Day 3: Strahan (Gordon River cruise) to Zeehan
We had a big sleep-in today (6:00pm!!) Had breakfast and showers at the amenities block and “hit the road”. We drove into the township of Strahan at about 8:00 in time to work out where to park the van and bought our tickets for the full-day tour up the Gordon River. www.worldheritagecruises.com.au
WOW!!! What a fantastic day!!! Well worth the $73.50 each (including all you can eat buffet lunch) We left Strahan Harbour at 9:00am and cruised out to Hells Gate, then past the ocean trout and salmon fish farms. The captain pulled the boat up close and we watched the fisherman harvest the trout from large nets, here they were stunned with “beer gas” (food grade co2) before being blooded and packed ready for transport to the fish processing plant in Strahan. From the fish farm, we travelled up to Sarah Island.
We disembarked for a fantastic 1 hour tour of the island ruins, brought to life by a terrific guide who told the story of the settlement. Back on board, lunch was served while we travelled further upstream to “Heritage Landing”. Here we left again for a 30 minute walk through the forest to see the world heritage rainforest (complete with a large fallen Huon pine). Back on board and it was back to Strahan.
The boat brought us back to a working timber mill at Strahan harbour. Here we were shown how the large Huon logs were sawn with a 100 year old vertical frame saw which originally cut slabs for the settlement.
Back in the van we headed to Zeehan (46kms) Booked in to the Treasure Island Caravan Park ($18). Tomorrow we are off to Cradle Mountain.
Temps: Strahan 4:00pm 12ºC
Zeehan 9:00pm 10ºC
Weather: Fine with light cloud cover. No rain the whole time on the boat. Very light wind.
Travel Strahan to Zeehan 37kms
