The glorious Gordon

We stopped for one night in Strahan during our first trip to Tasmania in 2013.  The town proved more picturesque and interesting than anticipated.  Our accommodation at Risby Cove also proved better expected.  We decided to spend three nights in Strahan this time around and make the most of everything it had to offer.

We also booked our accommodation early.  During our first visit, we noted that the Risby Cove complex included a couple of waterfront cabins with truly spectacular views of Macquarie Harbour. We were determined to secure one of these premium spots on a return visit.

Our planning paid off.  Upon arrival, we found ourselves booked into the cabin that sat furthest from the main building. Each morning we woke to truly stunning 270-degree views of the harbour.  Every evening we were privy to some of the most jaw-dropping sunsets I’ve seen in years. It really was the perfect setting to enjoy the final days of 2019. 

Each day we were also visited by several pairs of ducks. This includes one family with three ducklings. Sadly, by the time we left the brood had been reduced to just one duckling. Night after night, one by one, they fell prey to the surrounding wildlife.

Strahan’s most famous attractions include the ABT Heritage Railway and Gordon River Cruises. We booked both excursions on separate days. The railway was spectacular. It’s a restored line that travels from Strahan on the coast inland to Queenstown, a major mining centre. It was built in the 1890s and includes a rack-rail system that allowed heavily laden trains to carry ore over the steep slopes that separate these two towns.

We tour the half-day tour that ventured as far as Dubbil Barril before returning the coast. The train stopped several times to allow passengers to walk through the rainforest and sample locally harvested leatherwood honey. The track winds its way along the King River passing through tunnels, cuttings and across a spectacular trestle bridge. Along the way, we enjoyed an inclusive high tea of canapes and bubbles.

However, it was the Gordon River Cruise that provided the most memorable excursion. We book a tour that took us across Macquarie Harbour and out through the heads into the Southern Ocean before returning to venture up the remote and untouched Gordon River.

Macquarie Harbour is enormous. It stretches more than 50kms and opens to the ocean through a narrow, eddying and dangerous passage known as Hell’s Gate. It was so named by convicts transported from Tasmania’s east coast to Sarah Island, a penal colony built on a small island in Macquarie Harbour. The entrance is guarded by the Cape Sorell Lighthouse, built in 1899.

We later learnt that the world’s international reference point for air quality is established by a monitoring station just a few kilometres from Hell's Gate. Apparently, its the world’s purest and cleanest air.  It was certainly a refreshing contrast to Sydney’s never-ending bush fire haze.

Sarah Island has long been considered the cruellest of nation’s penal colonies. Located in the middle of nowhere on a wet, windy and desolate coastline it was used to house the “worst of the worst”. The first settlers arrived in January 1822 and comprised 14 convicts, 16 soldiers and their families. The island was named in 1815 by James Kelly after Sarah Birch, the wife of Dr Thomas Birch who’d financed his expedition.

Our cruise included a guided tour of the colony’s ruins. It was a fascinating tour. The penal colony only latest 12 years. By 1834 it has been abandoned and the convicts moved to the new settlement at Port Arthur. We learnt that island didn’t even have its own natural water source. Water had to be shipped from Phillips Island more than 6 kms away. The male and female convicts were also separated. The woman were housed on a much smaller, rockier outcrop called Grummet Island.

The Gordon River proved to another spectacular highlight. In the 1970s and 80s, the river was the scene of some of Tasmania’s most divisive protests. At the time hydro-electricity was considered an economic bedrock for the state’s future economy. The State Government began progressively damming more and more of the state’s wild and pristine rivers.

A massive 105m high dam was proposed for the Gordon River about 40km upriver from Macquarie Harbour. A battle to save the river was spear-headed by Dr Bob Brown, who later went on to form the Greens political party. In the summer of 1982-83, a total of 1,272 people were arrested. The river was eventually saved from development by the Hawke Federal Government and a High Court decision in 1983.

The publicity generated by the protests drove a dramatic increase in tourism. Within a decade, more than 90,000 tourists were visiting Strahan annually, many of whom did exactly what we did on our visit. That is, travel across Macquarie Harbour to visit Sarah Island and journey up the Gordon River.

Off the grid

The Tarkine Wilderness Area protects Australia’s largest temperate rainforest. It covers much of Tasmania’s north west region – 447,000 hectares – and remains largely unexploited. The region is bound by the Arthur River to the north and the Pieman River to the south. A single unsealed road, the Western Explorer Highway, traverses the region’s coastal fringe.

The region is home to more than 400 species of diverse flora and fauna, some it rare or endangered. This includes quolls, Tasmanian Devils, Eastern Pigmy Possums, Wedge-tailed Eagles and giant Freshwater Lobsters. It’s also contains sections of hardy, slow-growing native Huon Pine.

Garry and I didn’t make it into the Wilderness Area on our first visit to Tasmania in 2013. As a result, it was high on our list for a return visit. However, road conditions were a concern, even more so given that we were using a hire car. We decided to spend a night at Corrina on the banks of the Pieman River. The town, while isolated, could be reached from the north and south via unsealed roads that appeared to be well maintained.

We made our way to Corinna via Savage River in the north. Our route took us through the sleepy former mill town of Waratah before farmland gave way to spectacular river valleys surrounded by rainforest-clad mountains. The road proved easier to drive than expected.

We based ourselves for a night at the Corinna Wilderness Experience. This remote community is centred around a surprisingly well maintained and managed hotel. In front of the hotel, the Fatman Barge operates the only vehicle crossing on the entire Pieman River. The hotel also manages a series of restored (and relocated) miner’s cottages overlooking the river. We stayed one night in an enormous cottage surrounded by rainforest and entertained by a menagerie of native birds and Pademelons.

Corinna was a superb destination. The village is completely off the grid. There’s no mobile phone coverage, no internet and all power is supplied by solar panels or diesel generation. The surrounding wilderness is stunning. After a hearty pub lunch, we took a couple of bushwalks along the Pieman River. The following morning we spent five hours cruising the river itself before heading out of town.
 

 Our cruise was operated by the Arcadia II, a huon pine vessel built in 1939. It was a cruise vessel on Macquarie Harbour from 1961 until it moved to the Pieman River in 1970. It’s reputedly the world’s only huon pine river boat still in operation. Our journey took us from Corinna to the mouth of the Pieman River. We saw wedge-tail eagles and other birdlife along the river before setting out on foot to enjoy a supplied picnic lunch on the nearby Southern Ocean beach.

The beach was stunning. Its foreshore is dotted with ancient huon pine logs. We sat under vivid blue skies, basked in the sun’s warmth and soaked up desolate wind-swept surroundings. After months of bushfire smoke and haze it really was a breath of fresh air!

Cradle Mountain Christmas

Garry and I are continuing our “staycation” year with a 12-day tour of Tasmania’s West Coast.  Regular readers will recall we visited Australia’s island State for the first time in December 2013.  At the time we raced through much of the West Coast.  The region impressed us greatly and we vowed to return for a more leisurely visit.

We flew to Launceston early evening on 23 December and collected our hire car.  The following morning was spent stocking the travel larder at Coles and visiting a couple of business contacts before heading towards Cradle Mountain.  Our route inland took us first to my favourite Tasmanian winery, Ghost Rock, where we collected a dozen bottles for the cellar.

Our next stop was a local cherry farm where we collected some tasty seasonal produce.  It was then on to The Truffledore on Cradle Country Farm.  As we drove into the complex, we discovered it was closed. However, the owner saw us and waved us into the visitor’s centre.  Much to our delight, we enjoyed a private truffle tasting session.

In 2013, we stayed at one of the luxurious spa cabins in Cradle Mountain Wilderness Village.  It was a superb venue.  We decided to chance our luck with another visit.  We were a little nervous that the cabins might have suffered some wear and tear in the intervening years.  However, we’ve needn’t have worried.  They’d been refurbished and were just as good as ever.

On Christmas Day we treated ourselves to a decadent lunch at Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge.  The menu was superb.  The meal kicked off with a seafood platter, followed by a traditional Christmas roast dinner and finished off with a delicious shared dessert platter.

 Boxing Day was spent working off our Christmas Lunch. The day dawned with clear blue skies.  We drove up to Ronny Creek and spent the day hiking up to Marion’s Lookout (1223 metres). Our efforts were rewarded with an awesome view of Dove Lake and Cradle Mountain.  We then returned to Ronny Creek shortly after sunset to do a bit of Wombat spotting.  The experience was as awesome as it had been in 2013.

Our final day at Cradle Mountain was spent hiking the Dove Canyon Circuit, followed by a visit to the Devils at Cradle sanctuary.  We spent several hours watching the keeper feed Tasmanian Devils and Quolls after dark.  It was another experience just as awesome as the first time.

Tragedy on Whakaari

This week 16 people lost their lives while visiting Whakaari. White Island, as it's also known, is an active marine volcano off the coast of New Zealand's North Island. On Monday afternoon, a sudden, and violent, eruption occurred while 47 tourists and their guides were exploring the island. As seen in the image above (by Lillani Hopkins), it produced an ash plume more than 3600 metres high.

Authorities say 24 Australians, nine Americans, five New Zealanders, four Germans, two Britons, two Chinese and a Malaysian were on the island at the time. Many were from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship that had left Sydney two days earlier.  The vessel had subsequently docked at Mount Maunganui, my mother's home town, in early hours of Monday morning.

Within minutes of the eruption's end, a series of dramatic rescues by helicopter and boat saw the survivors transferred to shore.  Sadly, eight of those rescued subsequently died in hospital.  The bodies of another eight victims remained on the island for four additional days. Six were finally retrieved yesterday, leaving only two still unaccounted.  

Currently, 15 people remain in hospital, including 13 Australians. Some have thermal and chemical burns to more than 80% of their body. At least 11 remain in "very critical" condition. All of the injured Australians were repatriated to hospitals in Sydney and Melbourne via special Royal Air Force flights during the week. 

The disaster has shocked the nation.  For more than 30 years, tours have been visiting White Island without incident. To date, at least 300,000 people have visited the island including more than 17.000 last year alone. Garry and I can count ourselves among those who've safely made the journey there and back.

In December 2003, we joined my brothers and my sister-in-law for the 90-minute trip by boat from Whatakane to the island.  Upon arrival, we spent about an hour on shore before returning to the mainland. It was a fascinating and highly memorable experience. 

The tour began at an old sulphur works close to the shore; a permanent reminder that nature is firmly in charge. Mining began on the island in the 1840s. It was a harsh environment; workers under constant threat of eruptions, poisonous gasses and unstable land.

Disaster struck in 1914 when the crater wall collapsed and caused a mudflow that killed 11 miners – perhaps wiping away their living quarters in the middle of the night. Nobody knows exactly what happened as no trace of the men was ever found. The only survivor was the miners' cat.

From the sulphur works, it's a 500-metre walk to the crater, weaving through bubbling mud pits, hot water streams and roaring sulphur-rimmed vents. In hindsight, as you can see from the image below, we got uncomfortably close to at least one active fumarole. However, I recall the guides giving us very explicit safety instructions. They also didn't let us linger at the crater lake for more than a few brief minutes.

On the day of our tour, the surface of the crater lake was smothered by steam and several fumaroles were very active.  After looking at the photos we took that day, including the image above, I must admit that the lake appears to have been far more active during our visit than it was last Monday when disaster struck.  We can only hope and pray that the survivors of this week's tragedy will make a full recovery.

UPDATE: 15 December 
Sadly a young woman has died in hospital overnight. The eruption's death toll now stands at 17. Health officials grimly warn that, in the days ahead, others may yet succumb to their traumatic injuries.

UPDATE: 16 December 
Another person has died in an Australian hospital. The official death toll now stands at 16. However, this number doesn't include two people still missing and presumed dead. The Ovation of the Seas cruise ship also arrived back in Sydney today after completing a rather sombre and truncated itinerary. Many of those who died were passengers on the cruise that ended today.

UPDATE: 23 December 
The death toll has risen again with another death in hospital overnight. 19 people, including two still missing, have now died. Officials fear more may yet succumb to their injuries.

UPDATE: 13 January 2020
Another death in an Australian hospital last weekend has taken the death toll to 20.

UPDATE: 3 July 2020

The final death toll now stands at 22 people. A fourth American died on 29 January, and yesterday a German man finally succumbed to his injuries. This means that of the 47 people on the island at the time of the eruption almost half have died.