Melaleuca, Tasmania

Melaleuca is a remote locality (former settlement) in the south-west area of Tasmania, Australia.

Melaleuca
Tasmania
A tourist plane prepares for take-off from Melaleuca.
Melaleuca
Coordinates43°25′19.2″S 146°9′46.8″E
Population5 (?)
Postcode(s)none
LGA(s)Huon Valley Council
State electorate(s)Franklin
Federal Division(s)Franklin

Access is only by sea via Port Davey, by air[1] or by foot.

The locality now consists of a couple of buildings and a bird hide where the orange-bellied parrot can be viewed, and is a 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.

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.[3]

References
  1. "Visitors Guide to Tasmania's National Parks - Southwest National Park". Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2007.
  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 0-85802-054-8; later edition, same title (1983) Sydney, NSW: William Collins Pty. Ltd., ISBN 0-00-217305-0; 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
  3. "King, Charles Dennison". It's an Honour. Australian Government.
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