30 October 2013 - Strahan Holiday Park, Strahan, Tasmania

Does it always rain here in Tasmania? I should be grateful that there is little wind, or none to bother us at least. We decided over breakfast that we would not pack up until there was a pause in the precipitation even if it made us late; however we were still gone by the witching hour of 10 am.

We parked near the Empire Hotel in Queenstown, in the hope it might be open for a quick peek. My father mentioned the other night, on Skype that it has a marvellous staircase and this was confirmed in a list of tourist attractions I saw yesterday. Alas we were too early, but too late to buy the Australian and had to settle for the Herald. It’s cheaper anyway; however we have reserved a newspaper for tomorrow here.

Strahan Harbour

It is only 40 kilometres down to Strahan but the road is steep, windy and slow, although not as much as that from Derwent Bridge to Queenstown and not as spectacular, although that could have had much to so with the rain mist obscuring the distant peaks. We had our second near death experience with a large truck this morning as a Double-B came around on the other side of the road. I suspect he gave himself a horrible shock and will change his driving habits for at least the rest of the week. Two days ago a logging truck had done the same.

Strahan sits at the head of a harbour of the same name, tucked around the northern edge of the Macquarie Harbour and is home to less than a thousand people. It was originally developed as a port of access for the mining settlements in the area, those around Queenstown, and soon became very more important for the timber industry around Macquarie Harbour. The post office opened in 1878, starting as Macquarie Harbour, then Strahan, then East Strahan, finally settling on Strahan in 1893.

Today it is services a small fishing fleet, a limited timber industry and a growing tourist industry which has grown from the historical convict history on Sarah Island, the Huon pine milling, and now even more importantly, its status as a World Heritage Area which was attained only after topsy turvy protest years and the genesis of the Australian Green Party.

Calling into the Information Centre right down on the waterfront, we learned that the two caravan parks in town were now just the one, and that we would get a better deal by booking our river cruise direct with the provider rather than through the Centre, particularly since Chris had a Senior card and we were electing to sail with the family owned World Heritage Cruises on the Eagle.

By the time we had checked into the caravan park and reversed into our site, rain had started yet again and we dodged the intermittent showers while we set up in bursts. On check-in, we received our 10% Discovery Parks loyalty card discount as well as a 10% discount voucher for the cruise company; just as well we had yet to buy our tickets.

After lunch, we returned to the waterfront and bought our tickets for tomorrow, choosing neither the flash seats nor the cheap ones; with the discount we could shout ourselves those labelled “Premium” which means we get window seats and a buffet lunch.

Lettes Bay

We drove up to the Water Tower Hill and looked down over the waterfront section of the town, drove on around past Regatta Point to where the West Coast Wilderness Railway tours  arrive and on over the hill to Lettes Bay where we came upon a surprising number of private little shacks with their own shared jetties.

Back in the opposite direction, we headed west out to the Macquarie Heads, finding a hidden camping ground full of permanent caravans and lean-tos. Alas the road came to an end short of the heads; only a sandy 4WD track disappears into the low scrub, a track which we chose not to take.

Back at Strahan, we returned to the Information Centre to see the Reflections Gallery , an award winning display which tells the story of the Macquarie Harbour. This is truly excellent with a very modest entry fee and not well promoted; I suspect that there is less patronage than it deserves because the entry is tucked in a corner of the Centre. There is a wealth of information to be absorbed and much of it will serve us well as we set out tomorrow on the water to see many of the places described in this mini-museum.

Jetty stretching out into the Strahan Harbour

I did learn a little more about the chemical devastation of the area around Queenstown; that since 1922 over ninety million tonnes of tailings were dumped from the Queenstown mine into the Queen River, down which it flowed into the King River. The tailings literally swamped all life. By 1992 the King River was perhaps the most polluted river in Australia, its water course and banks dead from this extreme pollution. Since then, the Mount Lyell Remediation, Research and Demonstration Program  has set up to trial various “best practice” methods which could reverse the environment degradation of the past. Among projects undertaken this far are construction of a tailings dam and the vegetation of the King River banks and delta. Prior to the commencement of this remediation, the Company had predicted that the King and Queen river system would be devoid of life for up to two hundred years after closure of the mine. I thought that was good of them to be so honest and upfront about the situation; such apocalyptic prophesies are normally left to conservationists.                 

Strahan is a charming spot, certainly more appealing to the average tourist as we had been warned, and it would look so much better in the bright sunshine. Hopefully tomorrow will bring better weather. Boat trips do demand sunshine, don’t you think?