Parks and Wildlife advise that civil works in the ‘gateway’ (area immediately across the bridge when entering the national park) will commence Aug 10 and take approximately 2-3 weeks to complete.  During this time, there may be some traffic control in place once visitor cross the bridge and enter the National Park.  The carpark in the National Park will be closed for the duration of the civil works. Visitors wishing to undertake the South Coast Track or South Cape Bay walk are asked to park at the pull off area prior to the bridge, which will be signed to inform visitors.  Access to the Whale Sculpture and Fishers Point will be open, noting there may be some slight changes to traffic flow once across the bridge due to civil works.

23-29 OCTOBER 2017 
Spring has well and truly sprung, and birds are singing and nesting – ready to be counted for BirdLife Australia's fourth annual Aussie Backyard Bird Count.

Huon Bush Retreats and Buttongrass Retreat are offering discount rates for selected multi night stays around the time of the Great Aussie Backyard Bird Count. Spend two or three days enjoying nature walks and counting birds as you go.
Minimum stay is 2 nights, (minimum 3 nights if including a Friday or Saturday night at Huon Bush Retreats) Rate includes 2 adults using one bed. Extra people can be added $40/nt. All cabins include one queen bed. Extra beds might be bunks or rollaway beds. The exact cabin will be allocated on arrival.
Full payment by Visa or Mastercard at time of booking, no refunds, no changes.

​Book your accommodation using the chart below, then go to the Great Aussie Bird Count website to register and get your app.

The #AussieBirdCount is a great way to connect with the birds in your backyard, no matter where your backyard might be — a suburban backyard, a local park, a patch of forest, a farm, down by the beach, or the main street of town. Your backyard can be anywhere you find birds.

Each count takes 20 minutes and the data collected helps BirdLife Australia to better understand the birds living where people live. You can do one or more counts during your stay. Maybe do 2 different times of day in 2 different habitats. And as a little extra incentive, there are some incredible prizes to be won!

​The Delta Aquarid meteor shower is about to peak. It will continue through August, overlapping with the Perseids meteor shower. The best viewing time is roughly 1-4 a.m. Find an open sky away from artificial lights, lie down on a deck chair or an outdoor bath and look directly upward. This will naturally direct your gaze to near the apparent centre of the shower. Delta Aquarid is expected to produce 10 to 20 meteors per hour, under a clear dark country sky, like at Huon Bush Retreats or Buttongrass Retreat.
You don’t need to locate a shower’s radiant point to enjoy the meteors, but the concept of a radiant point adds a new perspective.  If you back trace all the Delta Aquariid meteors, they appear to radiate from a point within the constellation Aquarius. That is pretty much directly overhead during late winter in southern Tasmania.
Find the Great Square of Pegasus, draw a line to Fomalhaut. That is the very bright star in the dim constellation Piscis Austrinus, or Southern Fish. Half way along that line is the apparent origin of the Delta Aquarid meteors. See the graphic of the Southern Hemisphere Star Map, and Clifftop cabin at Huon Bush Retreats.
Winter discounts are available. Click here to book now.

Buttongrass Retreat at Lune River in Tasmania's far south will be closed for a couple of days due to a fuel reduction and habitat management burn. Buttongrass moorland requires a fire frequency of 5 to 15 years to remain as predominantly low grass and shrub type vegetation.

For the next few months, part of the view from Buttongrass Retreat will be blackened, but come Spring, the fresh growth will bring a field of green shoots and wildflowers. A mix of different aged vegetation created by differing fire regimes, is essential for the ground parrots living in this heathland.
​
During Autumn, Tasmania Fire Service and Forestry Tasmania will be conducting burns across Tasmania, subject to suitable weather conditions. These burns are part of the Fuel Reduction Program, aimed at reducing Tasmania's bushfire risk to protect lives, property and the environment.

See more info about:

• Tas Fire Service Fuel Reduction Program: www.fire.tas.gov.au/Show?pageId=colFuelReductionProgram
• Buttongrass habitat:
• Buttonrgass Retreat Eco-cabin  http://www.huonvalleyescapes.net/buttongrass-retreat.html

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Many years since fire, the moorland around Buttongrass Retreat is becoming more of a scrubby heathland. Today's planned burn will reset the vegetation to a grass dominated landscape.
Within a year after buttongrass moorland has been burnt the vegetation starts to regrow, producing succulent shoots that attract herbivorous animals such as wallabies, wombats and grasshoppers. However, these species, particularly wallabies and wombats, also require nearby areas of unburnt habitat were they can shelter.
See more info about Buttongrass habitat response to fire at:
http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/indeX.aspX?base=2876

Built in a fire susceptible and fire dependent vegetation area, the eco-cabin at Buttongrass Retreat has been designed to provide short term protection.
If you are ever in the path of an approaching fire, leave well before the fire reaches you. However if you become trapped, a fire resistant building is a good refuge. Radiant heat is the biggest killer in a wild fire. Radiant heat can be blocked by a solid object or barrier such as a concrete wall or building. This heat travels in straight lines, radiating out from a bushfire ahead of the flames and will bounce off solid objects and will travel through glass.
Stay inside, shielding yourself behind solid furniture, away from windows, while the main fire front passes. This will only take a few minutes. Houses mostly burn down after the fire front has passed.
For more fire safety info see:
www.cfa.vic.gov.au/fm_files/attachments/plan_and_prepare/frk_2013/Section3_Duringafire_ifyoucannotleave.pdf

About 45 minutes drive and 20 minutes walk from Huon Bush Retreats, is the worlds tallest flowering plant. Named Centurion (vaguely translated latin for 100), this monster is just over 100 metres tall. It is surprisingly slender raising the question how does it stay up.

The answer is partly the protection offered by the surrounding other super-tall trees. Lightning and wind are common causes of tall tree damage, knocking the top metres off. Centurion is protected by other trees around 80 metres and is on a slope protecting it from the westerly winds.

Another risk to very old trees is disease. It is really important to thoroughly clean your shoes before visiting a native forest. Great attention to all the little crevices with a scrubbing brush dipped in a tray of bleach does the trick. Be sure to remove your laces and complete the cleaning process with the shoes off your feet. You might like to choose an old pair of shoes so the bleach does not damage your good ones. The walk is quite easy, you don't need fancy walking boots but you do need moderate fitness and good navigation skills.

Book at least 2 nights at Huon Bush Retreats and we can loan you a tray, bleach, brush and map.

It is quite a challenge to get a good photo. The full height photo shown here is a composite of 3 images.

In 2015, Huon Bush Retreats participated in the Aussie Backyard Bird Count.

AUSSIE BACKYARD BIRD COUNT
17-23 OCTOBER 2016

The Aussie Backyard Bird Count is back for its third year — with over 40,000 participants and over a million birds counted last year, this is becoming one of Australia's largest citizen science projects.

It’s easy to get involved. You can:

• Register your interest as a Counter on the ABBC website

If you already have the Aussie Bird Count app on your phone or tablet, don’t delete it, an update will be available on 1 October
If you don’t have the app, download it for free from:

• the Google Play or
• iTunes app store

The results from 2015 saw the 10 most common bird species remain unchanged from the previous year, with the Rainbow Lorikeet once again taking out the number one spot. There were minor changes in the order of some of the top 10 birds – Common Myna, Galah and Silver Gull were bumped down a place or two, with House Sparrow, Red Wattlebird and the Welcome Swallow moving up the list.

" It's a long drive out there but well worth it, out guide was wonderful, knowledgeable and friendly, and it was great to see more of Tasmania's natural wonders." Read the full review on Trip Advisor

or Read more about Hastings on Huon Valley Escapes

This little possum appeared unexpectedly at Huon Bush Retreats. His habits make us think he was raised by humans and brought here for release.

Instantly tame and looking for cuddles and treats, he needs to learn the ways of finding his own food and his place in the possum hierarchy (right at the bottom).

So small that in the wild he would still be following his mother, and with fluffy fur, not quite ready to totally fend for himself. For the next few weeks, he will receive privileged treatment, while he learns how to look after himself in the semi-wild habitat here.

Orphans ready for release are welcome at Huon Bush Retreats. If we know they are coming, we can help them settle in with supplementary food and shelter during their transition.

Native Pepper can be used in place of traditional pepper in all sorts of recipes including sweets adding a touch of spice.

Locally harvested and dried in Tasmania's Huon Valley, the label says, "Native pepper or Lanceolata Tasmania is high in antioxidants and has anti microbial and anti-fungal properties. Grown on the slopes of Mount Wellington, these pepper berries have needed no pesticides or herbicides and so have left minimal eco-footprint."

Fifty gram packets are now available from Huon Bush Retreats. $6 + $1.50 postage within Australia.

I was about to go to bed at about 10pm. I noticed the sky behind the trees was unusually bright so I called Olivier, from France, who is staying at Huon Bush Retreats. A few hundred metres to the labyrinth gave us a clear view of the southern sky, where the Aurora was active. Not a spectacular show tonight but a subtle green glow with just a hint of a few pulsing red beams.

Several Huon Valley Escapes properties have views to the south. Come for the waterways, wilderness and wildlife that we have on display every day. maybe you get lucky and see an Aurora as a bonus.

After 6 years with us at Huon Bush Retreats, Rosie died this morning.

She had enjoyed a privileged life at the head of the wallaby mob. With the freedom to come and go as she pleased she would be seen wandering the village and no doubt roaming further.

Equally at home inside destroying the pot plants, or outdoors in the snow, Rosie was the easy one to tell from the other wallabies by the white spot on her left shoulder. Frequently bounding into reception to meet newly arriving guests, she was the wallaby most comfortable with strangers.

Rosie was raised a few km away at Crabtree. To prevent her wandering and being killed on the road, she had lived in a bird aviary. Arriving at HBR as an agoraphobic one year old, we transitioned her in the release pen, allowing her to meet the other wallabies through the wire. After a few days, we let her out, half expecting her to bound off into the wild and never be seen again. But after her first few hours of freedom, she wandered back and has been coming and going ever since.

Rosie raised two joeys who are now part of the wild mob, browsing the grasslands around the village.

The past year has seen her retain her position as head of the wallaby mob, but spending more time inside. Many days have been spent asleep on the sofa or by the fire, heading outside to do wallaby things each night.

Ten days ago, at the grand old age of 7, she became very lethargic, spending less time outside and rapidly losing weight. The last 3 days she has been totally dependent, struggling to eat and declining offers to go outside. Eventually too weak to stand up, last night was spent on the bed with us. Rosie died at 8 this morning.

Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary has recently installed a pool for rehabilitating seabirds. Watch as Greg Irons, introduces an injured penguin to the pool.
http://video.news.com.au/2405510483/A-pool-for-penguins#

It was a very cold night on September 7 1936 in Hobart, the night that Benjamin died. Threatened Species Day was founded to remember Benjamin and those like him. Benjamin was the last captive Tasmanian Tiger, and his death marked the end of his species. National Threatened Species Day is held every year around Australia to remember Benjamin and to try to prevent the same thing happening to other Australian species.

Read more at
http://www.abc.net.au/tasmania/stories/s2026235.htm