Monday 22^nd December

Today was cloudy but warm so we wandered through town and I explored a shop that sells everything from cheeses, freshly baked bread and deli items to shoes, bags and knick knacks! I bought a pair of shoes as I haven’t any apart from my trainers and it’s a bit chilly to wear open sandals – that’s my excuse anyway! We took the chairlift up the Nut – Iain climbed up the zig zag path yesterday evening but it looked very steep and the chairlift was fun. We then did the 2Km walk around the top which had some good panoramic views. 

Once down we walked out to the fisherman’s quay at the end of town and, as it started to rain a little, we returned to our cottage to use the shared laundry opposite and then went to lunch at the hotel. We both had excellent fish dishes so we’ll only have soup and some salad tonight. I stayed at the hotel to send out our e-mail Christmas cards which took quite a time!

Sunday 21^st December

Today the sun shone as we drove up to Stanley via Zeehan and the Reece Dam which was well worth a quick look and was only 4-5Km out of our way.

We then drove up to Corinna on a reasonably good unmade road and took a small ferry across the Pieman River. We then spent ten minutes walking to an old Huon Pine, on a board walk next to the river, before continuing on to Waratah. We drove up and down a couple of impressive hills and took some good photos at the Savage River lookout. The hills are so densely covered in forest that the views were quite infrequent.

Waratah is an old mining town and quite picturesque with a waterfall right in the middle of the town that was used for power. We stopped at the only place that was open – the Buschoff Hotel, built in the tin rush in the latter part of the nineteenth century – and had bangers and mash – great stuff!

We then continued onto the Murchison Highway that was way too grand a title for the small road that wound around hairpin bends through forest and then farmland to the coast.

We arrived in Stanley just after five and we are staying in what, many years ago, was the bakery. Our bedroom has a large baking oven in the wall! We are self catering here so we made Green Thai Chicken curry for dinner. We have to go over to the Stanley Hotel for internet access which is a bit of a bind but Stanley itself looks very quaint and we are looking forward to exploring it properly tomorrow.

Saturday 20^th December

Today was decidedly wet so we decided to drive up to Zeehan and take a look at the Pioneer Heritage Museum. As well as mining memorabilia it also houses a vast collection of geological specimens, both rocks and crystals including the Tasmanian Chocoite (an orange crystal). On the same site they also have preserved a Masonic Lodge, a Courthouse and the Gaiety Theatre. 

We sat down in the theatre and watched an interesting film showing the history of the area including the founding of the mines and the building of what is now the ‘Wilderness Railway’ from Queenstown to Strahan. I was also interested in the letters and reports of the Lyell mining fire where 42 of the 176 miners lost their lives. The original notes that were passed up and down between the trapped miners (at 1000m) and the rescuers on the surface were on display with a transcript of the contents as well as writings from some of the descendants of one who died. On the road back we stopped and took photos of an echidna who was wandering across.

We also called in at the supermarket to get supplies for the next few days as it is very well stocked with lots of variety and we don’t know what will be available later on. The rest of the afternoon we just relaxed and I got up to date with sorting the photos.

Friday 19^th December

Today was forecast sunshine and showers but it was mainly cloudy as we embarked on the Gordon River cruise this morning starting at 8.30am. We first went out to the entrance of Macquarie harbour through Hell’s Gates. This is a 200m channel that joins the Gordon River and Macquarie harbour to the Southern Ocean. The convict labour force brought tons of stone to divert the current so as to make the channel deeper and also built some breakwaters. We travelled up the Gordon River, as it cut a winding channel through steep forested hills, as far as the Heritage landing where we disembarked for a short nature walk in the rain forest. Apparently the Gordon River area has seven of the ten possible factors to allow it to become listed as a national heritage site.

We had an excellent buffet lunch on board and then sailed to Sarah Island an infamous convict settlement in the 1830s. We spent an hour walking around the ruins with a guide who was very good at making the information come alive, before returning to Strahan. He also plays a major part in the longest running play (22 years) in Australia, which we saw in the evening.

We arrived back about 2.30pm and wandered through the park to see the Hogarth Falls, which were lovely; before returning to Franklin Manor where we are staying.

At 5pm we went back down to town to an outdoor amphitheatre which had tarpaulin sails for a roof. We were given blankets and sat down to enjoy ‘The boat that never was’. There were two actors and a lot of audience participation with Iain playing the swindler, John Barker, from his seat and various others going up on stage. It was very well done and we are tempted to go back tomorrow!

Thursday 18^th December

Today we managed to get away before the rain started but during most of our drive the hills, mountains and lakes were hidden by cloud. We drove to Strahan (pronounced Strawn) along the Lyell highway, passing Tarraleah power station (hydro electric) and stopping for some lunch at Lake St Clair visitor centre near Derwent Bridge. We also stopped at a place called ‘The Wall in the Wilderness’ which is an ongoing art project by Greg Duncan. It consists of 100 panels of Huon pine that he is carving to depict Tasmania and its history and wildlife. The carving was wonderfully detailed especially when he was depicting faces or material – it looked so realistic that one wanted to touch to make sure it was really wood.

We were hoping to do a couple of short walks at Donaghy’s lookout and Nelson Falls but it was really raining too much for it to be an attractive proposition. Luckily it had stopped for a while by the time we reached Iron Blow Lookout above Queenstown, as it was really quite spectacular with the de-forested hills displaying a variety of colours from the different ores in the rocks. Queenstown is a mining town and the hills around were, and still are, mined for copper.

We arrived at our accommodation which is in a beautiful old house built for the harbour master and only ten minutes walk from the centre of town (such as it is). Strahan is hardly your thriving metropolis! We did have a very good dinner at Hamer’s bar and grill – marinated wallaby – which was the first time we have tried it.

Wednesday 17^th December

Today’s weather was a mixture of hot, brilliant sunshine and sudden showers. We had a late start because I took the opportunity to do the washing and we decided to do the longish drive to the end of the tarmaced road at Gordon Dam, which we hoped would give us some good views. We weren’t disappointed and although the drive took a couple of hours each way it was worth it. The road wound its way up and down pre-Cambrian hills and through large tracts of forest and at times went alongside Lake Pedder. We had some good views of the surrounding mountains, Mount Wedge and a mountain ridge called the Sentinels. Once at Gordon Dam (the highest in Australia) we ate our picnic lunch sat on the steps of the closed visitor centre as there were no picnic tables, and then walked down across the dam. There were 197 steps and luckily my toe didn’t cause me any problem.

I drove back and then up to a car park in Mount Field NP that Iain had decided it would be interesting to go to. It actually took ages because the forest road was unmade and very twisty. It was getting late and the rain set in so although we reached Lake Dobson we didn’t walk around it as we had originally planned.

We eventually arrived back at 5.30pm so I had time to do my diary and sort through some photos before dinner. We are somewhat out in the wilderness here and run out of provisions so Sue and Peter are cooking again for us.. Iain has chosen rack of lamb and I am having Saganaki prawns so I can find out what they are!