The Pandani Shelf on the north east ridge of Mt Anne is one of those spots I’ve wanted to visit for years and last month Cam, his mate Luke and I took advantage of a stunning patch of weather to make the journey.

Mt Anne from the Pandani Shelf in South West Tasmania

The north east ridge is famous for its stunning alpine vegetation including giant cushion plants, pandani and King Billy Pines. All accompanied by the stunning dolerite cliffs of Mt Anne, which looks like an ancient stone fortress from this angle.

Pandani and King Billy Pine on the north east ridge of Mt Anne

The hike up took us through a variety of vegetation zones. Firstly through the buttongrass and eucalypt plains which flank the Scotts Peak Dam Rd, then into scrubby forest which soon became stunning green myrtle beech rainforest with horizontal, sassafras and leatherwood.

Myrtle and sassafras rainforest, Mt Anne

The last hour or two before reaching the ridge was a really fantastic King Billy dominated rainforest. First we passed some really straight, tall trees before they became much more stunted and gnarly. The day we visited was clear and sunny but I could imagine some amazing photos in the mist in this location. Its a long way to go though!

Tall King Billy rainforest Mt Anne (phone photo)

Stunted King Billy, myrtle and pandani forest on a bright sunny day. Misty conditions would be truly magical!

Once we finally reached the ridge we were rewarded with amazing views of Mt Anne in front of us, and the buttongrass plains behind us.

The forests and buttongrass plains of south west Tasmania in the late afternoon light

The forests and buttongrass plains of south west Tasmania in the late afternoon light

Blue hour – stunning clear evening on the Pandani Shelf

Some high level cloud soon appeared on the scene, but the moonlight really made this a stunning scene

The night was clear and after setting up camp I shot some night scenes before heading to bed, eager to continue exploring the Pandani Shelf the next day.