December 2012 marked the 30th anniversary of the inscription of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA). Throughout the year ahead, Tasmania will be celebrating this important and historic conservation milestone.
The protected area covers approximately 20 percent of Tasmania, a legacy of the last great wildernesses on earth, and a canvas rich in the stories of humanity’s previous and current connections with the environment. This collective merge of Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, Franklin-Lower Gordon Wild Rivers National Park and Southwest National Park hosts seven of the possible ten World Heritage Area inscription criteria.
Here are just a few ways to explore Tasmania's wilderness:
Roaring 40s Ocean Kayaking
Roaring 40s Kayaking offers premium sea kayaking eco-tours that range from two to seven days. Along Tasmania’s southwest shore, visitors can paddle past sea cliffs protected by the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. All tours include overnight camping around the Bathurst Harbour and traveling over pristine waters by day in one of the multi-day paddling expeditions:
• Three-day Southwest Tasmania World Heritage Wilderness Exploration costs US$2,125 per person.
• The seven-day Southwest Tasmania World Heritage Wilderness Expedition starts at US$2,950 per person.
Southwest National Park
Take a scenic flight with Par Avion Wilderness Tours, which has been providing Tasmania’s bushwalking community with a reliable air service to Melaleuca in the remote heart of TWWHA, operating the most number of flights the six hundred thousand hectares of wild terrain that makes up the Southwest National Park.
On the ground, self-drive the Gordon River and Scotts Peak roads that wind through forest, scrub and moorland, at times opening out onto views of rugged mountain landscapes taking in the Western Arthur and Franklin Ranges.
Gordon River
Cruise the Gordon River into the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) through deep valleys and spectacular 'narrows' to places where few humans have walked. Gordon River Cruises, based in Strahan, takes visitors on a voyage across Macquarie Harbour to pass through Hell’s Gate, the narrow entrance into the Southern Ocean. Returning back, the boat then glides into the lower reaches of the Gordon River, where riverside rainforest is reflected in the dark waters. There’s an opportunity to go ashore and walk into the rainforest to see 2,000-year-old Huon pines.
Strahan is the gateway to Tasmania’s World-Heritage Wilderness on the island’s wild west coast. This working fishing village tells the story of 19th-century piners and miners and 20th-century protesters who stopped the damming of Tasmania’s Franklin River that led to the World Heritage listing of the Tasmanian Wilderness.
Visit discovertasmania.com for more information.