Hobart, Tasmania: A Walk among the Treetops

Tahune Forest AirWalk

Twice to Tasmania, twice gloriously sunny days!  How lucky can we get? 

We had been “promised” a beautiful sight as we sailed into the port of Hobart, Tasmania.  Travel guide Barbara had said the sail-in would be roughly comparable to the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland.  However, someone must not have gotten the memo because despite being up before dawn (on Chuck’s part) and at dawn (on my part), we saw nothing unusual.  Apparently the ship had managed to maneuver into the mouth of the River Derwent well before passengers were up.  Despite that, we welcomed the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful arrival to Hobart.

At one time the island of Tasmania had been connected to the mainland of Australia, but with geological shifts in the earth’s surface, it separated and became an island off the southeast coast of Australia.  Named for explorer Abel Tasman, it was settled by the English in 1804, but had been inhabited by various groups of Aborigines before that date.  After the American Revolution, England could no longer send convicts to the colony of Georgia so sought another location where they could ship these convicts.  Tasmania became one of the prime sites for convicts to be sent.  At one time, Australians were reluctant to admit convict ancestors; now however they wear this badge with pride, and specifically search for those English ancestors who arrived on the shores of Australia as convicts.  How times change! 

Tasmania is about the size of Ireland.  Its capital, Hobart, has a population of 200,000. Farming is a major industry; we passed orchard after orchard, many trees laden with apples, others covered with netting to protect the cherries from the birds that would strip the trees given an opportunity.  Because cherries are shipped overseas to countries that value them so highly, people have been noted to pay up to $2.00 for one cherry!

We could also see evidence of the severe drought that has prevailed in Eastern Australia over the past few years.  In fact, at one point we passed an area where the guide casually told us, “This was burned in a bush fire last week.”  Like us, another passenger was surprised enough to ask, “When was that fire?”  The guide again said, “Last week.”  Apparently this is not uncommon, but for us it was a stunner!  Residents often keep their homes and lawns as free of trees that might catch fire as possible in order to prevent them from being lost in one of these fires.  The brown, burned-out trees we viewed formed a backdrop for a line of houses along the road.  With the Huon River on the other side of the road, it afforded us a very interesting view.

Because nobody is far from water, about one in four Tasmanians own a boat of some kind.  Tasmania appears to be the “Florida” or “Arizona” of Australia: there is a larger percentage of senior citizens living here than in any other Australian state. 

We had chosen a totally different tour from the one we’d done in 2009.  This time we drove south out of Hobart and headed toward the Huon Valley where we would enter the forests of Tasmania for an AirWalk, a stroll on a walkway high in the canopy of trees.  Tasmania had discovered that this locale boasted the tallest flowering tree in the world, the Eucalyptus Regnus.  While smaller than trees such as the Sequoia, it holds this distinction because trees that are taller do not produce flowers. 

Tahune is an aboriginal word meaning peaceful place by running water.  The inspiration for this walk came to the late mayor of the Huon Valley, Greg Norris and four others, who hoped to promote tourism in the area while providing jobs for residents; the walk was opened in 2001.  The AirWalk is about 619 meters long (or roughly the length of 6¼ football fields) and averages a height of 20 meters above the floor of the forest.  It was built to withstand winds of over 100 mph and can support almost 900 lbs per square meter.  There is a cantilever (an arm extending out from the walkway) that concerned us about how it swayed in the air till we learned that it was built to support 120 very crowded people or 12 baby elephants!  No worries after finding that detail out! 

Upon arrival in the forest, our two buses were quickly split into three groups.  I was a little uncertain of taking the walk with my foot bothering me, but being assured that I could walk back to the bus in short order if I set out and found it too difficult, I was on my way.  The trip through the forest to get to the AirWalk was level so I had absolutely no problems with it.  We enjoyed seeing the towering trees of the forest.  One we passed had fallen and the gigantic tree trunk was on its side.  Another was still standing but was nearly hollowed out. 

In short order we had arrived at the start of the AirWalk.  I once again checked to be sure it was something I could handle.  We had not received information on the logistics of building the walk until after the tour, and I was not into doing anything that might resemble a rope bridge, but it turned out to be a steel structured flat walking surface.  The best way to describe it was steel beams covered with what looked similar to chicken wire.  We were warned that people who experience vertigo might feel discomfort, but despite being so far up in the air, we felt very secure.  There were chest-high railings to protect us, and the walkway was narrow enough for one person to walk and one person to pass if necessary.  It was a very unique experience to stroll among the treetops looking down to the dense forest floor and the Huon River. Some trees towered above us while we gazed down at the tops of others.  Not being a botanist, and without having the opportunity to record things as I walked, I can’t add a lot of detail other than the fact that there were several varieties of eucalyptus trees, as well as myrtle and sassafras, among others.  One tree was nicknamed the Mickey Mouse tree because shape of the bright green leaves looked like mouse ears. 

The cantilever was an experience in itself.  We set out across the arm to the viewpoint at the end, with the knowledge that only 20 people should be out there at a time.  We could see about 7 or 8 people there so we felt fairly safe until we realized that about 15 more people were following us.  Gulp!  A little nerve-wracking to feel that structure swaying so high in the air and realizing that more than 20 were out there!  I guess we didn’t outweigh 12 baby elephants though because we managed to get back safely!  The vistas from the endpoint were worth the walk as we could view the convergence of the Huon and Picton Rivers in the near distance. 

The horseshoe-shaped walk came to an end within a few yards of returning from the cantilever, and we now had another choice to make:  walk down 80 to 100 steps to the floor of the forest and proceed on foot to the Visitors’ Center, take the shuttle to the Visitors’ Center, or walk back through the forest the way we came to get the bus that would take us to the Visitors’ Center.  Figuring that it would not be wise for me to do all those stairs, but still enjoying the forest walk, I opted for the third choice and set off to return through the woods to the bus drop-off point.  As I walked, the shuttle passed me going in and passed me again a few minutes later going out. I was almost back to the bus drop off point as the shuttle passed me, and when it went by and passed the bus, I heard another engine start.  Then I saw a cloud of dust.  All I could think was, “Don’t tell me the bus left!!!”  Sure enough, when I got back to the bus drop-off point, there wasn’t a vehicle to be seen anywhere! 

For those of you who are old enough to remember The Life of Riley, all I could think of was his quote, “What a revoltin’ development this turned out to be!”  Now what was I going to do?  Here I was in the middle of a forest in Tasmania with nothing but trees in sight and all by myself!  Needless to say, I was a little stressed!  I had to decide if I should wait there just in case the bus came back or start walking.  The problem was, I didn’t know how far I would have to walk, and if I came to a crossroads, I wouldn’t have any idea which way to go!  But just standing there and doing nothing didn’t seem like a good option either!  So I set off trudging down the dirt road, wondering what would happen.  I knew the bus wouldn’t leave the forest and head back to Hobart without me, but it was more than a little disconcerting to be in that situation!  I walked along giving myself little pep talks, trying to stay positive, but each step was filled with doubt: should I have stayed put, or should I have started to walk? I kept checking my watch.  We were due to leave at 11:45, and it was 11:30.  I had no idea how far the bus had come, and hadn’t even remembered passing a Visitors’ Center on the way in! 

Since this is being told in the first person, you know that I did get out of the situation and managed to return to the ship. At about 11:35 I could see signs of movement and hear voices.  Then I saw a guide with a small group and decided to approach him and explain my situation, asking him to contact the Visitors Center and let them know that they had abandoned a passenger in the woods.  However, just as I was making that decision I saw someone else nearby with a round orange sticker #4 on – someone on my bus!  Hooray!  I asked the person where the Visitors’ Center was, and he pointed up the flight of stairs I’d just noticed. 

Enormously relieved, I climbed the stairs and spotted Chuck, who was surprised to see me coming up the stairs.  He had seen the buses and the shuttle and figured I was back but perhaps in the Ladies Room lineup.  I saw the bus driver and let him know that he’d left me behind.  He explained that when he saw the shuttle come out, he figured that everyone was on that and left.  I also made sure I let our tour guide, the forest ranger assigned to our group, and the HAL representative from the ship (who also happened to be in the Shore Excursions department) know what had happened.  All of them were rather casual but apologetic.  I knew it was a simple matter of crossed signals, but that didn’t reduce the stress of those ten to fifteen minutes when I had no clue whether I was headed in the right direction or how far I would have to walk. 

I’m certainly glad I didn’t hear till I got back to the ship what the tour guide on the other bus had told his passengers.  Apparently in the not-too-distant past, a couple got lost in the woods.  The woman got out, but they never, ever found any trace of the man.  I’d never heard of the Tasmanian tiger before, but someone said that it is known for eating everything, bones and all!  It leaves a lot to the imagination, and I really appreciated that I hadn’t heard that tale before going off alone! 

Back on the bus, we had another pleasant drive back through the Huon Valley to Hobart.  The excursion got back late, but fortunately not because they had to search for me!  Because we had so little time left, Chuck dashed off the ship without having lunch, but I had done enough walking for the time being, and my foot was feeling it! 

As we were getting ready to sail away, Captain Jonathan made reference to another boat that was in port with us.  Apparently the small boat nearby was the one used in the whale watchers series on the Discovery Channel.  They were in port waiting for news of any Japanese whalers heading for Antarctica and would set out to chase them down and thwart any attempts made to capture whales.  I’ve seen a few of the episodes so I was quite interested in seeing the oddly-shaped little boat! 

Anyone who thinks life on the ship must be dull hasn’t experienced some of the things we’ve had happen!  Every day brings new and unique adventures, and one never knows what tales are awaiting! 

BT