New adventures at the Tahune AirWalk

In that time, the AirWalk has become something of a case study in sustainable tourism. It has provided a low-impact means for hundreds of thousands of visitors to experience life in the canopy of a Tasmanian ‘wet’ forest. At the same time, it has proven a fillip to the economic fortunes of the Geeveston community.

Now a new attraction at Tahune is, in the words of Forestry Tasmania’s General Manager Tourism Jane Foley, set to “push the edge” of one of the State’s most popular nature tourism experiences.

A pair of swinging bridges, perched seemingly precariously across the Huon and Picton Rivers, were officially opened in May by Premier Paul Lennon. According to Ms Foley, the bridges add an exciting new dimension to what is rapidly becoming one of Tasmania’s best-known adventure precincts.

“For some people, the cantilever at the AirWalk is quite challenging. However, for people wanting something more adventurous, activities such as cable hang gliding have also been part of the Tahune experience for some time now.

“These bridges add further to that experience. They are ‘swinging’, in the literal sense of the word, across these two mighty rivers.”

The bridges, designed by structural engineer Jim Gandy, pay more than passing tribute to the heritage of Tahune and the South West Wilderness. The span across the Picton River replaces a similar suspension bridge that was constructed in the mid nineteenth century and used as an access route to the South Coast Track, before it was lost in a flood during the 1960s.

Together, the two bridges complete a one-to-two-hour walk through the Tahune Forest Reserve, which Forestry Tasmania has designed as a journey through the area’s early European history.

Part of the walk follows McKay’s Track, originally cut in the 1830s to provide access through dense rainforest from the banks of Huon River to the untouched stands of Huon Pine in the remote foothills of the Arthur Range. Along the way, visitors now pass the ruins of the house occupied in the 1870s by Police Constable Francis McPartlan, a former Irish convict whose duty it was to walk McKay’s Track to check timber licences.

Ms Foley says that the walk will provide visitors with a greater understanding of the tenacity of the area’s European pioneers, by providing a tangible link to areas that remain to this day, some of the remotest on Earth.

“The circuit walk starts at the Tahune AirWalk Visitor Centre and takes visitors through the forest to the edge of the wilderness, then back through the area’s European heritage. Even the water that flows through the Tahune Forest Reserve has its source in the South West Wilderness.

“The Swinging Bridges offer a new perspective on the Southern Forests. We believe that they will encourage many people to re-experience the AirWalk.”

Forestry Tasmania’s Tahune AirWalk is located approximately 90 minutes’ drive south of Hobart. It is open seven days a week (except Christmas Day).. For more information call 03 6297 0068.