Day 81 / 2015 - Burnie to Strahan and Back to Burnie

We have found living in a caravan is like living in a house in that after a while you need a change of scenery as hard as is to believe we wanted a small break from living in the van.

Strahan is about 190km south of Burnie we had covered most of the main tourist loop that goes from west to east which circumnavigated Tassie so the plan was to drive from Burnie down to Strahan across to Queenstown then back up to Burnie. Since this would be a return trip along the same road we decided it wasn't worth draging the van over the mountain passes then back again. We chose Strahan to spend two nights and booked into one of the Discovery Park's cabin's. We were also lucky with storing the van. The caravan park in Somerset had an area where you could park the van for a dollar a day. In the end because they weren't busy they allowed us to keep the van on our booked site saving us moving.

Leaving Somerset we headed down towards Strahan along the A4. This took us through the beautiful Hellyer pass. Being this time of year the wet wet days coming a lot more regular and the west coast rainfall is more abundant than the east side so we were driving through the rain once again. We passed through the town of Waratah which had a large waterfall virtually in the middle of town. From there we drove through Rosebery which was another beautiful drive taking us over Renison Bell. It was at this point we were happy not to have the caravan behind us. The last town we passed through before Strahan was Zeehan which is a mining town.

Arriving in Strahan we booked in for the two nights and dropped our stuff off before heading off into the town. Our plan for today was to ride the West Coast Wilderness Railway. There are three options to choose from, ride from Strahan to Dubbil Barril or from Queenstown to Dubbil Barril or Strahan to Queenstown. Our timing dictated which option we would take which was the Strahan to Dubbil Barril. 

Arriving at the station we were given our tickets and allocated a seat. Boarding the heritage carriage and settling into our seats we ended up opposite a couple who were from Perth but had lived in Bunbury once again proving we live in an ever shrinking world. The engine pulling the carriages was powered by steam adding to the feeling of what it would have been like to travel by rail in the earlier days. The train rumbled along through rain Forrest then followed the King river. We stopped at 2 stations the first one called Teekopana where we alighted for a look around the station then walked down to an observation platform overlooking the river. 

Getting back onto the train we setoff to our next stop Dubbil Barril crossing over a number of historic bridges long the way. Again we arrived were able to get off and look at or the historic information displays along the platform. As this was as far as we were going we watched how they disconnected the engine from the carriages then drove the engine onto a turntable to turn it around and re-attach it to the other end of the line of carriages for the journey back to Strahan. Dubbil Barril is also the start of the Rack and Pinion line which gives the train the unique ability to ascend and decend steep grades of up to 20:1. On the return journey we all swapped seats with the people on the opposite side of the carriage so we could look out the other window for a change of scenery.

Day 2 we had booked in for the World Heritage Cruise which takes a run around Macquarie Harbour out through Hells Gate then up and back the Franklin River. There were still showers so we decided to drive to where the boat leaves from if it was fine we would have walk the 1.5 Km distance. Boarding the boat we were shown to our dedicated seat. There are 3 Classes of seating, standard which is along the centre of the main deck there are rows of seats going across the boat facing each other with a table in between. Next is Gold class which is a window seat on the main deck or a centre seat on the upper deck with finally a Premium class for window seats on the upper deck. Gold and  Premium all have foward facing seats with a table that folds down from the seat in front like in an airplane. We hoped for and were lucky to get a gold class seat on the main deck which meant we had a window seat. Lunch is provided in the form of a smorgasboard and is the same food served for all seating classes.

Leaving the dock we headed across Macquarie harbour towards the infamous Hells Gate which is a narrow opening from the Tasman Sea into Macquarie Harbour and can only be traversed by boats up to a certain size and in favorable weather. After experience a taste of ocean conditions we then traversed the entrance once again back into the relative safety of the harbour. From Hells Gate you cruise past a number of fish farms full of Alantic Salmon dotted around Macquarie harbour with the Captain giving a talk about the thriving industry as we pass by.

From here we motor to the notorious Sarah Island which was a penal settlement which predated Port Arthur. This is where he most troublesome and repeat offenders were sent. We alightened onto the island and given a guided theatrical tour of life as it would have been during the 1820s. There are a number of preserved ruins and our guide would stop at a select few and relate tales about what a convicts life would have been like and mischief they got up to as well as the people who had to look after them.

Returning to the boat we headed up the Franklin river where along the way we were served lunch. We then docked at a jetty allowing those who wanted to to go and sample life living in the wilderness of the West Coast. Lumber Jack was the main source of work here were the valuble Huon Pine was cut down and transported downstream to Strahan. Huon pine made an excellent boat building material as it was very resistant to water rot and the bacteria that lived in the water. Huon pine is no longer cut down but there is a large quantity of cut trees still floating in dams and the upper reaches of rivers and is collected for milling. From here we then returned back to the port of Strahan.

Back on dry land we came across a showing of the play that is billed as the longest running in the world called "The Ship That Never Was." It is a humourious story about the last ship that was built at Sarah Island and hijact by the convicts who built it escaping by sailing all the way to South America. It was very funny and has permanent cast of 3 which then expands to about 20 as they commandeer members of the audience to play several parts in the play.

Next morning we booked out of our accomodation and headed towards Queenstown along another winding road over Mount Leyell. Queenstown has a long association with mining and is evident by the scarred surrounding land. The area became heavly polluted from mining waste that entered the river system but the area is slowly returning to its former health. The weather was still quite wet and cold which didn't entice us to get out and walk around. We visited the Railway station which is the other end of the West Coast Wilderness Railway. The station is a much larger complex than the one in Strahan and houses a museum as well as a gift and coffee shop. Queenstown has a large number of tourist passing through as it is on the main route when travelling from Hobart across and up the west coast towards Burnie and the North West region. Leaving Queenstown we travelled back along the mountain roads through Rosebury and Waratah finally returning in Burnie. The roads are quite good but steep and windy in places. They offer spectacular scenery with a number of lookout points you can stop at along the way.