On my way to Tasmania I stopped in at the tourist bureau office on the Ferry. I learned that a day pass to the natural areas was $20 per day but a 2 month pass was $50. I purchased a pass. Along with the pass I was given a booklet about the areas “it was good for” and a guide to 60 walks.
Blackwood Dismal Swamp. The only dolomite sinkhole in Australia. If you’re adventurous you can ride our slide to the bottom. That sounds interesting.
Arthur River is at the end of the road but the Blackwood Swamp was along the way – a good excuse to explore a dead end road (not entirely dead end but there is a 100 kilometre section of “good” gravel. I could do it but it is a little further then I’m willing to push “driving short distances on gravel roads to get to tourist attractions” the imposed limitation when I picked up the ambassador van.)
I spent my first Tasmania night camped near Arthur River. In the morning I visited “The Edge of the World” and a lighthouse then made my way to Blackwood Dismal Swamp.
Upon arrival I was asked to pay $20 to enter the premises. My pass was NO good. “People always think their park pass will get them in here. We’re Forestry Tasmania, not National Parks.”
Pulling out my little booklet I explained that I had been led to believe all areas in the book were covered by the pass.
“Forestry Tasmania in Hobart doesn’t know what they’re doing.”
Begrudgingly I was allowed entry. It is certainly possible I misunderstood Teresa on the ferry but I doubt it.
Entry to the swamp is either by walking down the short path or a 14 second plunge down the 110 metre slide. I chose the slide. By the time I rounded the second bend I wasn’t sure I’d emerge alive then as fast as it began I slowed down.
As I wriggled free of my body bag, Perry welcomed me to the Swamp. “Are you OK?”
A series of boardwalks began at the terminus of the slide. Without boardwalks it would have been an impenetrable thicket. Along the way were a number of interesting pieces of art. A skeleton of an extinct, giant wombat, yabbies (crayfish), a cow, a giant doorway, a couple chairs facing each other with a myrtle tree blocking the view, a bridge and a pair of enormous praying mantis.
The plummet down the slide was exhilarating, the walk through the jungle entertaining but what really tickled my fancy were the birds – pink robin, flame robin, striated pardalote, golden whistler, beautiful firetail and the ever present menagerie of nearly impossible to see, little brown bush birds hiding behind twigs, sticks, logs and fungi.
Dismal Swamp is an island of rare native habitat surrounded by dairy land.
Driving towards Arthur River I repeatedly marveled at how effectively the land had been transformed into lush green pastures. It was readily evident that at one time the area had been very different – much wetter. The fields are furrowed into strips of elevated land separated by very moist low areas. The highway itself is bound by a deep ditch on each side channeling water away from the road. Separating one pasture from the other are tracts of native vegetation. In the midst of this is the Dismal Swamp – a glimpse of the Tarkine Forest. The area along the gravel road I won’t be able to visit this trip. Hopefully it will be here next time I visit – not logged and minced into chips – fed into the new industrial development – a pulp mill.
Perry was an interesting fellow. His job was to help people safely extricate themselves from the slide but it was soon evident that his passion was sharing stories about everything inhabiting the swamp. Starting out simply he’d point out the orchids growing on the trunk of a tree then if people were interested additional information, verging on scientific, seeped out, as if a freshwater spring – yet never pushed on people. It was quickly apparent his first passion in life was the natural world he lived and worked in. Between sliders Perry answered a variety of environmental questions about dieback, aboriginal fire use as compared to current controlled burning practices, bird life and the recently approved Tasmania pulp mill.
For me the Blackwood Dismal Swamp came across as a propaganda ploy used by Forestry Tasmania to create warm fuzzy feelings towards a land management organization which specializes in somewhat sustainable extraction techniques.
With out Perry the Blackwood Dismal Swamp would have verged on an amusement park in a natural setting but with his help it became fascinating native ecosystem trapped in a sinkhole.
With Perry’s help the swamp came alive for visitors.
