Join us on the takayna / Tarkine Explorer to experience the magic of 2 of the regions most unique wilderness locations, Tarkine Trails very own Tiger Ridge and the historic Corinna Wilderness Village
Our takayna Explorer walking tour enables you to be fully immersed with the ancient river systems, unique cool temperate rainforest and wild coastline of this region. This tour showcases the best of both inland and coastal takayna / Tarkine whilst focusing on a true connection and development of sense of place.
The tour commences with some full takayna / Tarkine immersion, based out of the comfort of our Tiger Ridge camp, deep in the hilly rainforest. Spend your evenings accompanied by views of the forested valley whilst indulging in some fine local produce; the perfect way to end the day of total forest immersion. We then relocate to the wilderness village of Corinna, where we have the opportunity to visit the amazing wild coastline, paddle the ruyinrim / Pieman river and walk through the diverse forests hugging the river systems of the southern takayna / Tarkine and weather dependent get up high for some 360 m0untain views. This is an unforgettable experience which will last a lifetime.
TIGER RIDGE CAMP
Tiger Ridge is unique and the perfect base camp for you to truly experience the wonder of the Tarkine Rainforest. Its design creates a balance between offering you some creature comforts whilst not removing you from the ability to immerse yourself in this rainforest home. We feel it is extremely important to the experience to be able to be a part of the landscape that you are visiting rather than detached inside built-up infrastructure. Tiger Ridge allows our guests to truly get back to nature and fully immersive themselves in the magical rainforest surrounds.
CORINNA WILDERNESS VILLAGE
Corinna Wilderness Village provides an escape from mass tourism, to one of the most remote and beautiful parts of the world. Corinna is an historic mining town turned wilderness retreat, sitting at the southern end of the Tarkine, the largest temperate rainforest in Australia
ITINERARY SUMMARY
Day 1 : Pick up Launceston, transfer to Tiger Ridge Camp | 5-10kms
*There is a pre-trip briefing this morning at the Aspire Adventure Equipment Gear Store 136 York Street, Launceston
Day 2 : Exploratory rainforest valley walk | 5-10kms
Day 3 : Tiger Ridge transfer to Corinna via Mt Donaldson hike | up to 15ms
Day 4 : Coastal Hike on the Tarkine Coast to Point Rupert | 14kms
Day 5 : Kayak the majestic rainforest clad Pieman and Savage Rivers, transfer from Corinna to Launceston| 10kms+paddle | 5km walk
WHAT’S INCLUDED
• 2 professional wilderness guides.
• 2 nights lodge/cabin style accommodation (twin
• share).
• 2 nights Exclusive camp accomodation (twin share
tents)
• 4 breakfasts, 5 lunches and 4 dinners.
• All delicious snacks on the trail.
• Return transport from Launceston.
• Pieman River boat transfers.
• Kayak hire.
• All national park fees.
• Emergency communications & group first aid kit.
• Alcohol is not included
DAY 1: DEPART LAUNCESTON AND TRANSFER TO TIGER RIDGE CAMP
This morning we collect you from your Launceston accommodation between 7:30am and 8:00am and transfer you to the Aspire Adventure Equipment gear store in Launceston for a trip briefing. Your guides will do a thorough gear check, just to make sure you have everything needed for our Tarkine Trails adventure.
Our first day will transfer you from Launceston into the vast quiet of the Tarkine. Todays walk is about arriving at your rainforest home and our walking route immerses us into the vast rainforest landscape immediately as you meander your way up through the forest onto Tiger Ridge.
Once at camp, it is all about settling in and enjoying your new forest home. Food, fire and the company of new friends are essential ingredients to this process. An optional circuit walk is on offer to build up the appetite for dinner as the sounds of the late afternoon forest come alive with the changing mood of takayna. Every meal that is served bears testimony to the quality of Tasmanian produce. By the end of today you’ll feel as if you haven’t just traversed Tasmania but transcended it.
5-10kms walking
Meals: Lunch, Dinner
DAY 2: EXPLORING A RIVER
Starting the day on the balcony with your favourite morning beverage, taking in the incredible birdlife of the rainforest, you may be thinking, “I could really get used to this!” Look out for yellow-tailed black cockatoos, green rosellas and even the endangered white goshawk.
Our day today features a slow walk down to the Huskisson River. Walk beneath the most ancient of rainforest forms – the cathedral-shaped callidendrous forest. The Huskisson itself is a wild river that broadens in the valley floor and, if the water level is low, meanders and warms in pools perfect for a midday swim. After lunch we too meander in this valley for a time, before making our way back to Tiger Ridge to relax and refresh before dinner. Tiger Ridge’s Japanese style washroom hangs out over the ferns and myrtles in the basin below. It truly is a bathroom with a view. Then, after another meal of amazing Tassie produce, we settle around the fire for our last night in this amazing wilderness
5-10 kms walking
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
DAY 3: TIGER RIDGE TO CORINNA VIA MT DONALDSON
We commence the morning with a stunning loop walk after bidding farewell to Tiger Ridge. You will take in the incredible rainforest around this through a different part of the forest. We then transfer to the trail head of Mount Donaldson (408m). Ascending through forest on to an open button grass ridge leading to the summit for spectacular wilderness views of the Pieman River, the rainforest valleys of the Donaldson River, the Tarkine’s deep interior, and the Southern Ocean to the west. This is now our playground for the next days! After returning to the trailhead there is a short drive to your eco-cabins at Corinna, deep in the southern Tarkine wilderness. After checking into your accommodation there may be time for a sunset walk along the Whyte River. Dinner tonight is at the Tannin Restaurant at Corinna.
up to 15kms
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
DAY 4: COASTAL HIKE TO LAYMANIKA (RUPERT POINT)
After breakfast enjoy a spectacular ferry transfer in an historic Huon pine vessel to the Pieman River Heads. Transfer to the northern side of the Heads and undertake a coastal exploratory hike to Point Rupert. Our walk includes significant indigenous cultural sites, rare coastal flora and amazing coastal rock formations. A late afternoon transfer to your accommodation at Corinna where your guides will prepare another tasty dinner.
14kms
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
DAY 5: KAYAK RUYINRIM (PIEMAN RIVER), WARATAH RETURN TO LAUNCESTON
Enjoy breakfast with your guides to the waking sounds of the Tarkine. This morning we explore the Tarkine by kayaks, paddling down the Pieman River. The water here is flat and perfect even for first time paddlers. We continue our paddle up a tributary river, the Savage River, where we stop for an early lunch. We return to Corinna with a short hike along the shorelines of the rivers paddled today.
After lunch we transfer tot the small scenic town of Waratah, which sits on the edge of the Tarkine wilderness. Once home to the richest tin mine in the Southern Hemisphere, there is much to learn and discover. We return you to your Launceston accommodation for the night to reminisce on takayna / Tarkine and your new found connection.
5kms hiking | 10kms paddling
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
YOUR HOMES IN THE TARKINE
TIGER RIDGE
The base camp at Tiger Ridge is truly unique and the perfect basecamp for you to truly experience the wonder of the Tarkine. Its design creates a balance between offering you some creature comforts whilst not removing you from the ability to immerse yourself in this rainforest home. We feel it is extremely important to the experience to be able to be a part of the landscape that you are visiting rather than detached inside built-up infrastructure.
Tiger Ridge allows our guests to truly get back to nature and escape the unavoidable hustle and bustle we now endure on a daily basis. Tiger Ridge is very comfortable but remains humble, sitting perched upon a beautiful ridge line overseeing the Tarkine.
Designed to let you feel as much a part of the rainforest as possible, your sleeping quarters are twin share, large, tents spread throughout the rainforest. Complete with wooden frame beds and mattresses designed for back support, our regular feedback is that our guests have never had such a good night’s sleep! We consider our base camp at Tiger Ridge to be as close
to being one with the rainforest as is possible while still having little luxuries along the way. It has been designed to be particularly environmentally friendly and to allow our guests to access some of the most remote and untouched landscapes left remaining in the world.
Corinna Wilderness Village
The village of Corinna is, as the sea eagle flies, 60km north of Strahan, 70km west of Cradle Mountain and 18km from the Southern Ocean. It sits at the southern end of takayna/Tarkine, the largest temperate rainforest in Australia – and is the northern most point where the famous Huon Pine grows. This ancient unbroken tract of rainforest shows a world beyond human memory and is a living, breathing link with the ancient super continent Gondwanaland.
NOTES TO CONSIDER
Our 5 day takayna explorer is a moderately graded walk. However, we advise you to do as much training as you can before your tour with us. The more you train for the walk the easier you will handle the terrain and the more you will enjoy this wonderful part of the world. It’s also important to come along with an open mind, ready for an awesome experience whatever the weather, whoever the group. It is very important that you bring the right gear for the conditions. The Tasmanian West Coast weather can be unpredictable, storms and very strong winds can arise very quickly and heavy rain can fall at any time of the year. Quality rain jackets and over pants are available for hire. If you are at all concerned about your ability to do this walk, please feel free to call one of us here at Trek Tasmania for more advice.
Note: This itinerary is subject to change with any change in Community regulations as well as Governmental changes and natural circumstances beyond our control.
takayna / Tarkine TRAIL NOTES
The terrain experienced on this trek is a mix of natural walking trails through dense and at times steep rainforest ecology. You can expect to spend 4-8 hours trekking each day on basically marked but uneven (roots, mud, moss) forest trails, with some steep hills / ridges at times. We stress that the Tarkine region (northwest coast of Tasmania) can experience all year-round inclement weather conditions, which can affect trail conditions.
WHAT YOU CARRY
The things you need to carry on your walk each day are: your personal equipment for the day in a 25-30L day pack (with waist harness), wet weather gear, water, snacks, sunscreen etc.
Please keep all other personal clothing and equipment in a smaller duffel bag / suitcase for your support vehicle to transport.
A comprehensive gear list is available at the end of the itinerary detailing what equipment is included in the tour cost, what items are available for hire and what you will need to bring with you to enjoy and be prepared for your holiday.
Adventure Curated App
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TARKINE TRAILS
Tarkine Trails was established in 2002 by a group of like-minded, passionate individuals, with a focus to provide exposure from the threats to the Tarkine region through tourism. From here the company has evolved to provide multiple unique deep immersion walking experiences, both within the Tarkine’s vast rainforest areas and along its wild coastline.
Tarkine Trails is now proudly part of the Trek Tours Australia family, continuing the legacy of offering truly unique and genuine takayna / Tarkine experiences.
We feel privileged to continue the important work set by the founders and more recently through Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. Protecting the takayna/Tarkine for future generations is our core philosophy. This has remained unchanged, to this very day and has been the driving force and bond for those individuals involved with Tarkine Trails from inception.
Tarkine Trails is here to get it right. We are proud to be an ambassador for business, community and the environment. This is what we believe ecotourism should be for anyone with the privilege to operate in an incredible natural environment such as takayna. Tarkine Trails believes that working collaboratively with the north west community and industry will create the strongest outcome for a positive future.
ABOUT TAKAYNA/TARKINE
The takayna/Tarkine wilderness region is located in the north-west of Tasmania. The area encompasses approximately 447,000 hectares of wilderness including the southern hemisphere’s largest single tract of temperate rain forest, a wild coastline with an extraordinary wealth of Aboriginal cultural heritage sites, and habitat for over 50 threatened species.
Over 90% of the natural values in takayna / Tarkine are largely intact. A living example of one of the most primitive vegetation formations on Earth. Providing a unique window into our planet’s ancient past, the cool temperate rain-forests in takayna were once widespread across the ancient super continent Gondwana. Some of the best-preserved plant fossil sites in the world, dating back 65 million years. Magnesite karst systems of caves and pinnacles considered internationally rare. There are groves of some the tallest hardwood trees around, numerous wild rivers, and spectacular mountain ranges.
takayna / Tarkine is now gaining international recognition for the its’ outstanding beauty, natural and cultural values and the important position it holds for the future of our planet. Until the early 2000s the forests of Tarkine were inaccessible for walking tours. Tarkine Trails facilitates immersive small group walking experiences in this ancient wilderness. It is our privilege and passion to be part of showcasing this unique place to our visitors.
WHY ‘TAKAYNA’?
You may see us refer to the Tarkine as ‘takayna/Tarkine’. ‘takayna’ (tah kye nah) is the palawa kani name for this region. The Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre says:
—
takayna (tah kye nah) is recorded as the name of the people from the Sandy Cape-Pieman River area.
It is an acceptable practice to use the same word for a place as for the people of that place. Other words for a place are the same as the word for ‘the nation at that place’; some examples are nungu and yingina.
So we revive takayna for the Tarkine area, and also for the people of that area.
There are no other names recorded for this place or its people.
The English spelling ‘Tarkine’ has been used since the 1980s as the place name for an area of more than 447,000 hectares between the Arthur and Pieman Rivers. Conservationists chose that word with Aboriginal approval to name the area, based on one spelling variant of the name of the Aboriginal people from the Sandy Cape/Pieman River area – ‘Tarkiner’.
—
Out of respect for the original inhabitants of the land, we refer to it by takayna first, and Tarkine second, where possible.
