LOUISA BAY

I THINK often of how the early mariners first saw this obdurate coast. Of what they thought, looking across the choppy, windswept sea to the sandy beaches, the veiled shape of what would later be called the Ironbound Range, and the many teeth-like promontories fretted and chafed by white water. This was probably nightmare country, I see it differently.

I am on the South Coast Track in Tasmania’s Southwest wilderness with my wife Robyn, and children, Lyle and Kate. Robyn and I have walked this track before but this is seven-year-old Kate’s first multi-day hike and she is breathless with excitement. The bumpy ride in the tiny plane from Hobart to Melaleuca that has