Walking on air

Today was a public holiday, and I decided to have a relaxing day. I picked up Mum and Dad and we headed down towards Geeveston, where I decided that I’d like to visit the Tahune Airwalk. This is an elevated walkway that takes you above the temperate rainforest along the banks of the Huon River, climaxing in a cantilevered section that affords great aerial views up and down the river.

It was a gorgeous still morning, and early enough in the day that there were few people around, allowing us to take our time around the walkway enjoying the views of the treetops (there were lots of leatherwoods in flower, which were particularly lovely). Dad and I ventured out onto the cantilevered section for the views up and down the Huon.

We then decided to do the longer swing bridge walk, which takes in two suspension bridges over the Huon and the Picton rivers. My Mum really enjoyed being able to do this, I think: undulating, uneven tracks are now physically demanding for her, but we took it slowly and it was just so lovely that she claims that it will more than compensate for “the consequences”. She even had no difficulty with the suspension bridges, whereas I had been unsure how her balance and head for heights would manage. In fact, we tried to work out what made the suspension bridges easier than the airwalk, and concluded that we expect the swing bridges to, well, swing, whereas the airwalk looks as if it should be a rigid structure yet it definitely sways and vibrates and creaks ominously. (According to a sign, the cantilevered section can hold 12 baby elephants. How you’d get 12 baby elephants out onto it is another issue entirely!)

There were many lovely things to see as we walked around the track, including fungi, flowers (the one in the middle photo below is Pentachondra involucrata) and ferns (the final photo is one of my favourite ferns, Gleichenia, which I like because of the way the branches bifurcate at a (very approximate) 120° angle). We also saw an echidna, plowing up the dirt with his snout in search of ants, although he wasn’t in a good position for photography (and these shy creatures tend to go into lockdown mode if you approach too closely, hiding their head beneath their prickly exterior).

In short, we had a wonderful day and were pleasantly surprised at the quality and reasonable prices of the food at the associated cafe when we stopped for lunch after our perambulations.