A very generous endorsement

"When i returned to Tasmania in the early 1980s, the Franklin River dam issue was being fought by many brave and determined people. Unfortunately, at that time i could not participate and only knew what was happening through the media which hardly told the real story i had always wanted to hear.

'Just recently i was honoured to meet Geoff Law whose book 'The River Runs Free' was recently published. Geoff kindly gave me a signed copy and i became engrossed. It was written with a no-holds-barred discourse which had humour and passion and at times took on the form of a thriller, finishing all too soon.

'Geoff is now on a journey to walk Tasmania from east to west and then from north to south and to take us with him by writing a book that i would like to help sponsor so that i, too, can enjoy the Tasmanian bush that i would otherwise not see."

Jay Yulamara, March 2009

As Jay says in her very generous endorsement, I am indeed walking Tasmania from end to end. This project (which I am completing in stages) will form both a framework and springboard for a book about the battle to protect Tasmania's forests.

I will visit Tasmania's forest hot spots - past battlefields and icons, magnificent places that have been protected, destroyed or remain under threat. Places such as Farmhouse Creek, the Lemonthyme, Jackeys Marsh, the Styx Valley, the Tarkine, Blue Tier and Beech Creek.

So far i've walked from the beautiful Bay of Fires to the Mersey valley. This journey has taken me from the dry forests of the eastern granite hills across the top of the moist, rainforested Blue Tier, over the rugged tops of the north-east highlands and the exhilarating open alpine plateau of Ben Lomond, down boulder-strewn gorges on the Nile River (including some of Tasmania's finest swimming holes), across the woodlands, paddocks and long long roads of the Midlands, up and down the slopes of the spectacular Great Western Tiers three times, and along the wet, lake-studded Central Plateau.

I've walked through extraordinarily beautiful forests and seen mile upon mile of devastating logging, sometimes in seemingly remote locations such as the eastern spurs and gullies of Ben Lomond, and sometimes on the most precipitous slopes, as in the headwaters of the South Esk River near Mathinna.

Congratulations to all those who are battling to protect these wonderful forests from greedy companies such as Gunns and disingenuous, calculating, self-centred organisations such as Forestry Tasmania.

In particular, on behalf of the forests of the Blue Tier and North-East Highlands, thank you to Lesley Nicklason for her unstinting efforts to promote and protect these stunning wild places.

I've now reached the Mersey Valley. How wonderful to have experienced the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area at first-hand again. I'm really looking forward to resuming my journey with a trek through the Lemonhtyme forest and the Forth valley to Cradle Mountain. Thereafter, it will be the Tarkine.

For now, my walk is suspended. The nights are just a bit too long in June and July. But some snow in August and September when I'm back on the trail would be nice.