Friends of Melaleuca WILDCARE

GREETING CARDS FROM MELALEUCA

The Deny King Heritage Museum Collection

Erika Shankley

Looking for something unique from the far south west?  Visitors to Melaleuca can now take home a bit of memorabilia with greeting cards now on sale at the Deny King Heritage Museum.   These cards are also available from the Wildcare shop.

Photographs by Geoff Fenton and Peter Marmion have captured the wild, natural beauty of the area with images of the rare Isophysis tasmanica or hewardia, endemic to the south west and an iconic image of Mt Rugby mirrored in Bathurst Harbour.

From the 1950s until 2010 the beach at Cox Bight was often used as a landing strip by light aircraft.  Bill Baker has captured a historic moment with bushwalkers being off-loaded at this isolated location from the two Austers on the beach.  Continuing the history theme, a photo from the King collection, circa 1946, shows Deny and his sister Winsome spying out the landscape in Bathurst Harbour with Deny’s treasured telescope.

The area’s unique moorland habitat is portrayed by artist and illustrator, Janet Fenton; and the secretive ground parrot, well camouflaged amongst the sedges and heaths of this unique area, was the inspiration for an embroidery by Helen Statham, now featured as a greeting card.

Since 2009, volunteers from the Wildcare group Friends of Melaleuca have, in partnership with the Parks & Wildlife Service, maintained the natural and cultural heritage at Melaleuca.  Purchase of these cards will help volunteers continue this work.

The set of six cards is now available from the Wildcare shop  Price $27.00 per pack including postage.