The Franklin River provides an oppurtunity to experience white water rafting in the rugged and unspoilt world heritage area of South-West Tasmania. The site of one of the largest "green" protests in Australia’s history , the Franklin River was ultimately saved from destruction in the form of a dam, securing this beautiful region for the enjoyment of all in the future.

Me on a typical part of the upper Franklin
I suppose the most influencing factor in my decision to raft the Franklin River was the thrill of shooting the rapids ,yet I think the challenge of spending two weeks severed from civilisation was also quite exciting to someone who’s previous biggest outdoor adventure was sleeping in the car at the beach for two nights. Having said that ,the Franlkin River is no walk in the park, we were favoured with excellent weather conditions (only four days of rain which is good for Tassie) and there were times when a few bushwalking skills would have been more than handy.Particularly in the culinary department! Remember that this is a wilderness region ,if an emergency happens it would be an extremely difficult walk out for there are few roads and no residences in the area.

Our group consisted of of myself and two mates. Four to six people is the ideal number from a safety point of view, but we had to make do. Our trip was entirely self-organised, although there are organised tour operators if you would rather that type of trip .We saw only one other group of three people the entire way down and were glad of that fact . You become quite jealous of the solitude you experience. As far as equipment goes ,you need all the obvious hiking/bushwalking gear along with a rubber raft , a paddle , a bit of food and a few water tight barrels to store it all in. If you already own most of the hiking stuff this really is a cheap trip. As in all activities of this type the most important stuff to take is common sense ,no amount of equipment will make up for shortcomings in that department.

In total the journey lasted 12 days . Out of those 12 days only 1 was spent idle as we sat the rain out . We pretty much went all day on the others so allow at least 16 days to complete the trip and dont foget to add another 2 days if you plan to hike to the top of Frenchmans Cap. Of course you can take as much time as you like , a rest day here and there is good and there are plenty of caves and such to explore on the way.

It was about 10.00 am on the first day. early in March , when the bus dropped us of at the Collingwood River bridge on the Lyell Highway and after we inflated the rafts and recorded our names in the logbook provided ,it was up up and away. Just a short paddle down the Collingwood River, negotiating a few small shingle rapids with a couple of log jams thrown in, and we had safely reached our first campsite at the junction of the Franklin and Collingwood Rivers.It was very early in the piece that I realised rafting is not an exact science. Once the current has your fully loaded raft, all the paddling in the world wont alter where the river decides you will end up, the only real choice you have is where abouts you enter a rapid . Having said that I think it is important to try ,even if it is only to maintain the illusion that you are skipper of this ship and you have some form of control. Camping sites are wherever you decide to stop . I recommend stopping early to get eating and tent erecting accomplished before dark. On one occasion we decided to ‘just shoot one more rapid’,one of party the capsised and by the time we collected all his gear it was well past dark making searching for a comfortable campsite difficult . Setting up camp and eating in the dark had me feeling I was in a keystone cops movie with all the stumbling and bumbling going on but the food seemed to taste better when you couldnt see it very well.

A section of the Great Ravine

The next couple of days were spent winding our way south through the Asthesia Ravine and Descension Gorge .The rapids have become more challenging and at the end of day three I was the only one who had not taken an unexpected dip. We had our first portage at a log jam during this time, it did not require deflating the rafts so it wasnt too bad. The scenery was magnificent and during the flat spots of river between the rapids I often just lied back and took it all in. The Irenabyss was a special place consisting of 100 metre high walls ,only a few meters apart in places ,towering over slow moving water that opens out into a large pool at the end. If you like climbing it is at this point that you can hike to the top of Frenchmans Cap ,a five hour trip climbing some 1200 meters from the river. There is a hut on the Cap for an overnight stay. We decided it was too much like hard work and continued on, which is the only regret I had on this trek.

From the Irenabyss we progressed on downstream.This was a great section of river with few portages and nice size rapids. It always pays to scout the rapids first as there is usually an easy route, and an infinitly more difficult route to take and if you let the river decide we found that it will invariably test you on the more trying one. It was during this time that I had my first unscheduled swim in the Franklin. I had become a bit complacent I think and had neglected to tie all my gear properly into the raft ,thus when I did tip over there was a trail of barrels ,bags and other bits and pieces extending down river for a hundred metres or so, I recovered it all but it was a timely reminder not to relax too much.

On the sixth day it began to rain which was a bit of a concern as we approached the most spectacular and wild part of the river called the Great Ravine, a ten km gorge with 400 metre high sheer walls , containing four major rapids all of which require some portaging. The adrenalin starts pumping here as there is an element of danger associated with this section of the river. The first major rapid to greet you is The Churn ,the portage here was the first time we had to deflate the rafts and haul everything overland an exercise we were to repeat at all four major rapids. The Churn provided us with one of the more luxurious campsites, caves. These caves were a godsend during the rain and we stayed for two nights until it stopped. It was incredible to watch the river during this time , you could actually see the level rise as you watched . I estimate it rose and fell about 4 metres while we were there ,I have since found out it is not unusual for the river to rise 10 metres a day during sustained downpours. The rain eased and we were off again ,no need to paddle here the water races you along at a good pace towards The Coruscades ,the second major rapid . A short portage of about 3 hours saw us around The Coruscades and we were back on the river preparing for Thunderush the biggest and most dangerous rapid on the Franklin. Thunderush contains a 3 metre waterfall and is to be avoided at all costs. The portage here is the most strenuous of the trip, carting all your gear up a quite precarious portage track that climbs 150 metres up and over a ridge and down to a spot 100 metres downstream of where you started. We decided to camp at the summit which turned out to be a good ,although very noisy,decision as it divided the 6 hours it took us to complete the portage into 2 portages of 3 hours.

Pid Trough Falls

The final major rapid in the Great Ravine was the Cauldron . Another noisy camp on a bluff overlooking the rapid and we had successfully negotiated the Great Ravine .

The section of river between the Great Ravine and Glen Calder was my favorite part of all ,the river flowed quite fast and the rapids were nearly all shootable and of a good size. I think making it through the Great Ravine had removed the little bit of apprehension I had experianced and we all seemed a bit more relaxed and ready to have some fun.The Newlands Cascades provided a few highlights .Besides being a great rapid of about 500 metres in length is has a rock overhang to camp under . Once you have set up camp you can shoot the rapid several times with an empty raft ,great fun.Just before we reached Newlands Cascades we saw a place called the Pig Trough , a completely improper name for a beautifull little waterfall just off the river a bit.

From Newlands Cascades the river slowly begins to widen and slow down so you have to start paddling a bit .There are still lots of rapids but only a few larger ones and it is basically a relaxing float down the river. However it was on one of these seemingly innocent shingle rapids that I managed to rip my raft in two. Not one single puncture until then. I had often sat , smiling smugly as I watched the other two guys fix punctures on their rafts . Now it was their turn to smirk. We made camp near where I punctured and on further inspection of my raft it was decided that although it was repairable it was a major job and not worth it seeing we were so close to the end . My gear went in one raft and I went in the other for the last day as we meandered down towards and finally into the Gordon River .

A short paddle down the Gordan River to the first glimpse of civilisation, a painted white jetty signifying Sir John Falls Camp and an end to our journey. A river cruiser picked us up the next day and returned us to Strahan ,a fishing village on Macquarie Harbour, and the associated hot showers, proper bed , prepared meals of meat and veggies and a deserved cold beer.

An arial shot of the Franklin. As you can see , its very remote.

Whilst in Strahan we took a scenic flight over the Fraklin and it looks just as impressive from the air. It also illustrates just how remote the place is. I thoroughly recommend this flight to anyone that is visiting the area and if you were’nt planning to visit I suggest you make the effort ,its worth it.