In the Media: Traveller in The Age & Sydney Morning Herald
You're more likely to spot a dolphin or a devil than another traveller in the faraway Southwest Wilderness, writes Jim Darby
In April 2024, On Board hosted journalist Jim Darby on a 4-night Port Davey Escape expedition through the remote southwest corner of Tasmania’s Wilderness World-Heritage Area.
Jim's resultant article, Remote Chance, appeared in Traveller in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald on 25 May 2024.
Here's a brief excerpt from the full story:
"So much to see in five days. In bush caves, we see Indigenous petroglyphs (rock carvings) made so long ago we can only
guess at their meaning. We spot animal tracks in the sand, of Tasmanian devils, wallabies and antechinus, and if a Tasmanian tiger were alive (the Claytons had regular visits from one in the 1950s), it would be here in the Southwest Wilderness.
We explore the Davey River Gorge, Huon pine growing on its banks – the perfect timber for boats. Timber cutters (piners) once felled the trees way upstream, waited for the rains to bring it down and built ships here. We see birds you may never otherwise see – an azure kingfisher by the river, the endangered orange-bellied parrots at their summer home in Melaleuca."
Jim is a returning guest, having joined On Board on an East Coast Expedition in 2021.