A search by divers of a lake south of Hobart has failed to find any trace of missing bushwalker Bruce Fairfax, as police renew their pledge to "bring closure" to his loved ones.
Mr Fairfax, who had Parkinson's disease, was walking in the Duckhole Lake area at Strathblane in southern Tasmania on Saturday October 14 with his wife Louise.
The couple separated, with Ms Fairfax telling police the pair had agreed to meet up at the lake once 66-year-old Mr Fairfax caught up.
Mr Fairfax, an experienced bushwalker, is not thought to have survived being without his medication for an extended period.
Police divers said they have completed a search of Duckhole Lake and used a specialist dog to search the bushland area.
Police said they are now "confident Mr Fairfax did not enter the lake".
"Any further information relevant to Mr Fairfax's disappearance will be thoroughly investigated and we hope to bring closure to his family and loved ones," police said.
Anyone with information should call Kingston Police on 131 444.
'Don't take relationships for granted'
Ms Fairfax has previously written of the last days with her husband and in a new blog post has told of how the couple had discussed on what was to be their final day together moving from their home in Launceston to Hobart.
"On the morning of this sunrise, Bruce and I eyed Taroona up as a possible settling place for some time in the future, as we figured we'd need to move to Hobart one day when our current house would be too much work for me, and, of course, neither of us knew that this would be his last full day on Earth," she wrote.
"We decided Taroona, with beach walks and sunrise over the ocean, was just the place for us.
"Who would ever believe what lay ahead of us and that such a conversation was superfluous?"
"I guess losing your partner makes you sentimental, as I find myself clinging to all these 'last things', hanging onto them, as if doing so will help me somehow hang on to Bruce.
"But, meanwhile, his sudden disappearance and death reinforce for me the lesson I have known since I was a child, and my father had a heart attack (I was eight) and my mother got cancer (I was twelve): namely, that I shouldn't take relationships for granted. What walks and talks today can be gone tomorrow.
"I learned not to assume that anything I loved would be there forever.
"Knowing that helps one live life to the fullest."
A memorial for Mr Fairfax, a much-admired former teacher at Launceston Grammar, was held at the school hall last Friday.
