! You should always carry wet weather gear as well as warm clothing including gloves and beanies in case of sudden weather changes. Winter is close, and the weather can change rapidly.
Click this link for a more detailed discussion of Preparation, Food and Safety guidelines for Boots N' All walks.

Map details and references:
No peakbagger points will be visited on this walk. For listing of peakbagger points, see the Hobart Walking Club Peakbagger’s Guide (2000 revision) which can be downloaded (Excel) from http://tastracks.webs.com/peakbaggers.htm  The same web page contains several other listings of Tasmanian peaks.For GPX (.gpx) and Google Earth (.kml) versions of the track: Click here to browse our collection.
Direct links: GPX for this walk …  KML for this walk
Right-click on the file and save target as to a location of your choice. (Suggest you click the Last modified at top to sort by date to get the most recent at top to find the file for the next walk).