On 5th of January we left Hobart towards the West Coast, the wilderness part of Tasmania.
Very few sealed roads and hardly anybody lives there. In the southwest corner of the state there are no roads at all. Some of the most spectacular sites can only be reached by sea, plane landing on the beach or walking.
Our first stop was Strahan, a town on Macquarie Harbour and the launch pad to the Gordon River, Sarah Island and Hells Gate cruises. To reach Strahan we travelled through Lake Saint Éclair and Queenstown.
Strahan Harbour and Risby Cove form part of the north-east end of Long Bay on the Macquarie Harbour. Originally developed as a port of access for the mining settlements in the area, the town was known as Long Bay or Regatta Point until 1877, when it was formally named Strahan after the colony’s Governor, Sir George Cumine Strahan.
Strahan was a vital location for the timber industry that existed around Macquarie Harbour. For a substantial part of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century it also was port for regular shipping of passengers and cargo.
We stayed two nights in Strahan and did the Cruise to Sarah Island and Gordon River and attended the Australia's longest-running play from the Round Earth Theatre Company, The Ship that Never Was. It is the story of the last great escape, of the Frederick from Sarah Island.
Each night the company performs the play and during the day the actors work as tour guides on Sarah Island explaining the history and unique story of this Tasmanian penal settlement. During the play a mock ship is built on the stage with the actors utilising audience members, including children, for additional characters in the play.
The Gordon River rises below Mount Hobhouse in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, draining the eastern slopes of the King William Range. The river flows through the Gordon Gap and spills into Lake Gordon, a reservoir created by the Gordon Dam. Together with water fed from Lake Pedder, the water from the Lake Gordon feeds the Gordon Power Station for the generation of hydro-electricity.
Boat excursions to the lower Gordon River from Macquarie Harbour are popular with tourists in Strahan and we joined the morning excursion. Seaplane flights depart Strahan during the warmer months and include an out landing on the Gordon River.
The Gordon River Cruise takes you through one of the last untouched World Heritage Wilderness Areas.
From Strahan, the Gordon River Cruises crosses the harbor to the pristine Gordon River, let you enjoy glassy reflections and the shadow of an ancient 2,000-year-old Huon pine. After leaving the river we visited the working fish farms that produce Tasmania’s world-famous salmon and trout and the Hells Gates, the narrow entrance to Macquarie Harbour named by the convicts on their way to Sarah Island.
To close the cruise we visited one of the Australia’s oldest convict ruins on Sarah Island, a settlement which pre-dates Port Arthur by decades. Created to put the 'fear of God' into the convicts of Van Diemen’s Land, this tiny outpost of 18th Century British operated between 1822 and 1833. The settlement housed mainly male convicts, with a small number of women. During its 11 years of operation, the penal colony achieved a reputation as one of the harshest penal settlements in the Australian colonies.
Despite its isolated location, a considerable number of convicts attempted to escape from the island. Bushranger Matthew Brady was among a party that successfully escaped to Hobart in 1824 after tying up their overseer and seizing a boat. James Goodwin was pardoned after his 1828 escape and was subsequently employed to make official surveys of the wilderness he had passed through. Sarah Island's most infamous escapee was Alexander Pearce who managed to get away twice. On both occasions, he cannibalized his fellow escapees.
During the cruise we enjoyed a sumptuous buffet lunch prepared on board including smoked salmon, cold meats, a selection of salads, fresh fruit, Tasmanian cheeses and local bakery bread.
We left Strahan on my birthday (7 January) and headed north to Zeehan. The road to Zeehan is sealed and very good.
Zeehan was first sighted by Abel Tasman, in 1642, and was named after Tasman’s brig. In 1871, tin was discovered at Mount Bischoff and a decade later silver and lead were discovered, sparking the largest mining boom on Tasmania’s west coast.
Ultimately, however, the reserves were depleted and the town once known as Silver City ceased mining the precious metal in 1914. In times gone by, it was a social hub for the entire west coast but now it is a quiet village living from tourism: fishing, visitors of the Mining Museum and people travelling the Western Explorer.
After Zeehan we drove north towards Corina, the actual start of the Western Explorer, an unsealed highway, that takes you to the world’s largest remaining stretch of temperate rainforest, the Tarkine.
When you reach the lower reaches of the Pieman River you board a barge across the River. After Corina we continued north and reached the Savage River where we decided to have a break to celebrate my 62nd birthday. It was one of the best birthday parties I have ever had.
Immersed in the Tasmanian wilderness, with all my Australian family singing happy birthday and having lammings ( a traditional Australian cake) and with myrtle tree branches as candles for the birthday cake ... what else can one wish?
Every time we talk about our life in Tasmania we talk about Couta Rocks. I found elsewhere a good description of the place:“Plains of buttongrass rolling down to the sea, cray boats bobbing on the harbour and visions of Couta Rocks.
Like the nearby Temma Harbour, Couta Rocks is noted for the place where the sea can rage. A not uncommon sight is that of the local fishermen winching their boats out of the water on slips rather than risk them on moorings. This stretch of coast is dubbed the roaring 40s, where prevailing gale-force winds blow persistently from the west. In 1968 the small fishing villages Couta Rocks and Sarah Anne Rocks opened up after a bridge was built across the Arthur River.
Prior to that villagers and visitors alike were forced to punt. This rugged coastline is no Sunday afternoon drive, but adventurous types will be enriched by magnificent landscapes, sweeping views and unforgettable experiences.”
During the 10 years we lived in Tasmania we spent at least one of our holidays in Couta Rocks. Our friends Wayne and Helen Flight were the ones that introduced us to Couta Rocks. His parents owned one of the first shacks on the beach and we had a couple of trips there with the Flights.
On one of our trips we met the neighbour, Bradley Watson, a professional abalone diver then, and stroked a friendship that lasted until today. From then on Bradley let us use his shack and we spent our holidays there. We couldn’t go to Tasmania and not introduce Bruno to Couta Rocks. We were extremely lucky as we never seen the sea in Couta Rocks so calm like it was on that day. In these photos you can imagine the fun we had in this place now and in the past.
