A day on Macquarie Harbour - Strahan

After our previous day exploring the area by car, we decided the next way to explore the area would be by boat - after all the only way in and out of this area was by boat until 1932 when the highway finally opened this area up to the motor car.  We booked a tour on the Lady Jane Franklin II , operated by Gordon River Cruises.  The ship, custom built for the tour explores Macquarie Harbour out to Hells Gates, the Gordon River and the former convict settlement at Sarah Island.  We found ourselves enjoying every minute.

Strahan Harbour in the early morning

The boys were of course almost as excited as I was to be heading back out on the water for a cruise.  And the Tasmanian weather didn't disappoint.  Cold, windy and the odd passing showers made the so called 'sun deck' a place for the dedicated or mad only - particularly with the vessel's speed nudging 30 knots.

The Little Helper braves the cold to glimpse the Southern Ocean through the heads.

Whilst the harbour is huge - some eight times larger than Sydney's and second only to Port Phillip Bay in the southern hemisphere - some massive engineering work went into making it (barely) navigable.  Over 200 men built a training wall by hand - a massive rock wall in the harbour mouth designed to funnel the tides and thus clear the sand-bank or bar over the mouth.  It was effective - a huge relief no doubt to all involved with the project.  There is also a massive sea wall that was built to try to keep the entrance open in all weather.  Again the ingenuity of the early engineer's and the back breaking efforts to make the breakwater must be simple admired.  With 20 metre seas recorded off this coast, the fact so much of their sea wall still remains is a credit to their efforts.

Hells Gates - A mere 60 metres wide - marks the entrance to the second largest harbour in the Southern Hemisphere

The tour then took us up the Gordon River to Heritage Landing, where we again stepped into the wilderness - albiet on a short boardwalk loop.  Whilst our guides were very good - and explained the flora very well, I kind of liked it more when it was just us, on the Bird River Track the day before.

The weather was still cold and blustery - so we didn't get any of the glassy reflections the Gordon River is famous for - but we still got to see the magnificent forests right down to the waters edge - with Huon Pine, Myrtle and Leatherwood standing tall.  

And then we headed to Sarah Island - where we had a completely unexpected surprise.

Kiah, our guide brought the history of the island to life and explained so many of the paradoxes that confound historians today.  From being the worst of the worst convict colonies, through a series of events it became one of the most efficient shipyards in colonial times.  Of course it took a business man to solve the government's problems, however the lessons learnt here were lost on the bureaucracy, who set up Port Arthur on the same misconceptions that nearly caused Sarah Island to fail entirely.  The final escape bid was made on a ship (or was it a collection of material) called the Frederick - but to hear that story - you'll need to watch a great little play, "The Ship That Never Was" - Australia's longest running play, that is on a Strahan each evening.

The only sandstone building - called the Courthouse - although there is no record of it ever holding a court

Old bakery ruins

And so we returned to Strahan that evening well pleased with the day's activities.  Like so many places, we could have spent more time here - but the weather was closing in.  We decided to head off the next morning and see what other adventures we could find.