Destination Tasmania – Part 4 – Strahan, Queenstown and Zeehan

10th & 11th February, 2020

Please Note: Videos covering the material in this blog post can be found at the bottom of the post.

Heritage Tours boat “Harbour Master” at Sarah Island jetty

I suppose tours of Macquarie Harbour and The Gordon River were operating 45 years ago when we were last at Strahan, but I have no recollection of them. But that was well before the issue of the Franklin Dam and all of the disputes over Lake Pedder gave this area such prominence. We had become aware that the cruise was one of the attractions that draw tourists to Strahan. We booked in advance to make sure that we had a good seat.

The day started overcast and cool but improved to produce sunshine by mid afternoon. We were not affected by the morning chill as we were on board the “Harbour Master” our Heritage Tours cruise boat, protected by its broad glass windows.

Departing Strahan cruise terminal
Strahan Railway Station at Regatta Point

The cruise boat headed directly to Hells Gates, the entrance through which ships had to pass to reach the convict settlement on Sarah Island. The entrance is narrow and dangerous, particularly when a sea is running. In the days of sail, ships would anchor outside of the harbour, wait for slack tide and be towed through by sailors rowing the ship’s longboat.

Old Macquarie Heads Signal Station
Coloured rocks at Hell’s Gate
Hell’s Gate passage from the ocean side

There was no sign of Hell at the gates. The sea was like a mill pond. Not only did we proceed through the heads at full speed but continued out past the Cape Sorrel lighthouse into the Indian Ocean for a look both ways along the coast. Such conditions only occur about five times per year, we were told.

A breakwater and the coast outside Macquarie Harbour heads
Cape Sorrel Lighthouse at the south of Macquarie Harbour entrance
In the open sea. View south past Cape Sorrel Light
View from inside Hell’s Gate out to sea. Ships entering and leaving port had to pass between the channel light and the point on the left.

I had read about Sarah Island as a convict prison but for some reason thought that it was located near the heads. But it is at the other end of this rather long harbour. On our way to Sarah Island from Hell’s Gates we stopped to see the salmon and trout farms where the fish are grown to eating size in large circular mesh cages that are anchored in the waters of the harbour. There is nothing to see other than the nets but the skipper of the boat gave us quite a bit of information about the husbandry practices. In short, they feed the fish and the fish grow to eating size. What else is there to known?

Fish farms in Macquarie Harbour
View to the east in Macquarie Harbour

Sarah Island had the worst reputation of any Australian convict settlement. It was established to gather Huon pine from the surrounding forests, but when the difficult harbour entrance restricted the transport of the timber, shipbuilding was established at Macquarie Harbour at the Sarah Island convict settlement. Well over one hundred boats were built with over half of them ocean going ships.

Walking ashore at Sarah Island
Sarah Island landing

A solid path has been built linking the ruins to the jetty for ease of access. Guides are on hand to tell tourists all about the settlement. You can still see remnants of the construction slipways embedded in the shoreline. There are ruins of buildings with information signage throughout. It is all very well done.

Remnants of boat building slipways in the shore line of Sarah Island
A larger ship building slipway and an alternative landing jetty
Information shelter

As we departed Sarah Island, the crew prepared a delicious buffet lunch of cold meats and salad including slices of Camembert cheese so large that you would think the stuff was made in Tasmania.

Cruise passengers with a guide at convict prison ruins
Ruins of Sarah Island Bakery
Information plaque showing layout of Sarah Island administration building

From Sarah Island we motored directly to the mouth of the Gordon River where speed was reduced to a sedate 5 knots or so. The destination in the river was Heritage Landing, where berthing facilities have been built for the boat and a board walk constructed to provide access to the rain forest that covers the steep sides of the Gordon valley. Particularly, it gives access to Huon pine in its natural setting. Huon pine is not only resistant to rot but also to the marine worm that destroys lesser timber. It is a slow growing tree. Large specimens are thousands of years old.

Excellent reflections are sometimes viewed on the Gordon but the wind had come up by the time we reached it so the surface was a series of ripples instead of a mirror.

The placid Gordon River near where it joins Macquarie Harbour
Boardwalk to Huon pine viewing area at Heritage Landing

As we cruised slowly up the river the skipper retold the story of the Franklin River protests of thirty or forty years ago when the Tasmanian Hydro Electricity Commission wanted to build a dam on the Gordon River downstream from where it is joined by the Franklin River. If you are over 60 you will no doubt remember all the fuss.

Mature Huon pine
The “Blue Boat” from the other cruise operator at Strahan

On the quayside at Strahan there remains an operating sawmill that processes Huon pine. The cruise boat completes the tour by berthing at the mill to enable passengers to see the Huon pine being worked. The mill sells completed timber products including a range to appeal to tourists with spare money. I would rather spend the money on the finished product of the fish farm.

The sawmill that works Huon pine at Strahan wharf

Our second day in the South West was set aside for a driving tour in the area. We did the triangle Strahan-Queenstown-Zeehan-Strahan, about 125 km. But before heading off on the 47 km first part of the trip to Queenstown we took a closer look at Strahan.

We first visited Regatta Point to look at the Strahan end of the Queenstown to Strahan tourist railway. This service operates on the railway built to get copper ore from the mines in Queenstown to the port, to be shipped to the world.  Because of steep inclines on the route, part of the track uses a rack and pinion system where drive cogs on the engine engage with teeth in a track that is positioned between the normal rails.

Strahan historic railway station
Cafe tables at Strahan station
Strahan waterfront area viewed from Regatta Point station

The station building in Strahan is the original, built in the late 1990s. It now contains a cafe and gift shop and normal tourist facilities.  We were a bit early for coffee, but the view from the tables on the old platform is such that you would not want to finish your coffee too quickly.

Historic buildings over the street from the wharf at Strahan
Tourist cruise base at Strahan
Strahan main street
Tourist accommodation overlooking Strahan waterfront

Queenstown occupies one of the most dramatic sites that you can imagine. It is totally surrounded by rocky mountain ranges, much without vegetation. Some naturally lack vegetation, but hills were denuded in a clearing frenzy to feed the copper smelters in the early days of mine operation.  It is a town where I would prefer not to be on a hot day.

Rocky mountains approaching Queenstown
Queenstown sign approaching from Strahan

We drove around to get a feel for the place and then walked around the main streets of the commercial area. We then located the nearest street access to the Spoin Kopf lookout which is conveniently located near the CBD, almost in the centre of town. I climbed the steep track to the summit and I am glad that I did. The view was spectacular. The lookout was built as a memorial to its namesake, a battle for a hill during the Boer War in South Africa.

Main business area of Queenstown from Spion Kopf
Queenstown suburbs to the east of the central business district
Mine workings and the corner of Queenstown where the highway passes through
Hills surrounding Queenstown were stripped of vegetation to fire refinery furnaces. The area is slowly re-vegetating.

Queenstown’s history has long been tied to the mining industry. This mountainous area was first explored in 1862. Later alluvial gold was discovered at Mount Lyell, prompting the formation of the Mount Lyell Mining Company in 1881. In 1882 the company began searching for and discovered copper. The Mount Lyell company ultimately became the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company.

Queenstown’s Empire Hotel. Completed in 1901.
View along Orr Street towards Mount Owen
Queenstown Post Office. Built in 1902.

The Queenstown end of the railway has a smartly rebuilt station that offers the same facilities as its counterpart at Strahan, but on a larger scale. We had lunch in the cafe and then waited a few minutes to watch the train come huffing in from its return trip to a point about half way to Strahan.  There was a good number of people on board who seemed to have enjoyed the experience.

Queenstown Railway Station and engine turn table
Queenstown Railway Station. New building for the West Coast Wilderness Railway
A steam engine at the end of its days work
Tourist cafe at Queenstown Railway Station. You can watch the train through the glass wall on the right

We then drove the 35 km or so to Zeehan, another mining town, but this time a producer of silver and zinc.  I am not sure of the status of mining in Zeehan but the town appears to be partly closed down. But it had its days of grandeur, demonstrated by the fine buildings that line its main street. The West Coast Heritage Centre is in Zeehan, housed in the ornate School of Mining and Metallurgy building.

Gaiety Theatre and Grand Hotel, Zeehan
Zeehan Post Office
Zeehan School of Mines and Metallurgy is now the West Coast Heritage Centre
The Railway Museum is part of the West Coast Heritage Centre
One of Zeehans banks

Returning to Strahan, we were on the same road as we had travelled two days before. We had noticed mining residue beside the road but we now had time to stop and take a look. Some old pieces of equipment were strewn over the area but it was not clear what kind of mining activity had been conducted there.

Mining area at Zeehan on the road to Strahan
Four wheel drive access to the beach at Henty Dunes

With time left in the day, before we returned to our cabin, we took the opportunity to drive out to Macquarie Heads, to see it from the land as well as having seen it from the boat. It is Strahan’s closest surf beech with a reasonable drive over sealed and dirt roads. There is also a caravan park and on the way out, a neat little picnic area with a boat launching ramp.

Jetty at Macquarie Heads
Swan Basin near Strahan

Destination Tasmania – Part 3 – North West Tasmania and the West Coast

8th & 9th February 2020

Please Note: Videos covering the material in this blog post can be found at the bottom of the post.

Leven River, Ulverstone

From Fourth we made the short drive to Ulverstone where we did morning coffee in a riverside park and had a drive around town. We then moved on to Penguin, where we again stopped to do the tourist thing. We were following the road nearest to the coast. Sometimes this was the Bass Highway and sometimes secondary coastal roads.

Sea side at Penguin
Ruth and the Big Penguin at Penguin
Penguin main street

After Penguin, Burnie is the next major town. It is a significant sea port, handling export cargo such as wood chips and it handles much of the freight to and from the mainland. This port doesn’t have a harbour or major river mouth but the wharf area gets some shelter from a bit of a bulge in the coast. Burnie is probably the major industrial centre on the Bass Strait coast of Tasmania.

Port of Burnie from the Bass Highway

Wynyard is the next town and is home to the Burnie-Wynyard airport, which services the North West area. Wynyard has a beach and some retirement homes but not much more, other that to provide the eastern approach to and view of Table Cape, a flat topped promontory that pokes out into Bass Strait. 

Table Cape from Wynyard

The cape is elevated and quite prominent. It is a rich agricultural area with crops rather that sheep and cattle. One of its crops is industrial poppies, grown under tight governmental control, for the pharmaceutical industry. At its highest point a lookout is provided near to its lighthouse. The views of the coast in both directions and to the mountainous inland are excellent. There is also a popular tulip farm but we were not there at tulip time.

Wynyard from Table Cape
Table Cape Lighthouse over harvest stubble
An industrial poppy field.
Boat Harbour and the western end of the North coast

We bypassed Stanley, our stop over place for the night, and passed through Smithton to join the road that would take us to Arthur River and the lookout known as The Edge of the World.

Arthur River is a small remote settlement in the Arthur-Pieman Conservation Area, a reserve that covers a substantial proportion of the northern part of the west coast of Tasmania. One of the tourist attractions is a cruise on the river. There appeared to be two cruise boats, a red boat and a blue boat, but I think they have the same operator. Under the right conditions the reflections in the river are said to be magnificent.

Arthur River estuary
The troubled waters of the Arthur River bar, on a calm day

But for those, like Ruth and I with less time, the attraction is the Edge of the World, a lookout on an elevated dune just south of the mouth of the Arthur River. It is so named because as you look west the next land is Argentina, 40,000 km away, so you can’t quite see it. When strong westerly winds blow, the waves can be huge. The light wind was out of the north, so it was relatively calm.

South from Arthur Mouth. Coloured rocks and drift wood
The Red Cruise boat at Arthur River
The Blue Cruise Boat and the Arthur River bridge.

Apart from a great view of the Indian Ocean and the river mouth, you get to see a display of driftwood in its larger form. Logs that wash into the sea during floods, or perhaps fall off the decks of ships, end up washed ashore on this coast and into the small coves and exposed rocks of the river estuary. Some of it is said to be Huon Pine.

Serious drift wood at Arthur River

We found a cup of tea and a biscuit to nibble at the towns small general store, then returned to Stanley to spend the night in a very comfortable cabin in the Stanley Caravan Park. The plan was to explore Stanley and the famous Stanley Nut next morning.

Sunday 9th February dawned in Stanley with the wind trying to blow the town into Bass Strait.  Overnight, yesterday’s mild northerly became a budding south easterly gale. It started howling around our cabin in the early hours of the morning and had lost none of its enthusiasm by get up time. Rows of white capped waves were dashing across the bay and dumping themselves on the beach.

Waves on Sawyer Bay, Stanley
And waves on Perkins Bay, Stanley.

The wind strength at the summit of the Nut would require you to hold on to your hat with one hand and a stout post with the other. This being the case, we abandoned my plan to ride the chair lift to the summit. Instead we looked around town before starting on our drive for the day. On the way out of town (we had noticed it on the way in) a road turned to a lookout.

The chair lift at Stanley Nut

The lookout is located on the next hill inland from The Nut and provided an elevated viewing platform and a giant picture frame, through which to view or photograph Stanley. The view emphasised that Stanley Nut is a promontory with bays on each side. It also provided good views of the pasture land that surrounds Stanley.

Stanley Nut inside of the frame

The road to the central west coast ( you can’t drive to the southern end of the west coast) turns near Burnie, so we had to retrace our route along the Bass Highway for about 50 km. On our way to the turn we stopped to take a closer look at the shipping wharf at Port Latta. This port is a long loading conveyor that makes its way out to deep water. Iron ore and magnetite are mined at Savage River near Queenstown and pumped as slurry through a pipeline. It is then solidified and converted to pellets at Port Latta and shipped overseas.

Loading conveyor at Port Latta. The Nut in the background.
Ore processing facility at Port Latta

We diverted to Burnie for a visit to a pharmacy. While we were there we had coffee, but at a handy McCafe, not at the pharmacy.

Burnie to Strahan is 180 km. After leaving the coast we travelled through dairy, beef and sheep country followed by endless forests, always with mountains in the far or muddle distance. About half way along, just off the highway to the right, is Waratah. About 40 km to the left, as the crow flies, is Cradle Mountain. You pass its turn to the left a bit further south.

Waratah information, water fall and tow,
Old mining ruins can be seen during a walk through this gorge at Waratah

As I learned in primary school, Waratah is the home of the Mount Bischoff tin mine. The body of ore was discovered in 1871 and mining commenced, initially using water from the water fall in the middle of the town, in a sluicing process. Later the water fall was used to power one of Tasmania’s first hydro electric generators to power the tin refining process.

Bischoff Hotel, Waratah
The Bischoff Hotel seems to be a Sunday destination for bikers.
A water wheel now used for a display instead of work

Tin mining continued until 1929, but was opened again in 1942, to support the war effort. It finally closed permanently 1947, about the time that I was learning about it at school.  Displays in the town relate to those times. A walking trail leads into the gorge where those with the time can see more of the mining relics. The excavation activities created a huge gouge into the face of the mountain, although much of the mining was under ground.

The above ground part of the Mount Bischoff tin mine
This hut was the home of James “Philosopher” Smith, one of the prospectors who discovered tin at Mount Bischoff

We continued south to Tullah, after which we had a choice of road. We chose the route nearest to the west coast, through Rosebery and Zeehan. Tullah is a Tasmanian Hydro Electricity town with some tourism based on two large man made lakes. Rosebery and Zeehan were both mining towns. Zeehan was a tin, silver and zinc mining town. We returned to Zeehan a couple of days later. Rosebery was a gold, zink and copper mining area.

After Zeehan the road swings west towards the coast and crosses a winding mountain range, the road running through rain forest that is often like a tunnel. As the ocean comes into view a lookout has been provided. It gives sweeping views of the coast including the distant Cape Sorrel Lighthouse at the mouth of Macquarie Harbour, but you need a long lens or binoculars to see the lighthouse clearly.

A view of the west coast to the north of Strahan and Macquarie Harbour.

The drive to Strahan from here is along the coastal plain, mostly behind sand dunes. The road, known as the Murchison Highway, for the entire distance from Burnie is well formed and sealed throughout, although a bit on the narrow side, as are many of the secondary roads in Tasmania. Our accommodation for the next three nights was in a cabin in the Strahan Caravan Park.