Seaside town of Strahan
Our next stop after leaving Queenstown, was Strahan. A small town
on the shores of Macquarie Harbour. The Harbour is the 2nd largest
natural Harbour in Australia after Port Philip Bay. It is 6 times
larger than Sydney Harbour.
The Gordon River flows into the Harbour, & there are a number
of fish farms there, farming both Atlantic Salmon & Trout.
This is possible because although it's open to the ocean, it also
gets a lot of fresh water flow down from the Gordon River.
Fish in the farms are fed by jets of water which contain
fish food pellets, hence the many seagulls hoping for a feed.
I read an article on the fish farms, & it said that one year,
68,000 salmon escaped into Macquarie Harbour from some of the farms.
That would have been a good time for Tassie fisherman!
We booked a Gordon River Cruise for last Friday.
It was a full day, taking in the fish farms, up the
Gordon River as far as was allowed, & outside the heads,
known as Hells Gate to the open ocean, & out
to Point Sorell Lighthouse.
Hells Gate, only about 60 metres wide, and on this day,
the swell was unusually small. Imagine the sailing ships
of the 19th Century negotiating this small gap,
with the Roaring Forties blowing, & a large swell.
This is Point Sorell Lighthouse outside Hell's Gate.
After that, we moved on to, & disembarked at Sarah Island,
a small penal colony in the Harbour.
Rainforest area on Sarah Island
Now, an idyllic island with rainforest & calm waters
surrounding it, but when it was established in 1821,
had been described as a hell on earth. Reserved for convicts
who were repeat offenders or escapees at other penal settlements.
Calm day on the island when we arrived
Penalties on the island were given with the
Macquarie cat, a cat'o'nine tails but with double the cords,
and lead shot tied up in the ends.
9,100 lashes were given in 1823.
Add to that a sadistic governor, rampant
malnutrition, dysentery & scurvy, its not surprising
that many tried to escape. Most either drowned or
were recaptured.
One prisoner even killed a fellow inmate so he
would be executed, & escape the island that way.
One other escapee, Alexander Pierce was
eventually caught & hanged, had cannibalised
his fellow escapees.
They made a movie about the escape, called
Van Diemen's Land
Admiral Trelevan, flagrant disregard for passenger safety,
steering the boat, drinking beer, & not watching
where she was going.
Strahan has a wood craft shop, where they make & sell
all kinds of arts & crafts, made out of the beautiful Huon Pine timber.
These Rocking Horses were made there.
The one on its back legs was $8,800,
while the smaller one was $5000
Some old houses on the foreshore at Strahan.
Heading out from Strahan for the day, we headed up to Trial Harbour.
An exposed to the elements anchorage, that was
once used to establish the early mining communities
of Zeehan & Queenstown.
It became too hazardous for the sailing ships of the day,
and is now a small community of holiday homes.
One of the weekend shacks at Trial Harbour
Grab a bargain at Trial Harbour.
On another day trip, we drove out to Philosopher Falls.
It's a 3km walk in on an easy track, followed by
210 steps down to the base of the falls.
Along the way, you walk through a thick rainforest
of Myrtle trees, fungi, moss, staghorn ferns,
tree ferns, & fishbone ferns.
It looks a little bit like a scene from
Lord of the Rings.
The following pics are just some of the fungi
we spotted on the track to the falls.
Looks like laminated wood.
With one day left, before moving on,
we drove up to Zeehan.
The town was established as a mining town,
after silver, lead deposits were found.
at its peak it had a population of 10,000.
Now it has less than 1/10 of that.
It was on par with Launceston & Hobart for size.
The main street was 3.2kms long, & had 20 hotels.
While we were there, we barely saw a car or person.
a Café, op shop, & Museum was about the only thing open.
We visited the Museum, as the old Gaiety Theatre
was included in the Museum.
A great old building, & once the largest
Concert Hall in Australia.
The Theatre has been used as a cinema, a dance hall,
& sports centre. They also hosted Balls there.
They even hosted a Ballet performance.
The Museum was also interesting, with relics & memorabilia
from the towns' past.
Early Masonic Lodge (I think)
We have now moved to Waratah, as a base
for visiting Cradle Mountain.
After that, we go up to the North Coast
to stay at Burnie.
A few more pics Jan took during our stay round Strahan.
Hogarth Falls at Strahan
Wallaby seen on the way to the Falls
Entering a tunnel near Zeehan
Glow worms in the tunnel
Jukebox in a Café at Zeehan
Jan's compulsory bird pic
Old footbridge in Zeehan
Waterfront at Strahan
Timber sculptures in Strahan
Another view of that fungus
Falls in the town of Waratah
No comments:
Post a Comment