Monday 25th March. This morning we were up early to get down to the wharf to board The Lady Jane Franklin II by 8:15am for our Gordon River Cruise. We were on the top deck and actually had the whole ship to explore. The weather started out a bit cooler again but turned into a beautiful day and the cruise was fabulous.
The entrance to the Harbour and to Strahan is only made possible by a man made 3 kilmotere "training wall" which works like a giant funnel to speed up tidal flow and force it along the rock wall to scour out sand. If it were not for this action the harbour would not be deep enough for ships to enter. It took 2 years to complete this wall and 300 men filled the wall by hand in the 1890s, packing it with thousands of tons of stone.
We went out through Macquarie Heads, quite a treacherous trip in years gone by and still so today, the entrance at the mouth of the Macquarie Harbour is known as Hell's Gates and is where the Southern Ocean unleashes its power and churnes the seas more than 20 metres high.
We had full commentary on the history of Sarah Island (penal settlement) and the harsh treatment of the convicts, then we came back in through the Heads, this harbour is the 2nd largest harbour in Australia, following Port Phillip Bay, 6 times the size of Sydney harbour. The same actors who did the play last night provided the tour of the island.
After coming back in the harbour we cruised up the Gordon River - just beautiful - went for a nature walk to see a 2300 year old Huon pine - not living anymore. The relections on the Gordon River were stunning, we were the first ship into the river today so there was nothing to disturb the water surface, it was just like a mirror, so peaceful and serene. The first aborigines here must have known they had it made until the white man came along.
Next we cruised up to Sarah Island for a guided tour of the island, although it was an extremely harsh convict settlement that has been described as a place of "inexpressible depravity, degradation and woe" it was also a place where men gained trade skills and the human spirit triumphed. In 1827 it was the largest shipyard in Australia, turning out 131 vessels. The ships were built using rot resistant Huon pine.
Once back in Strahan we strolled around the wharf and watched the demonstrations in the timber mill, then went for a drive towards Zeehan. Stopped at a lookout and had a great view of the Southern Ocean and a pine forest, then headed back and stopped of at Henty's Dunes and hand a fun time climbing the sand dunes before calling it a day and coming home.
Tuesday 26th March - Happy Birthday Emma - love to you, xxxx
This morning we boarded the West Coast Wilderness Railway which is a restoration of the original Mt Lyell Mining and Railway Co Ltd railway which was built in 1896 to transport copper concentrates from Queenstown to export markets. It is 35 kilometres over extremely rugged terrain.
Our trip was a little more luxurious than the 1896 trips, we were in a beautiful restored carriage with our own hostess and food and drink on hand whenever we wanted. The trip was breath taking in parts and difficult to imagine how the original railway was ever built. Especially as it was all dug by hand as explosives could not be used due to the nature of the terrain.
Originally 5 ABT locomotives were in use and today 3 of those have been restored and are in service. The restoration work started in 1999 and included 40 bridges to be restored or replaced as well as clearing the overgrown and damaged track bed, repairing sleepers and rebuilding railway stations. The official passenger services on the reborn railway began from Queenstown in 2000.
Once we disembarked in Queenstown we had about an hour to look around and then the bus arrived to take us back to Strahan. Didn't think much of Queenstown, perhaps in another 100 years and the countryside is restored from all the mining destruction it will be a more promising town.