Green Rosellas are the alpine parrots of Tasmania

My son and I recently went for a stroll along the Overland Track during the Easter holiday break.

It was interesting to see how the place had changed over the three decades since I last walked through the park. The huts are getting bigger and better equipped, more people are walking the track and restrictions are in place for 8 months of the year, there are rangers based on the track, there is more protective boardwalks and the sections that aren’t protected are being eroded, and most people take the ferry to avoid the last day on the track.

Fortunately only a small proportion of the people walking the track take the time to visit Pine Valley and the Labyrinth. [The people who don’t leave the track don’t know what they are missing out on – the Du Cane Range is the best part of the park.]

We chose Easter as the time to traverse the park so we could enjoy the golden hues of the deciduous beech in its autumn glory. We had a 10 cm dump of snow while we were passing Cradle Mt and then a run of fine weather [including 3 gold coast weather days] on the way to Cynthia Bay.

There was little avian activity in the snowscape, and indeed it was pretty quiet for much of the walk. The pack-opening currawongs were the most common and vocal birds followed by Green Rosellas. The interesting thing about the rosellas was the number of times we saw them on the summits (Ossa, Gereyon, the Acropolis and Walled Mt). Indeed, it was nice to have a rosella sitting on a track marker as we climbed through the snow onto the roof of Tasmania.

The tranquility amongst the peaks, lakes, tarns and thickets at 1300+ metres ASL was stunning, and sharing the soundscape with the frogs, rosellas and breeze was remarkably refreshing.

If you are able, enjoy it while you can.

Regards, Laurie.