A Dangerous Business

Date: 3rd January 2026

Start: Kia Ora Hut (km 41)

End: Narcissus Hut (km 60.2)

Distance Travelled: 21.08 km

Total Distance Completed: 96.28 km

Song Currently Stuck in Head: various tracks from Hamilton (thanks to Hamilton)

Rounds of 500 That I Actually Played Well In: surprisingly, a good handful

Another day, another discrepancy between how well I thought I slept versus what Garmin tries to tell me. No you stupid watch, just because I rotated a lot in the night doesn’t mean I was awake for as long as you’re claiming.

To be fair, I still felt pretty congested and fatigued, so today’s walk is gonna be a struggle. On the plus side, there’s no peaks to be climbed today, just one decent ascent to Du Cane Gap. I didn’t have much of an appetite, only managing to down a coffee and a couple bites of my OSM bar before hitting the trail. Figured with time I’d get hungry enough to eat the rest.

A gentle rise led us away of Kia Ora through more enchanting forests, with moss covered rocks and pale birch trees. Our first stop of the way was at Du Cane Hut, built by Paddy Hartnett (remember him from yesterday’s post?) way back in 1910. The walls inside were decorated with the names and dates of what felt like hundreds of weary travellers who had sought refuge over the years. It’s still available for shelter in an emergency, although I don’t think the bunks were built for someone of Hamilton’s frame.

Two short side trips are on offer on today’s walk to some waterfalls that, presumably, are rather pretty. In the lethargic state I was in, I opted to forego seeing them and head straight over Du Cane Gap. Dan joined me, his issue being some pretty bad pain in his knees and ankles.

The climb was less than 200m of elevation gain, but the way we were feeling plus the surprisingly hot temperatures meant it was hard going. We took breaks, stayed hydrated and did our best to distract ourselves from our ailments until the climb was completed, marked by a simple wooden sign nailed to a tree.

Righto, time to see how Dan’s knees would cope with the descent off the Gap. The track was more of what they describe as “natural surface” (i.e.: no duckboard), so we had another hour or so of hopping between tree roots and rocks in a bid to avoid any mud which admittedly had dried up a lot over the past few days.

In surprisingly little time our lunch stop for today came into view; quite suddenly, I might add. Bert Nichols – or Windy Ridge – Hut is typically the last night’s accommodation for most Overland trampers. Like New Pelion, it’s an older design with more character than the brand new huts, with room for 24 people.

It’s named after Bert Nichols, who was responsible for essentially creating the Overland Track with his own hands (all for the handsome sum of 15 pounds). Before that, the “Overland” was little more than some barely noticeable hunter/miner/pastoral trails stitched together and known to only a handful of people. He lived by himself in the Tasmanian mountains his entire life and helped guide the first official tours over the track he helped create. It’s possible he may have had some indigenous ancestry but I don’t believe there’s any official confirmation of this. Apparently he loved telling a good story after each night’s walk and was an excellent guide.

Hammy and Bek weren’t far behind, and we took an extended break at the hut for lunch and, you guessed it, more 500. By the time we got going again, some of the hikers that were staying the night at Bert Nichols had started to rock up. Not to worry, it was all downhill from here, so we should make good time to the end of the trail.

Well I say it’s all downhill, but in reality it was an undulating track following a valley to the edge of Lake St Clair. And it was still hot. And I was still feeling pretty weary. Dan and I left first, thinking we’d be slow compared to the other two. Next thing I know, Dan’s left me in his dust and bolted off (his poor joints) and now I’ve got Hammy and Bek behind me walking in convoy. Honestly, I appreciated the chatter from them, it was a welcome distraction.

Our final stop was at the turn-off to Pine Valley, with leads to a series of mountains known as the Acropolis and the Labyrinth. In different conditions I would’ve loved to explore that area, but our ferry across the lake tomorrow was in the early morning so we didn’t have the time to head in there. There’ll be more opportunities down the track, I’m sure.

Only 4.5 km remained on our journey, and for one of only a few times this trip, we all walked together. Soon the forest opened up into more buttongrass meadows, walking along more of that sweet, sweet duckboard.

I could start to see glimpses of the lake in the distance. We were close now, I just didn’t know how close. Only a few minutes later, we crested a ridge to see a small green hut right ahead of us.

The Overland Track was complete. We stepped inside Narcissus Hut to find a basic common area and bunkroom with two sleeping platforms that could house at most 14 people. Quite the difference from the mansions we’d stayed at so far. But I loved it, felt like I was in one of the small huts on the TA.

300 metres further south was the jetty we’d catch the ferry from tomorrow. Hopefully our legs could hold out for that long. Bek, the resident Tasmanian among us, jumped into the lake for a quick dip whist the three Queenslander boys dipped our toes in and noped out of there in a hurry.

We ate our final meal together in the hut and as if the trail was giving us one final blessing. it became clear we were the only ones staying in it. We only managed maybe two rounds of 500 before we all agreed to go to bed for the night. We spread ourselves out on the platforms… and proceeded to yap for the next half hour or so before finally settling down and dozing off.