The Styx River forest reserve in southern Tasmania hosts some of the most beautiful temperate rainforest we have ever come across. We were overnighting right at the banks of the tanin coloured river and found ourselves surrounded by an impenetrable jungle of huge tree ferns and ancient eucalyptus giants. For years, this was one of Tassie’s hottest conservation battlegrounds, with patches of its giant trees logged against the best efforts of environmentalists. In 2013, the logging stopped and the Styx was finally given the recognition it deserved, protected as a formal reserve.