Walk the Walls of Jerusalem, Tasmania

Like sapphires scattered from the hand of some forgetful, languorous god, the high alpine lakes known as Solomon’s Jewels are absolutely beautiful. Within the Walls of Jerusalem National Park, these pure pools of crystal clear water – sometimes glazed with thin ice – are fringed by moss, tussocks, highland forest and vaulting rocky outcrop. A pristine natural environment at it’s best , the park’s scenery and air will make you breathe deep – walking ‘The Walls’ is a Tasmanian experience to treasure.

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The Walls of Jerusalem National Park is peppered with biblical names, but its beautiful pencil pine forests and peaks little resemble the holy land. The Tasmanian highland wilderness is a rugged alpine wonder: sheer dolerite cliffs, glacial lakes and tarns, old wooden trapper's huts, tussock grass, thick forest and pillows of moss combine to create one of the most breathtaking and soul-lifting walks anywhere. Overlook epic panoramas, walk beneath 300 metre high escarpments and enormous eucalypts, breathe in the purest air in the world and take a sip - the Tassie Wilderness is fit for gods and kings, and keen adventure travellers..

The trek is not too challenging and you'll have plenty of time to sit back, soak it all in and take photographs. Camping out in Tasmania is a delight too, for the beauty of the bush, the epic spray of stars at night and the wildlife - even when bedded down you'll be aware of the life of the forest, as most animals in Tasmania are nocturnal. Especially the Tassie Devils -their cries, audible eating and wrestling make for plenty of strange noises in the night..

The Tasmanian Devil
The Tasmanian devil, Sarcophilus harrisii, is unmistakable, whether you see or hear one. The carnivorous marsupial is renowned for its spine-chilling screeches, bad-temper and ferocious appearance, and as such were labeled devils by early settlers to Tasmania.

Devils are the size of a small, thick-set dog, are mostly black with a large, broad head, short thick tail and a pretty decent set of canines. They often have white patches on their chest or rump and plenty of scarring from fighting..

Devils once occurred on mainland Australia, with fossils having been found widely. But it is believed the devil became extinct on the mainland some 400 years ago, because of the wider spread of a larger competitor -the dingo..

A Tasmanian icon it might now be, but devils were once trapped and poisoned to near extinction -they took livestock and generally freaked out European settlers. They were headed for extinction, but on becoming protected in 1941 the population steadily increased. They have recently again be en listed as endangered -  Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) - a fatal condition in Tasmanian devils, characterised by cancers around the mouth and head has wiped out up to 90% of the Devils in formally well populated areas. Measures and studies are underway to arrest this decline in numbers.. Devils can still be seen, and definitely heard, however. They are particularly common in forest, woodland and agricultural areas of northern, eastern and central Tasmania, but also live in coastal heath and anywhere else they can hide by day and find food at night..

They are mainly scavengers, feeds on anything from roadkill to nabbed chooks. Powerful jaws and teeth enable it to completely devour prey -- bones, fur and all. Small wallabies, birds, reptiles, frogs, insects and se urchins are eaten too, as both carrion and prey..

Devils are renowned for their rowdy communal feeding at carcasses - they are noisy and aggressive in establishing their pack pecking order. This activity usually happens at night, and they roam up to 16 km from their dens along their own trails through the forest. In the day time they rest up in dens..

If you're out at night in the Tassie wilderness you'll definitely hear them, and no doubt your guide will help you see them too..

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