Description

King of the Wilderness

King of the Wilderness: The life of Deny King. There seemed to be nothing Deny King couldn’t do!  He was a painter, a tin miner, an environmentalist and collector – Banksia kingii was named in his honour.

Deny spent fifty years living self-sufficiently in the rugged Tasmanian south-west and became internationally renowned for his exploits on land and sea.

King of the Wilderness brings to life a man of strength and ingenuity, a man who made an indelible impression on everyone who met him.

Melaleuca

Today, Melaleuca attracts a variety of visitors.  For bushwalkers undertaking the multi-day South Coast Track or Port Davey Tracks, Melaleuca is the start, finish or halfway point of their walk.

The settlement is also popular with commercial and private boat-based visitors who are exploring the magnificent Port Davey-Bathurst Harbour area.

Scenic flights bring day visitors in and bird watchers are attracted by the opportunity to glimpse the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot. These small, beautifully-coloured parrots are on the brink of extinction. The area around Melaleuca is the only place in the world that they breed, between October and late-March.  Volunteers observe, monitor and record information about the parrots during their breeding phase.