Melaleuca, Tasmania

Melaleuca Tasmania
A tourist plane prepares for take-off from Melaleuca.
Population:	5
Postcode:	none
Coordinates:	43°25′19.2″S 146°9′46.8″E / 43.422°S 146.163°E / -43.422; 146.163Coordinates: 43°25′19.2″S 146°9′46.8″E / 43.422°S 146.163°E / -43.422; 146.163 with
LGA:	Huon Valley Council
State District:	Franklin
Federal Division:	Franklin

Melaleuca is a remote hamlet in the south-west area of Tasmania, Australia. Access is only by sea via Port Davey, by air^[1] or by foot.

The settlement consists of a couple of buildings and a bird hide where the Orange-bellied Parrot can be viewed, and is a major tourist attraction. Melaleuca has a gravel airstrip which is used by small aircraft which service hiking needs and which bring tourists to the remote South West Wilderness region of the state. Two hiking trails meet at Melaleuca: the Port Davey Track and the South Coast Track. There are no shops nor any facilities apart from two walkers' huts. Camping is available nearby.

From the 1930s until the area gained World Heritage status, Melaleuca had been the location leased for mining ventures.^[2]

Looking west from Melaleuca to the Bathurst Range

Deny King

From 1936 until his death in 1991, Melaleuca was home to tin miner Deny King who discovered the extinct shrub, Banksia kingii as well as a species of eyebright, Euphrasia kingii and the endangered King's lomatia or King's holly, Lomatia tasmanica. King also built the walkers' accommodation and airstrip and in 1975 was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the community.

References

1. ^ "Visitors Guide to Tasmania's National Parks - Southwest National Park". Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service. http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/natparks/southwest/index.html. Retrieved 2007-03-12. 
2. ^ King, C.D. and Fenton, J. Small Mining Settlements; pp. 48-53 in Gee, Helen and Fenton, Janet (eds) (1978) The South West Book: A Tasmanian Wilderness. Hawthorn, Vic: Australian Conservation Foundation. ISBN 0858020548; later edition, same title (1983) Sydney, NSW: William Collins Pty. Ltd., ISBN 0002173050; also Thwaites, J.B., King of the South-West (Jack King, tin miner at Melaleuca) pp. 57-60; also Mattingley, C. King of the Wilderness (2001) ISBN 1-877008-41-9