Strahan, Zeehan and the Gordon River

Being stuck in Queenstown meant that we could spend some time doing day trips around the local area. The incredibly hot weather and oh-so-picturesque sports ground meant we really didn’t want to stay with Bertha for the day either! So we had one day driving to Strahan and Zeehan to check road conditions and another taking a cruise up the Gordon River.

Strahan is beautiful. Such a gorgeous town and wonderfully set up for tourists. We wandered the waterfront and spent some time in the Visitors Centre and the old saw mill, looking at the preparation of the huon pine wood. It smells soooo nice! I was tempted to buy a bag of sawdust shavings just so we could keep smelling it, but I didn’t.

The drive to Zeehan was frustratingly fabulously flat and we spent HOURS wandering through the most incredible museum. It encompasses the enormous Gaiety Theatre and 2 other local buildings and is crammed with the most interesting and intriguing displays. We all thoroughly enjoyed it. Angus was a little reluctant to enter the underground mining exhibit after seeing the displays on the Beaconsfield disaster too recently, but aside from that we all loved it.

The following day we set the alarm to be up early for the 1 hour drive back to Strahan. We had to be there at 8.30am for our Gordon River cruise. It was amazing! We went out into the Southern Ocean (which is really officially the Indian Ocean according to latitude) and saw the work of one man who was able to predict the tides and water flow and make a breakwater without the use of computer modeling and only using rocks and steam engines. Incredible stuff. His work still stands and works today – 150 years later with very little need for upkeep. No designed obsolescence there!

We also went through “Hell’s Gates” to “Sarah Island”. I assumed that Hell’s Gates were named due to the hellish water/weather conditions that ships had to face, but it was actually the entrance to the hellish prison for repeat offenders. Duncan and I both commented on how fortunate we are to have been born in these times and not those. The cruelty and brutal conditions faced by convicts and settlers every day is mind blowing. The children have some appreciation but I don’t think they fully grasp how awful it truly was. The boat cruise included some guides and the kids were not interested in tagging along. They wanted to do their own thing with a little friend they met on board. How glad we are that we made them join the tour! Angus is STILL raving about how wonderful our guide was, how theatrical she was, and how she “put so much expression in her voice”. Bless him!

 We also cruised right up the Gordon River to a boardwalk that went through the rainforest of Huon Pines. Another incredibly beautiful sight. The tours were a bit crowded and towards the end I sat on a bench and waited for the crowds to die down. The kids were on the boat already, Dunc was way back with the 2^nd group and I had the chance to sit on a bench in silence and appreciate the smells and the sounds and especially the bird song. I had 3 (crazy) people ask if I was too tired to make it all the way back to the boat 20m away. They looked so confused when I told them I was appreciating the surroundings. Who would do that?!