Tasmania Holiday – 2019 Day 7
Ian SchulzLeaving Lake St Clair, driving to Strahan
32+knot winds howling all night made for a restless nights sleep. Autumn is here, but Winter is fast approaching. As we sat and ate breakfast the first signs of snow started to fall. Cueing us to keep moving to ensure we did not get snowed-in.
Onward to Strahan via Queenstown
After checking out from the Pumphouse, we cautiously made our way along the icy roads towards the ex-mining town known as Queenstown. On approaching Queenstown, you can’t help but compare the landscape to other parts of Tasmania or to the very scenic town with the same name in New Zealand. This town is a stark contrast to the lush and beautiful countryside which surrounds it and is more like a Lunar landscape that has been raped and pillaged over years and years of mining iron, copper and other minerals. The townsfolk or residents seem to be somewhat quirky as they take to gardening in rather an unusual way.
We stopped briefly but not long as the weather was bleak and we had places to be.
Strahan
So we pushed on to Strahan which I recall as a vibrant sea and river port. The main trades here are timber and fishing, evident by the few timber mills in operation and fishing boats bobbing all around. Huon pine is the primary timber sourced in this area and was due to a large number being felled in this area and further up the river when they dammed the Gordon. Due to the Huon pines natural oils, the logs float and over time made their way downstream. So to this day, they are still fishing logs out of the Gordon River to mill.
Hooning on Dune Buggies
Strahan is the starting point for the famous Gordon River cruise or the West Coast Wilderness Railway steam train.
We, however, didn’t partake in either this time around but both are very interesting in their own right. Today we had come to town for a rush of adrenaline with ATV Adventure tours. A fun 1.5 hours of dune buggy heaven through Henty Dunes. The ATV’s were excellent fun, and we would highly recommend going out with Ian at ATV Adventure Tours. He was a great bloke and highly experienced. We bounced around and darted up and down the dunes, giggling and shrieking with delight.
Back to Strahan Village
Back to Strahan on dusk to grab a hamburger made with love by Molly at the local takeaway, then back to Strahan Village to enjoy a night in. Strahan was once a thriving little town, I must admit I was surprised at how quiet it has become. Not sure if it was due to the off-peak season or because it’s another little town slowly fading. I hope not.