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Oceania » Australia » Tasmania
March 10th 2007
Published: March 10th 2007
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Air WalkAir WalkAir Walk

High above the ground you follow the metal walkway with views of the tree tops on both sides.

Day Eight of Fifteen:


Drive south of Hobart
We left the park and followed the now familiar road across the Bowen Bridge, turned south onto the Booker Highway and drove into Hobart. Found Davey Street and were very lucky to find a parking space only a few metres from the Salamanca Market. Old sandstone buildings on one side and a line of magnificent trees grew on the other, nestled in between were the stalls. The market stretches almost to the docks with craft and food stalls selling everything from fruit and vegetables to amazing photos of Tasmania.

As usual in places like this, my girlfriend went one way while I went another. I particularly wanted to capture the atmosphere of the famous market. In a few gaps between the stalls, buskers entertained the tourists. Although it was crowded I was amazed how quiet the people were.

An hour later we were driving south out of Hobart on the A6 Highway and following the signs to Huonville. After the town the road hugs the Huon River. We were now in an area where apple orchards are plentiful. There were even some growing wild on the side of the road, promising ourselves
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Nearing the end of the walk where you end up on a counter lever high above the landscape.
we would grab some on our return journey.

At Geeveston we turned off the main highway for our next tourist attraction. After a long winding road we arrived at the Tahune Airwalk. A metal walkway takes you above the trees with fantastic views of the Tahune Forest Reserve.

My girlfriend had seen a picture of the walk, decided it was too high for her enjoyment and would sit this one out. I paid the $17 and followed the path up the hill to the start of the Air Walk. You're soon looking down on tree tops and the river in the middle distance gives more interest to the experience. I stopped a number of times to get some wide angle shots which often included part of the walkway I had just crossed. The structure sways slightly as other walkers pass you by.

At the end, the sight is especially impressive when you get to the counter-lever which is suspended high over the valley. With nothing below the counter-lever it sways even more, especially if someone else is sharing the view from the end.

I lost all track of time, photographing and recording images on my video camera. My girlfriend later
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It's High and it rocks from side to side when people walk past you.
told me I had been gone for over an hour. Back at the car she asked me what it was like and my response was "Fantastic!" That convinced her to have a go herself. When she got back, she told me "Too high and scary!" At least she attempted the walk.

It was well into the afternoon and we still had one more place to visit. We made much better time because we didn't follow so many slow drivers on the long drive back to Geeveston. More orchards and green paddocks were passed along the road through Waterloo, Surges Bay and Glendevie. At Dover we could see Port Esperance before the road cut inland again. The sign to Hastings Cave is at a fork in the road. One leading into Southport which would have to be one of the most southern townships in Australia. The other leads to the Hastings Cave.

All too soon the sealed road turned to dirt and started to wind its way through lush forests on both sides of the road. We arrived just in time for the last tour for the day into the cave.

Behind the visitors centre are thermal springs which we found to be lukewarm puddles and the Platypus we were told had been sighted twice that day failed to materialise. Which is hardly surprising as these mammals are usually seen in the morning or at dusk.

As we drove to the caves, we passed what appeared to be a dead snake in the middle of the road, but on backtracking to check, it slithered off into the forest. It was 5 km to the cave entrance to join a small group of people waiting to do the tour. Alice, our guide, explained the history of the cave and with a well practised narration explained how the formations were formed millions of years ago. It was a pleasure not getting the usual talk about nursery rhyme features that seem so common when you follow a guide through limestone caves. I got plenty of images, making sure I got shots that later when I viewed them on the computer I would be able to tell what is up and what is down (a mistake I had made in the past).

On this trip to Tasmania I have noticed that although I have allowed myself time to visit different places each day, time slips by so quickly. I have also been grateful that we had booked all our accommodation before we left Melbourne. There is plenty of accommodation on this island state but getting into town late in afternoon will add stress to your journey, it seemed so often that the "No Vacancy" sign was displayed when we arrived in a new town.

It was a long drive back to Hobart. We stopped just once to buy some apples from an unmanned roadside stall that worked on the honesty system.

Once we were in the city limits we back tracked to Davey Street (finding it one way) went down Elizabeth Street instead. Before long we were down by the docks and across the road from a small park was a mediterranean restaurant where we had dinner (paella was an excellent choice). Well nourished we left Hobart via the Tasman Bridge and headed back to our Cosy Cabin.



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