Fire-damaged Tahune Airwalk to reopen

The fire-damaged trees are resprouting, the facilities have been freshened up and the countdown has begun .... get set for the reopening of one of Southern Tasmania’s biggest tourist attractions.

Tahune Airwalk, near Geeveston (file picture)

THE Tahune Airwalk is about to reopen, a year after the major tourist attraction was damaged by bushfires.

Operators are confident the site, near Geeveston, will be open to the public in the first week of February.

The site was evacuated on January 21 last year when bushfires swept through the area.

Visitation to the Huon has dropped since the closure of Tahune, despite tourism growth elsewhere around the state.

Destination Southern Tasmania chief executive officer Alex Heroys said the area south of the Huon had suffered a drop in tourism numbers following the bushfires.

“There are still areas struggling in the far south because of the closure of Tahune,” he said.

Generally, tourism across the state was strong - although there had been some cancellations from mainland tour groups impacted by bushfires.

Mr Heroys said he anticipated there would be more cancellations as people in NSW and Victoria were unable to leave their devastated and at-risk communities.

He said the community around Geeveston would be relieved the reopening of the Tahune Airwalk was imminent.

“A lot of work has gone into getting it opened as quickly as possible,” he said.

Tahune Airwalk Adventures sales and marketing manager Melita Hickling said the site was still a hive of activity as contractors rushed for the February opening.

She said the airwalk stairs were being rebuilt, and the airwalk itself had undergone a makeover.

The airwalk structure remained safe after the fires but repairs were carried out to the guy-wire ropes and hardware.

Ms Hickling the first major task had been undertaken by arborists, who inspected fire damaged trees and took out anything deemed unsafe.

Fire damage at Tahune Airwalk in Tasmania.

She said most of the trees on the site were not damaged, and those that were are now sprouting new growth.

One of the most damaged areas was along Arve Rd, which is the 20km long road leading to the site from Geeveston.

“Black pillars are now covered in bright green leaves and the forest floor is covered in leaves,” Ms Hickling said.

She said the entire community was looking forward to the reopening.

“It will be so good for the valley, everyone is excited about it,” she said.