The Tahune AirWalk and its various additional attractions are a scenic 80 minute drive from Hobart. There’s so much to do, you should make it more than a day trip. Aim to arrive early in the day and stay overnight.
David Moore stayed overnight at Tahune AirWalk Lodge for Think Tasmania
Tahune AirWalk: Stay and Play in the Dark
by Susan & David Moore
We’ve been to Tahune several times before. We always take our interstate visitors there. Normally, we go on the AirWalk with its beautiful treetop views and then walk the swinging bridges track (an hour return) which takes you across the upper reaches of both the Huon and Picton Rivers. The teacoloured water rushes underneath (we learned that the colour comes from the buttongrass on the plains further up stream) and in autumn and winter you can see a great variety of fungi along the track.
An overnight stay at Tahune AirWalk allows visitors more time to explore and discover fungi
This time, however, we stayed overnight and got to see that there’s much more down there than just the AirWalk.
Tahune also boasts a hang gliding experience, mountain biking, numerous walks that cater for every, and I mean every, fitness and skill level, guided tours, bridges, a lovely cafe, a shop, an information centre running videos of how life used to be. Man was it tough for the piners who used to fell Huon Pines in the remote regions of Tasmania. There’s also loads of information about flora, fauna, the facilities themselves and Aboriginal history.
Visitors to Tahune AirWalk can access the information centre and cafe on site
The Lodge: Accommodation at Tahune AirWalk
We were staying in The Lodge which can accommodate up to 23 people in 8 rooms, which range from doubles to bunk rooms. For our stay we had the place to ourselves and a simple but lovely double bed room.
Comfortable and affordable lodge accommodation at Tahune AirWalk
Lodge accommodation usually scares me. We’ve all been there, you know what I mean. The Tahune AirWalk Lodge is an exception. It’s new, very well appointed and well looked after. There’s a cozy wood fire that had been lit in anticipation of our arrival and kept the place toasty and warm for the duration of our stay. There are so many bathrooms, showers, sinks, stoves, seats and tables that it is hard to imagine anyone ever using them all at once even when the place is at capacity. Books and DVDs are provided in case you need evening entertainment other than watching the lovely log fire.
Accommodation facilities at the Tahune Lodge provide visitors all the warmth and comfort of home
The visitors centre and cafe is there for meals during the day and you can order a dinner package that will be delivered to the lodge fridge and waiting for you to cook at your leisure. We had the steak and salad dinner. It was great value, fresh and tasty.
Eagle Hang Glider
One of the benefits of staying over in the cooler months is that it’s possible to have the place to yourself. Just ask the team at Tahune when you are booking if that appeals to you. It certainly appealed to us. So after making ourselves at home throughout the entire lodge, Susan and I were keen to try the Eagle Hang Glider.
Susan prepares for an adventure on the Eagle Hang Glider at Tahune AirWalk
The Eagle Hang Glider takes you high above the forest and over the river for an exciting simulation of a hang glider approach to the forest floor. We each had two runs and enjoyed the views from the top of the run as much as swooping down to the ground itself.
Soar like an eagle! Susan checks out the view during her hang gliding experience
We then took ourselves on the short Huon Pine walk where we were happy to see our first decent sized stand of these legendary trees.
The Tahune Forest Reserve and the Huon River in southern Tasmania
An After-Dinner AirWalk in the Dark
After dinner and in eerie darkness we took ourselves out onto the AirWalk itself. The lodge provides head torches and the pathway is illuminated by surprisingly effective reflective strips. We took our own more powerful spotlight torch and managed to catch a glimpse of a quoll and a bit of a show by a large owl. There is plenty of Tasmanian wildlife around.
Lookout for the abundant wildlife found in the Tahune Forest Reserve
Standing on the cantilever of the AirWalk in the quiet and the dark is quite a different experience to doing it in the daytime and absolutely wonderful. I highly recommend you give it a go.
The feature of the Tahune AirWalk experience, the cantilever adventure
Mountain Bikes, Camping and Forest Lookouts
Early the next morning we walked part of the mountain bike track and soaked up the privilege of having such a wonderful place to ourselves, apart from a few campers in a tent (it’s free if you pay the AirWalk admission fee). Work beckoned so we had to leave before we could do the mountain bike track in full and on mountain bikes (funnily enough). We’ll save that for next time. There’s plenty more to be experienced that’s for sure.
Plenty to explore at Tahune… experience the AirWalk after dark or ride mountain bikes
As we drove out of the forest we stopped at several of the lookouts along the Arve Road to Geeveston. They only require brief stops but are very worthwhile with surprises to be found. Don’t just drive past as we had previously.
I’ll say no more. Get to the Tahune AirWalk and experience it for yourself. Make it more than a day trip and stay the night to really get away from it all. For opening hours and prices, visit the operator website. If you are planning a visit and wish to discuss any special needs phone 1300 720 507. You can also follow Tahune AirWalk – Adventure Forests on Facebook.
Spoiler Alert ~ Keep an eye out for another Think Tasmania giveaway coming your way soon. Well, the way of email subscribers, anyway! One lucky reader will win themselves and a friend an experience at Tahune AirWalk Lodge similar to that enjoyed by Susan and David Moore. How cool is that?
Please note ~ Susan and David Moore were invited guests at Tahune AirWalk Lodge and surrounding attractions on behalf of Think Tasmania.
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We have done the airwalk a couple of times but did not realise the variety of activities available. Excellent article. We ll be back!
Thanks again to David, Susan and Tania from Think Tasmania for such a comprehensive article! David looks super excited with his giant fungi find, although Susan not so happy about Eagle hang gliding! Thank you also to John Flory (comment above): we really wanted to communicate how many different activities there are to do in the Reserve. Looks like David did just that! We look forward to seeing you soon.
Kind regards,
Sarah Lockyer
Operations Manager, Tourism
Forestry Tasmania
That looks great, now I want to win even more!
looks great have wanted to do that for ages
Sounds like a great experience. Would love it
Definitely on my bucket list!
Hadn’t realised that the Airwalk was also open at night. That adds an exciting new dimension