The Tarkine Rainforest, Tasmania
An Antipodean travel company serving world travellers since 1983
The Tarkine Rainforest, Tasmania
Home to ancient Myrtle beech and , dense rainforests, and wild ocean views, the found in an area in the of the island is one of Australia’s great wildernesses now preserved as a .
The term ‘Tarkine’ generally refers to 3,500 kilometres of crown land in the remote of , bounded by the to the north and the to the south, the Murchinson Highway to the east, and the Southern Ocean to the west.For the traveller this region is easily accessed from the historic port of Stanley. Protected by its isolation and extreme weather – the area bears the full brunt of the icy Roaring Forties, with wild winter storms bringing winds of up to 180 kilometres per hour – the has remained a virtually pristine .
The environment here is diverse as Bass and Flinders discovered when they mapped the in discovering that was an island. Upto 10 metre waves come in from the Southern Ocean, crashing against jagged cliffs and shifting along the . Next stop west: Argentina. Rare shelter is found in freshwater lagoons and wetlands and the that gives way to . By the shore, green marsupial lawns are surrounded by banksia, tea-tree, and brightly coloured pigface. Further inland, the land rises gently to low and plains, punctuated by such as the Norfolk Range.
But the big deal here is the . Over 2400 square kilometres of dominates the eastern Tarkine, ranging from tall in the drier areas to the found in the wet and secluded hills and valleys. These areas – covering 1700 square kilometres – constitute Australia’s largest contiguous tract of , and one of the three remaining regions in the world. It is remarkable and through this runs the West coast highway, an unsealed road that is more than a for Motorcyclists or small group tour particpants to travel and explore and marvel at this environment of the .
Unlike warmer , home to a diversity of species, is usually dominated by a handful of trees. The is dominated by Myrtle beech, a tall, broad tree, which can live for more than 400 years. Myrtle beech thrived on the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, and later became the dominant tree in .
Sassafras, leatherwood, and celery-top pine are also common, while below the canopy, tree ferns mingle with native laurel. The bottom of the is home to over 60 species of fungi, and several rare forms of lichen. By the rivers, look for ancient trees which might be 3000 years old.
The habitats of the Tarkine are a refuge for a number of vulnerable and . The eastern pygmy-possum lives in banksia groves, while a number of species – including the ringtail possum, Bennett’s wallaby, wombat, Tasmanian devil, and spotted tail quoll – can be found searching for food in the forests. The is home to over twenty species of bird, including wedge-tailed eagles, white goshawks, and the orange-bellied parrot, one of Australia’s rarest birds. The rivers are home to (up to 1 metre in length), which are vulnerable to habitat degradation.
The who where the traditional custodians of the land, the Peerapper and Tommeginne language groups, are believed to have lived in the for 30, 000 years , beginning in the last Ice Age . They lived in a condition of abundance. Women dived for oysters, abalone, and mussels from the . Seals were caught seasonally, and migratory muttonbirds collected in the summer from burrows in . In wetlands of the , people hunted for ducks and swans; in coastal heathlands, wallabies and wombats. A wide array of vegetable food was eaten, including native spinach, lomandra grass, boobialla beans, and fruits including mountain berry, honeysuckle, and pigface fruit. The People lived at the same along the coast for thousands of years, building huts, trading , and walking inland to mine ochre for adornment and spongolite rock for tools.
The name ‘Tarkine’ means belonging to , or of the Tarkiner, the Aboriginal people who inhabited the area for at least 12,000 years before the arrival of Europeans. The term first appears in writing in the diaries of George Augustus Robinson, the ‘Chief Protector’ of the Tasmanian Aboriginals. Preminghana (formerly known as Mt Cameron West) is one of the best examples of Tasmanian rock art , slabs of rock covered in geometric designs of circles, crosses and parallel lines, believed to be at least 2,000 years old.
The has been labelled by the Australian Commission as ‘one of the world’s great archaeological regions’ , with extensive sites including shell middens, stone artefacts, sites, pebble and pathways, quarry sites, mysterious circular rock carvings and burial sites.
Unlike the regions of further south, including Cradle Mountain , Lake St. Clair , and the Franklin-Gordon Rivers , huge swathes of the Tarkine are not protected from the impact of logging by or mining. Less than 5% of the region is protected as the , which is closed off to the public, while other parts of the area are protected as various regional reserves and conservation parks.
Conservationists are increasingly calling for the Tarkine to be preserved as a and a World Area, seeing the area recognised as one of Australia’s – and the world’s – great wild places.
The Tarkine can be accessed by car via the and South Arthur Drive or the West coast highway, which pass through the varied landscapes of the , the wild coast, some agricultural land, , and dense up into the . There are a number of opportunities to do short walks through the along the way, and a number of lookouts. For more adventurous walkers, the Trans-Tarkine Track is an 80 kilometre track passing from the to the ocean.
Good bases for exploring the are the tiny coastal hamlet of and the town of Corinna, on the . For senior and mature travellers you can explore the and Tarkine on the small group tour or on a guided motorcycle tour of the region with Odyssey Traveller.
Odyssey Traveller visits the Tarkine Rainforest as part of our of . Beginning and ending in Hobart, our takes your through the spectacular natural landscapes of . On the first day of our , we visit Maria , a convict turned , which is a refuge for native including Bennetts Wallaby and the pademelon. Following this, we wind our way up , stopping in at the and Wineglass on the way.
Our continues by heading inland to Launceston, before heading to the Wilderness : and Dove Lake, Lake St. Clair, and the of Franklin-Gordon River . ‘s wilderness serves as a sanctuary for a number of endemic species and native animals, including the ‘ devil’, eastern quoll, the platypus, the kangaroo, and the echidna.
From here our of ‘s returns to Hobart, where we end with a day trip to . Travellers interested in visiting may wish to check out our other , devoted to the colonial history of the , and our of . We also offer a number of tours.
Articles about Australia published by Odyssey Traveller:
- The Kimberley: A Definitive Guide
- Uncovering the Ancient History of Aboriginal Australia
- Aboriginal Land Use in the Mallee
- Understanding Aboriginal Aquaculture
- Mallee and Mulga: Two Iconic and Typically Inland Australian Plant Communities (By Dr. Sandy Scott).
- The Australian Outback: A Definitive Guide
- The Eyre Peninsula: Australia’s Ocean Frontier
- Archaeological mysteries of Australia: How did a 12th century African coin reach Arnhem Land?
- Ancient Aboriginal trade routes of Australia
- Franklin River, Tasmania
For all the articles Odyssey Traveller has published for mature aged and senior travellers, click through on this link.
