Trousers Point Walk—a great way to spend Earth Day

Cape Barren Island in the distance

Earth Day has come and gone in Australia, but I have wonderful memories of how we spent the day—mostly outdoors.

We started out the morning with a trip to Allport Beach to give the dogs—Archie and Mickie—a good run. Once they’ve been worn out, they’re quite happy (well happy might not be the right word) for us to desert them for the rest of the day while we explore Flinders Island.

Our Earth Day highlight was doing the Trousers Point Walk on the west coast of Flinders Island. We’d had a quick look at Trousers Point the first day we were on the island, but that day Graeme gave us a quick tour of the bottom part of the island, so we had a sense of where we were.

Start of walk

Trousers Point Beach

Trousers Point

We did learn that Trousers Point is a rocky granite headland that is known for two beautiful beaches, views to offshore islands and Mt Strzelecki, and unusual rock features. Locals say it is the most photographed and celebrated beach on Flinders Island with crystal clear waters, wide expanses of white sand, and a mountain rising from the ocean.

The name is said to commemorate the escape by a trouserless lad from the wreck of the Sarah Ann Blanche. The boat was at anchor off Chappell Island and was being loaded with muttonbird oil, when she was swept from her mooring in strong winds.

Richard Burgess was son of the boat’s owner, and the only person on board when the winds came up. As the boat was swept along, he crawled along the bowsprit and dropped safely onto the rocks at what has become known as Trousers Point. He made a lucky escape as the wrecked boat was never found. No one recorded how he came to be trouserless.

Probably Chappell Island in the distance where the boat broke loose

Wallabies

Poor John and his usual stance

Lichen

Mt Strzelecki overlooks Trousers Point

But back to our Earth Day.
Graeme had been saying there was a great circuit walk at Trousers Point that was shortish, scenic, easy and rewarding.

Wow, he knows how to undersell a knock-out.

The walk is fabulous. It’s along a well-defined track that is only about 4 kilometres long (never mind that the sign says 1.9). The beginning of the track took us through well-weathered casuarina woodland, but soon enough we were walking along the southwest coast of the island. Here the scrub is low to the ground and clinging to the granite outcrops. The views are spectacular and varied. I’ll let the photos do the talking..

Once we left the shore, we took a small detour to visit Fotheringate Beach. Then we walked back to the carpark along the road.

Looking down on Fotheringate Beach

I read that there is a coastal way to return, but we didn’t find it and weren’t keen to get lost. The bush around the point is bushy enough that getting lost is definitely possible.

The Trousers Point Walk (rated Grade 2) is one of Tasmania’s 60 Great Short Walks. By the way, our first visit to Trousers Point was on a sunny day, but the walk was on a cloudy day, so those pics are a bit grey. 

Grey or not, it was a wonderful way to spend Earth Day. Archie and Mickie thought their run on the beach and the rocks was pretty great too. How did you spend Earth Day?

Mickie with the wind in her fur

Archie checks out the water at Allport Beach

Tasmania’s 60 Great Short Walks
Tasmania is famous for its long bushwalks, but not everyone has the time or experience to get into the wilds overnight.

That’s all fixed with the 60 Great Short Walks app, which shows how to get a taste of Tasmania’s wild places, and be back in time for tea (Aussie slang for dinner)! It features great day walks from all around the state. They range from just a few minutes to a whole day out; and from flat and easy, to steep and hard.

The 60 Great Short Walks app is available free from the iTunes Store. It features:
* more than 200 photographs, sourced from experienced walkers
* more than 100 brief, first-hand stories from walkers
* simple maps and other essential details for each walk
* space to add notes, and to share your experience via social media
* essential safety tips
* tips on caring for the environment as you walk.

P.S. Another comment about the name Trousers Point. Some years back, Australia decided to drop all the apostrophes in place names. While this particular place doesn’t necessarily require an apostrophe, it drives me crazy that Spencer’s Bay is Spencers Bay and Bateman’s Bay is Batemans Bay. Good grief. Wouldn’t it be better to teach people to use apostrophes correctly? And now I’ll step off my soapbox—for today.

But here’s an article that explains some of the arguments.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/apostrophes-are-a-growing-concern-in-grouchy-grammarians-gardens/news-story/d959b44574de64a17196df3fe22702ba