Peter Marmion is a man on a mission to reveal the hidden wonders of Port Davey in Tasmania’s far south-west.
This magical waterworld is not so much hidden, but overlooked and forgotten when it comes to the state’s tourist hotspots.
I must confess I once viewed the area as merely the home of one of the world’s rarest birds, the orange-bellied parrot. That was until I was given the opportunity one summer to join a voyage to the region on a vessel operated by On Board Expedition Cruises. Entering Port Davey, I was simply blown away.
The sheer beauty of Port Davey and its sister, Bathurst Harbour, is difficult to put into words. Here Marmion has stepped forward to self-publish a book of his photography, appropriately titled Hidden Worlds.
For many decades, retired school principal Marmion has travelled Tasmania, recording with pen and camera its physical beauty along with its wildlife. Port Davey remains a special place that keeps calling him back. In his book, he extols its beauty and urges an appreciation of its value and vulnerability.
Port Davey and Bathurst Harbour are framed by high peaks of rainforest and button grass. Marmion is also a guide for the cruise company and shares his knowledge of not only wildlife but the region’s curious human history, stretching back of course to the original inhabitants, the Needwonnee whose rock paintings and ochre mines can still be found.
The legend of tin miner, naturalist and painter Deny King is also here, along with tales of Win and Clyde Clayton eking out a living from a fishing boat moored close to their hand-built wooden home, which is now a museum. And there’s the story of Critchley Parker, who in an effort to impress his Jewish lover trekked into the area shortly after World War II with a dream of establishing a Jewish homeland there, “a new Jerusalem”. When he vanished from view searchers found his body in his tent pitched among the buttongrass and sprengelia. He had starved to death.
Although there has been human intrusion into the South-West National Park, it is still classed as pristine wilderness in which development is barred. The Tasmanian Government, though, has long held plans to ease restrictions to spur tourist ventures in the wilderness area.
At present, Port Davey can only be reached by a flight to the Melaleuca airstrip, or a six-day, 80km hike along the South Coast Track from Cockle Creek
Although some see clouds on the horizon regarding development, there is a good news story emerging from the main centre of activity, Melaleuca. This is the breeding area for the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot.
This summer has seen more than 70 parrots return from their wintering grounds along the Victorian coast. Just a few years ago the species was down to a mere 17 birds.