Visit the fishing and tourist village of Strahan Tasmania

Strahan is situated on the western coast of Tasmania, 298 kilometres from Hobart. The wind and weather from South America and Antarctica sweep this area which is known for its wild coastline. There is a great expanse of sand called Ocean Beach where the Southern Ocean meets the land. Strahan is a place which caters for the Australian tourist and those from abroad. A place of history, scenic beauty and wilderness.

It is a fishing and tourist village nestled on the shores of Macquarie Harbour. The harbour opens to the ocean via an entrance 200 metres wide. The entrance which was first navigated by Captain James Kelly in the year of 1815 was later called Hells Gate by convicts of that time. The harbour stretches from Macquarie Heads and Hells Gate south east to join the Lower Gordon River whose upper reaches channel through the Gordon Splits from the Upper Gordon River. Further up it joins other watercourses the best known of these is the Franklin River, and the Kings River. These rivers have their beginnings in the watershed of the wilderness area.

The Franklin River belongs to a World Heritage listing for wilderness. This came about after protests over the building of dams in this area around the nineteen eighties. The river runs down through massive gorges whose sides are covered with cold climate rainforests, some of the trees are extremely old. It is an untouched area where rare plants are known to be located and old sites of aboriginal people from the past are.

The Kings River runs through a deep gorge which is also covered with the rainforests. Along the upper levels of the gorge runs a railway track, this is the railway of the West Coast Wilderness. It begins at a place called Queenstown which is about forty kilometres from Strahan. The track runs for approximately 35 kilometres and along the route are stations of times gone by. These include Lower Landing, Dubbil, Barril, Ruadeena. The rail lines traverses bridges and runs through enormous rock cuttings which have been carved through solid rock. It continues on its way running close to the sides of the deep gorge, where the rainforest canopy overlaps the line. The stream train completes its journey when it arrives at Strahan.

After the rivers run into the Upper Gordon River it reaches the area known as the Gordon Splits. Here the river rushes through a channel caused by a tilt in the earth in prehistoric times. This channel is around 100 metres long and it is deep. The sides rise vertically and merge into the mountains above. The rock is quartzite and sparkles. It is said that it looks like a huge unsolved jigsaw puzzle, and that the rock has simply split in half to create this channel.

As the river leaves the Gordon Splits it continues on its journey and is now known as the Lower Gordon River. The water on this part of the river can seem so still as to have a mirror image reflection. The tourists cruise boats come up the river as far as Heritage Landing, from there kayaks are used. In these areas Platypus, Sea Eagles, Kingfishers and other wildlife may be seen.

The Lower Gordon River runs into Macquarie Harbour, there is an island here which is called Sarahs Island. This was once a penal colony which had a reputation as the worst convict prison in Australia. This was from 1822 to 1833. Here the convicts built ships from the timber of the Huon pine. The ruins of the buildings of the colony are still there today.

Further down Macquarie Harbour there are salmon farms. The salmon are farmed in large rings of netting, this allows for water to run freely through, and stops predators from taking them. The salmon are fed a diet suited for these fish by the fish farmers, and harvested when large enough.

Macquarie Harbour meets the Southern Ocean through Hells Gate. The channel is dangerous and shallow. It has lighthouses on Entrance Island which is at the entrance of Hells Gate and one on Bonnett Island further inside the channel. There is another channel which is said to be the right channel and this is situated between Cape Sorell to the west and Entrance Island to the east. This is much wider but too shallow for a boat to negotiate.

Little Penguins can be observed around dusk on Bonnet Island which is at the mouth of Macquarie Harbour.

Pillinger which is now in ruins was a port for the copper which was mined from the area by the miners of days gone by. There was also the pine cutters who have now disappeared who cut the Huon pine for its timber. Traces of these people can be found in the areas surrounding Bird River, Frenchmans Gap, Lake Burbury, and Kelly Basin where there is an abandoned railway track.

There are several Strahan accommodation options available for tourists to stay while in the area. There is a restaurant and bar, a pub and hotel, and a cafe on the wharf. Tours are catered for with comfort, meals and guides. There are cruises, kayaking on the Lower Gordon River, helicopter and plane trips over the wilderness areas, ATV (all terrain vehicles) use on the Ocean Beach sand dunes, a visit to see the Little Penguins at dusk and four wheel drive trips to Pillinger plus other things of interest. This may be of interest to those tired of the big cities and yearning for some peace and quiet and a look at the beauty of an unspoiled area.