Strahan, TAS.
We were keen to arrive in Strahan, being the furthest town we can go to on the south of the West Coast. We are staying in a caravan park which is a treat after 4 nights free camping. The Strahan Beach Tourist Park was a great little park - friendly admin and clean ammenities, if a little over the top with COVID measures - this is the first park we have seen the whole time with contactless check in. They also have a great playground and camp kitchen with an oven. Anyone who has been reading for a while, will know Kylie is easily won over with an oven.
Some storms are forecast for our time here, so we went and walked the Hogarth Falls walk on our first day. (Even writing this my fingers automatically wrote Hogwarts!!)
This was a beautiful calm walk through the rainforest along the creek to a waterfall. The local primary school had made the information boards on the trees and plants - the kids loved reading these and looking at what the kids had described.
We booked a river cruise for our 2nd day but we woke up to gail winds and constant heavy rain and temperatures of about 7 degrees. So we rang the boat and postponed it to the next day. Instead we went for a drive the hills to look for some snow. We drove through lots of little mining towns.
Queenstown was a pretty little town hidden in the hills and apparently has the highest annual rainful in Tassie - today we can definitely believe that. It rained ALL DAY. Zara was on camera duty again as we came across a Welcome to Queenstown sign written in the hills.
We saw a stunning waterfall with a walking track up the side of the mountain to view it - given the almost negative temperatures and wild winds, Saul went alone and took some quick photos. We hope to get a better day on our way out of town in a few days.
We struck it lucky at the next lookout - we got out to have a look and there were little snow flakes falling around us. They melted before they hit the ground but Zara and Elsie thought this great fun. Bridie was not interested in leaving the warm car - and we certainly did not blame her.
In the afternoon, to avoid sitting in the caravan all afternoon we went to have a look at the timber mills in Strahan. It was amazing learn about the Huon Pine trees and see some of the remarkable shapes they form. They take 1000's of years to grow and because of this nobody is allowed to cut them down anymore. There is a stockpile of Huon Pine timber that has been cut and the registered millers are allowed to take their allocation of that to make products. The kids picked out some off-cuts to take home and sand and stain themselves.
The next day we woke up to blue sky - we didn't believe our eyes. We boarded the boat and there was a slight drizzle but that didn't last and we were blessed with a gorgeous day. The boat is big and very fancy - it's not even 12 months old. There were not many people on the boat so we basically had the place to ourselves.
Our first location to visit was Hells Gate - the entrance to the Macquarie Harbour. It is a very narrow entrance of about 80m so back in the day it was very dangerous to enter. There are 2 light houses and the captain had to line the lights up and sail directly between them. Convicts who were sent to the area believed they were being sent to Hell so they also called it Hells Gate for that reason.
We passed by the aquaculture farms growing salmon and trout. This was interesting to see.
Our next stop was Sarah Island - this housed one of the earliest convict settlements in Tasmania's history, even pre-dating Port Authur. It was the home to convicts who had been sent to Tasmania and then did something wrong again once they had arrived. We had a tour around the island with our very knowledgeable and passionate guide, Guy. We saw the ruins of the buildings and the ship making areas. The convicts were eventually trained up here to build boats.
From here we returned to the boat and enjoyed a lovely lunch of fresh Tasmania produce (and a sneaky Caromello Koala for the kids too!)
While we ate lunch we slowly journeyed up the Gordon River which is part of the World Heritage Wilderness areas, and it also home to the Huon Pine tree. They grow to huge sizes and take thousands of years to grow. The trees are very useful for boat making because due to their oil content they do not rot in water. For generations, these trees were cut down, but they are no longer allowed to be cut down. However, they reclaim already cut timber from previous harvests, because they would leave behind the base and top of the trees.
We stopped after lunch and explored some of the bush along the river at one of the old landings used for logging. The loggers used to cut the trees up the river, put their brand on the wood in 3 locations (top, bottom and middle) and then push them into the river. They would then float downstream back to Strahan where the people at the mill would catch them.
Here we learnt about some of the medicinal and food purposes for the trees. They would make matches from the sap of the trees to help make fires. The celery-leaf pine has very rubbery leaves that look like celery leaves, and it is great for building because as it drops it branches it heals the trunk and there is no hole, making it a perfect timber for ship masts and poles. Below is a photo of a healing wound where a branch has previously fallen off.
The kids made friends with the Captain and he let them sit in the driver's seat. He was super friendly and told Saul and I to get in the photo too. At one point he had to rush back to the steering stick because we were starting the veer off course...towards the bend in the river. Opps.
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