Tasmania - Strahan, Wilderness Railway & Gordon River

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Strahan, the only town on the rugged and dangerous west coast of Tasmania which sits at the Northern end of Macquarie Harbour. The Harbour is 6 times the size of Sydney Harbour and is accessed through a narrow opening known as "Hells Gates", appropriately named because the opening is only 20mtrs in width and 4-5 mtrs in depth, so many ships never made it through. Cruising in through Hells Gates today as we take the starboard view, a man made wall was constructed for 3 kms in length which took 3years to build; the idea is when the tide goes out it takes sand and silt with it so the depth between Hells Gates is now much deeper. Not sure about the science of how it works but lets just say it works and works well. The Gordon River Cruise meandered through Macquarie Harbour, then into the Gordon River which is A World Heritage Listed Area. The World Heritage Convention was established in 1972 by UNESCO, United Nations Educational Scientific & Cultural Organisation and now the most signed environmental convention in the World. The Gordon River ticks the list for 7/10 natural and cultural diversities. Check out the website below;
bob-brown.greensmps.org.au/.../huge-25th-franklin-river-anniversary-hobart
As well as touring Sarah Island, where convicts were confined in harsh conditions in the 1820's before the establishment of Port Arthur, we also took the Wilderness Railway Tour which leaves from Strahan and travels 35kms to Queenstown. This was like going back in time.

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Photos

Strahan - Wilderness Railway
Quentin and I on the Wilderness Railway which leaves from Strahan and travels to Queenstown.

Strahan - Wilderness Railway
Some beautiful scenery, speaks for itself

Strahan Wilderness Railway
Approaching one of the oldest bridges

Wilderness Railway Tour
The most notorious bridge on the original route, the costly and high-maintenance Quarter Mile Bridge, was unsuitable for restoration and its sparse remains lean in near-decay alongside its steel replacement.

Wilderness Railway Tour
View from under the bridge in Dubbil Barril

Wilderness Railway - Dubbil Barril
Quentin and Greg Tuckfield

Wilderness Railway - Dubbil Barril
One of the route's most spectacular views is from the bridge overlooking the narrow King River Gorge, on the 1 in 20 grade descent from Rinadeena to Dubbil Barril. The original turntable at Dubbil Barril Station has also been restored

Wilderness Railway - King River
More beautiful views

Wilderness Railway
Before ascending the highest point on the tour, the steam engine used for this part of the trip was filled with 3000 litres of water. Being a 35km trip from Strahan to Queenstown, this was approx. one third up the mountain side. The system they use for this part of the journey was the Abt Rack & Pinion system devised by a Swiss Clock Maker with the surname Abt, hence its name Abt system. If you would like to read more please log onto www.westcoastwildernessrailway.com.au
Aaron you would be interested in reading about this!!

Wilderness Railway
Petticoat Junction....whoo whoo...some of you will appreciate what I mean..
Coral and Quentin on the train

Strahan Macquarie Harbour
Hells Gates as described in the beginning of this blog

Strahan Macquarie Harbour - Salmon/Trout Farm
For all of you who like good healthy food I had to gruel the guy taking the tour on Gordon River Cruises, he wasn't quite sure where I was from as I was asking a lot of questions and taking notes. He did ask if I was from the Salmon Industry, HA HA. As you know I dont like additives in food if I can help it so I like to know the ins and outs of everything and how its works, especially food! Here goes, there are 5 salmon farms in Tasmania and Macquarie harbour isthe perfect home for this process. Not only is the water pristine but interestingly enough this harbour boasts fresh water on top and sea water on the bottom which is why the salmon are in healthy condtion. 30,000 salmon/trout are farmed in each pool (see the circular pool to the right) starting from gold fish size from local hatcheries and growing to the size of your arm and weighing in at approx. 3.2kgs when harvested on the boat in the background. Once they are harvested the product is in Sydney/Melbourne fish shop within 24hrs. They are fed pellets which contain jack mackeral and keratin, yes keratin the stuff contained in carrots. I will explain more about the Keratin in the photo with the colour chart. Each farm has approx 20-25 pens and that folks, equates to a lot of salmon and Trout. Trout is being exported in huge volumes as well around the world and the ratio is 60/40 (salmon/trout producing).
TETSUYA the famous Japanese chef who has restaurants in Sydney is a big promoter of the salmon/trout farms in this area and visits the area from time to time.

Strahan Macquarie Harbour - Salmon/Trout Farm
No this is not a colour chart for Taubmans or Dulux, its actually a colour chart used in 5 star dining restaurants to pick the colour of your salmon/ trout. What will they think of next!

Strahan Gordon River
Some beautiful views coming up now which are amazing

Strahan Gordon River - Huon Pine
This Huon Pine is 2000 years old and is used for making boats, furniture and cooking utensils.

Strahan Gordon River
Which way should the photo be? Which is reflection and which is not??

Strahan Gordon River
How is the reflection in the water, just amazing. We were lucky to get weather like this to get these shots.

Strahan Gordon River - Huon Pine
This Huon Pine (small plant to your left) is approx. 5 years old

Strahan Gordon River
Quentin, Alitia, Coral and Greg

Strahan Gordon River
We stopped off at the rainforest along the Gordon River where Huon Pines, Sassafras, Celery Top Pine and Myrtle abound. Very expensive timbers which are sought after all over the world. Huon Pine logs are often collected in the Gordon River and pulled downstream. The collection is stored in a large factory and they have at the moment about 100 years supply.