File:View from Mt Rugby over Pandani.jpg

English: Southwest National Park, Tas. The photo was taken in February 2021 from near the summit of Mount Rugby (744metres) on the descent after clouds and rain cleared, looking south. Position -43.329, 146.115.

In Iola Bay across Bathurst Channel you see two yachts at anchor. We came on one yacht and took a small dingy across the channel to the base of the mountain, to the start of the path to the summit. The return walk to the summit took four and a half hours. 

We had sailed to Tasmania from Melbourne. The Port Davey Marine Reserve features a layer of rich red-brown tannin freshwater which overlays the tidal saltwater from the Southern Ocean and is in the south west of Tasmania, located within the Southwest National Park and Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. The only access is via light aircraft, boat or foot. The walking access is by the South West Track or Port Davey Track which join each other at Melaleuca. Bathurst Narrows is traversed via row boats on either side. You can see the white quartzite gravel airstrip at Melaleuca in the photograph as a white line at the end of the squiggly Melaleuca Inlet and behind Melaleuca Lagoon. The South Coast Track passes through Melaleuca. The mountain in the foreground opposite the channel is Mount Beattie (256m).

The flora includes a few pandani near the summit, shown in the foreground. The pandani is the world’s tallest heath plant and a distinctive example of Tasmania's endemic plants.