I have had a pretty good day ... pretty, pretty good ...
Up early and picked by “Par Avion” for the 15 minute drive to Cambridge Airport. There we met with Anna McFarlane – my pilot/guide/lunch date/coxswain rolled into one.
In one of Par Avion’s Cessna aircraft we first flew for 45 minutes and arrived in Melaleuca in the South West National Park.
37% of Tasmania is World Heritage Site or National Park .... and one of the most beautiful areas is in the south west of the state. It’s inaccessible by road but some VERY crazy people walk for days through it! I am not a walker, rambler or hiker!
Some of the scenery we flew past was simply stunning and virginal to man. The beaches were long and filled with white sand & the rock formations were quite impressive.
Anyway, we flew into Melaleuca – a dirt strip. From there it’s a 100 metre walk to a viewing station for the “orange bellied parrot”. There are only around 100 of these parrots left in the world .. and they only live here. A group had spent all morning at the station and did not see one .... we arrived (just after they left) and saw, filmed and even interviewed (only joking!) two of them!!! We were VERY lucky!
We then hit the water and took a “tinnie” to Mount Rugby. The water in the lakes and rivers are all Coca-Cola brown as the tannins from the Melaleuca plant are washed into the water. It’s an amazing sight.
We then flew home and sadly said farewell to dear Anna before the boys filmed Hobart while I tried out the spa! Fair deal, says I!
Dinner was at a local restaurant called “Catch” ... yum
Song of the Day: Catch – The Cure
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFkTYAQ2EqY
Weather: Tourist-tastic
Cambridge Airport
Up in the sky
ahhhh
Lovely!
Melaleuca
Look closely!
a "tinnie"
Anna!
Tannin water
Hobart from 1500 ft
more!
