Chauncy Vale

Saturday, 29 November 2014

Chauncy Vale

Friday 28th November 2014

Chauncy Vale Cave

This walk was to be in the Chauncy Vale Wildlife Sanctuary and Flat Rock Reserve. The route chosen was to walk along the cliffs containing the caves, to then walk across country to Devils Elbow and up to the Eastern and Western Lookouts and then back to the car, thus completing a circuit.
To get to Chauncy Vale drive up the Midland Highway from Hobart and turn onto Chauncy Vale Road at Bagdad and follow to the end. Either park just outside the gate or drive into the sanctuary and park in the parking area. A $2.00 donation is requested at a box just inside the gate.

Winter Track

I headed off up the Winter Track which lead gradually uphill to shortly arrive at the cliff line that contained the caves. Before reaching the cliffs I came across the memorial plaque for the Hutchins School Cabin site. The track meandered along at the base of the cliffs and soon I encountered some caves. I mistakenly started following the track which went downhill but soon found the error of my ways and scrambled back up to the cliffs. There were small caves and indentations along here.

Chauncy Vale Cave

The country was very dry and a fire would really take off in this area. As I was walking along I brushed up against some stinging nettle that I had not noticed and it stung for a short time. It is nothing like the Moonlighter in north Queensland where the stinging sensation can last for months. The first night is the worst because nothing relieves the pain. I carried on to a large outcrop of rock where I started going downhill steeply to the creek below. I found a nice shaded spot to stop for a snack before descending to the creek which had practically no water in it, although there was a slight trickle.

Browns Caves Creek

After crossing the creek I walked uphill and when I reached the top of this first ridge I came across a quaint seat in the middle of nowhere and an old walking track.

Rustic Seat

I followed the track for a short distance before heading off track and uphill to Devils Elbow where there were limited views. After this it was downhill to pick up the walking track and along this and another old track to just below the Eastern Lookout. Here I left the track and scrub bashed a short distance up to the top of the lookout. Here there were reasonable views all around. I stopped for lunch in the shade because it was quite warm.

Eastern Lookout

After lunch I headed down the track to Western Lookout where there were good views of the mountains behind Hobart.

From Western Lookout

I then walked back downhill to the car via the walking track with short deviations to Guvys Lagoon and Eves Bath on the way.
Overall a good walk in nice bush land. I saw plenty of wallabies and two echidnas.
Distance: 12.7 kms.
Time: 5'04"
Ascent: 730 metres
Click here to download GPX file.