Julius River Reserve is what it’s called, heart of the Tarkine Rainforest is where it is... AMAZING is the only word for this part of Tasmania. Not only did we find a great camp spot, it was free. Granted there was a long drop loo (as we call them, they are also known as composting toilets, pit toilets and plenty of other names) just down the road a little but when you have the whole place to yourself it is worth it.

What was the best about this spot was that we were in the heart of the rainforest and so close to all the wonderful walks in the Tarkine. It rained on and off the whole time we were there however when you are protected by the rainforest canopy while you walk you don’t really care.

We took three main walks with a little driving around over the two nights. Let me tell you, if we didn’t have Jas convinced Fairies live in Tassie after the Tarkine then nothing ever will. (She always says they live over the rainbow.)

Our first walk was the Lake Chisholm walk, an easy hour or so return down to the Lake, surrounded by massive tall ferns and the towering trees that the Tarkine is best known for. Everything is moss covered and I think I need to just make the photos tell the story better than I ever could. It was a very surreal place with the base of the giant trees giving you an idea of just how huge they really are.

After our walk we headed up to the Tayatea Bridge that was damaged by big floods in 2007. On our way out of the Lake Chisholm walk we ran into a Ranger who mentioned there was a tree down that way that we could pass but needed to be cleared. To help the Ranger out, and I think he was just excited to put his new winch to good use, Greg winched the tree off the road. The driving around these parts is just so easy with well managed gravel roads that are easily 2wd, so it was nice to help out.

After the drive we went back to the BBQ area near camp (also a camping area but best for tents rather than camper trailers) where we took the two Julius River Rainforest Walks. Again, winding through the mossy covered ferns and undergrowth that you can just never see enough of, it took us a little over an hour to walk to two tracks. On one of them we found what the girls insist was the perfect house for fairies, with a big flat mushroom type fungus growing over what looks just like a little doorway into a fallen tree – even we were believers!

It was great to base ourselves in the Tarkine to explore at our own pace. It is an easy area to explore through the day however and the best place to base yourself to see as much as possible is certainly Smithton.

After three days of rain on and off it was time to pack up and find somewhere dry with hot showers and a washing machine! We all agreed though it was such a great place to camp.