Overland Track

You're not just signing up for a long walk when you book the Overland Track. This is six days across the alpine heart of Tasmania, 65 kilometres from Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair, and the park rangers will tell you straight: weather here can flip from blue sky summer to horizontal sleet inside an hour, every month of the year. Carry a tent regardless of your hut plans. Trust me on this one, the huts cannot be booked and they fill up fast in peak season.

Here's what the booking page doesn't shout about. Day one is the hardest day. You'll start at Ronny Creek near Cradle Mountain Lodge, then climb to Marions Lookout in the first 90 minutes, about 400 metres of vertical before you've properly warmed up. That gets you onto the alpine plateau where the track levels out and the scenery does the work: glacial tarns, button grass plains, and Cradle Mountain breaking the skyline behind you. From there it's a steady drop into Waterfall Valley Hut for night one.

The middle days settle into a rhythm. Lake Windermere, Pelion Plains, the Du Cane Range. You'll lose the exposed alpine and drop into ancient myrtle beech rainforest where the canopy blocks the sky and the track is half wet logs, half mud. Pro tip: take the side trip to Mt Ossa around day three or four. At 1,617 metres it's the highest peak in Tasmania, and locals know the view from the top is the one that ends up on people's fridges for the next decade.

Six main huts sit at the end of each day: Waterfall Valley, Windermere, New Pelion, Kia Ora, Bert Nichols and Narcissus. First come, first served. Composting toilets, rainwater tanks, no showers, no shop, no power. The last day drops you at Narcissus on the north shore of Lake St Clair. From there you've got two options: catch the scheduled ferry across to Cynthia Bay, or walk an extra 17.5 kilometres along the lake. The ferry's the civilised choice and it's worth pre booking.

Heads up on the booking system. Between 1 October and 31 May you walk north to south only, a maximum of 34 starters depart each day, and there's an A$295 walker fee that covers the park entry and the shuttle from the Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre. Off season is unregulated but it's a different walk, snow gear and off track experience required. The track was cut between 1931 and 1935 by a trapper named Bert Nichols, officially named in 1937, and it sits inside the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Around 9,000 walkers come through every year. Plan early, pack heavy, and the Overland will give you one of the best six days you'll ever spend in a pair of boots.