13 December 2019
We were so glad to have scheduled a rest day at Melaleuca and have the opportunity to explore this fascinating place. It also perfectly coincided with the only day of significant rainfall so far. We had a lazy morning then wandered through the aboriginal heritage walk on the edge of the inlet. (Boardwalk…. bliss.) The Needwonnee people lived in this extreme environment for 35,000 years. Current decendents have created a well maintained and informative interpretative walk.
We then spent an hour or so at the museum, a tribute to Deny King who worked alongside his father Charles tin mining at Melaleuca. He was joined here by his wife, a Sydney Occupational Therapist he had met while recovering from war injuries and wooed over 4 years through letter-writing. The museum also has a bird-viewing area where volunteers monitor the nearly extinct orange bellied parrots. 75 of these birds remain, and their only breeding ground is the specific area around Melaleuca. We returned later in the day when one of the two resident volunteers was there counting and identifying the individual birds who fed. As well as OBPs, we also saw a couple of beautiful firetails, a real delight as we had heard their distinct single note call many times throughout our entire walk, but never seen one before.
Early afternoon a young woman, Sarah, arrived. She had set out 2 days after us and walked the PDT in 4 days alone. We were most impressed and enjoyed getting to know her a little and sharing reflections on the trail. She agreed with our estimation of the proportion of muddy sections on the trail. 50 – 60%. So there you go! A couple of hours later the two women we had met heading out for an overnight camping trip returned totally drenched. We learned they had become friends at uni studying environmental engineering and had needed a break from their busy lives so booked flights in and out of Melaleuca to do day walks and chill out for a week. Soon the conversation became even more interesting and we discovered lots of connections in health and organisational management. Tim and Leith shared their theories on leadership and conflict as we all dodged the sodden thermal clothing and tents hanging above us.