Cruising Macquarie Harbour, Strahan

Friday morning the 30th of March... We woke, not to the pitter patter of raindrops but to the thunder of a torrential deluge.
On closer inspection, our annex had been pounded in the downpour and our caravan park in Somerset, just out of Burnie was underwater.
When it looked like the rain wasn't going to ease, we decided to pack our bags, lock up the caravan and head down the south-west coast to Strahan.
It was another slow and winding track up and down and around mountainsides, but again the view was amazing.

We arrived in Strahan by late afternoon and before long we were booked into a motel and enjoying the seaside tourist village.

Dinner was pizza and footy for the kids in the room while Richard and I had a drink in the hotel restaurant overlooking the village..

Overlooking Strahan from our hotel restaurant

Saturday the 31st of March... was an early one, and on the Lady Jane II, a cruise boat which took us through Macquarie Harbour and into the Gordon River. The views were breathtaking...

The Lady Sarah Jane II

On the Lady Jane II

The views from Macquarie Harbour

We were told stories of Hells Gates, the entrance into Macquarie Harbour, and the graveyard of many shipwrecks who failed to negotiate the tricky waterways...

Hells Gates

There were also lots of fish farms along the way which hold Atlantic Salmon and Ocean Trout... the cages holding more than 600 000 tonnes of Atlantic Salmon. Sitting at the pub later we found out that an argument between neighbouring fish farms had seen one farmer cut the nets of another ... allowing 30 000 fish to spill out into the open waterways. Funnily enough the tour boat operator didn't mention that story.

Fish farms

We were then taken into the Gordon River, and through the rainforest which is a World Heritage Listed Site...

The Gordon River

All of us on the boat

A Huon Pine tree  leaning over the River, over 500 years old

On the rainforest walk

We were then taken on a tour of Sarah Island, a penal settlement, established before Port Arthur... some of the stories about the convicts and what they got up to were amazing. Most had been shipped across the world to the middle of nowhere for stealing something as minor as a loaf of bread.

The ruins of Sarah Island

Another ruin on the Island

Once arriving back on terra firm we explored the town before visiting a local Huon Pine factory.

One of Strahan's many historic buildings

A birds eye view of the village

The main street of town

A 30 ft wood carved kangaroo

We had to drive by the 30 ft wood carved kangaroo, hand carved by a local wood craftsman... another local tourist attraction... The sightseeing was over for the day when Richard found a tavern to watch a couple of horse races.

The first pub in town that we went to wouldn't let us in because we had kids with us - talk about making you feel welcome... they are definitely different here.