The woods between Kia Ora and the turn-offs for the famous waterfalls are both varied and scenic, consisting mostly of myrtle with sassafras and king billy. One waterfall turn-off leads out to four falls, while another leads to the top of Harnett Falls. All of these are great, by far the best on the Overland and among the best in Tassie. The view of each one is different as well, some from the front, close or at a distance, some from the side, and Harnett from the top, looking out over the steep river valley and the promise of the Never-Never beyond the high valley above the falls. I have all of these falls to myself, even though I linger at some, enjoying the perfect weather.

After the falls, the path climbs through thinning forest to reveal views of the surrounding mountains: Massif, Geryon, and The Acropolis. I pause at Windy Ridge Hut but decide to continue on because I'm enjoying the hiking so much. The forest quickly changes to sparce white eucalyptus. I come across an echidna, cousin to the platypus, and quite a cute, fascinating creature. It lets me get quite close to it, probably because its sharp, porcupine-like quills protect it so well as it pokes its weird, long, alien-looking snout into the rocks and sucks up whatever it can get.

Before I know it, I'm at the Pine Valley turn-off and face a dilemma. As I pause to decide, a slow talking ranger tries to get me to take a survey. I refuse, as politely as I can, just because I can hear how interminable he is in asking the questions to another hiker. This ranger helps to expediate my deciding process. I don't have enough food to do Pine Valley properly. I make the usual decision to continue on to Narcissus and Lake St. Claire, where I will then exit to a town, restock with food, and then return to Lake St. Claire. This involves a long backtrack to Pine Valley, but I don't want to just rush in there for a day and/or skip the side trips around Narcissus.

So, I continue descending, down to scrub, marshy grasslands and then along a river bank, all with great views of the surrounding hills. At Narcissus Hut a family from Canberra recognizes me from my singing debut and I take a short hike with them around the top end of Lake St. Claire, the deepest in Tasmania. We come across a bizarre "space pod" that is labelled as some sort of experiment in progress. Hmm, not much of a cover for those aliens!

Next morning I do the long day hike to Lake Marion, through muddy forest on a very lightly used track. Here I have my worst snake encounter. Stepping over some buttongrass, I come within an inch of stomping on a tiger snake an encurring his wrath. Reflexively, I leap into the air and a jolt of adrenaline shoots through me. The snake makes no attempt to bit me though.

I spend the night at rustic Echo Point Hut, very scenicly situated along the lake, with views of pointy Mt. Ida on the opposite shore. Next morning I hike out along the lake, through the lovely rain forest that so many hikers miss by taking the ferry. I catch the first bus out and see Papa Graves (aka Von Trapp) with little Danielle, on the way to fetch the car for the rest of the clan. The bus is heading west, so I determine to get back in to Pine Valley after a short visit to the west coast.