Saturday 10 January 2015
Today we went on a Gordon River Cruise with World
Heritage Cruises, one of two operators in the area.
We walked ten minutes downhill from our
accommodation to the port, where we embarked for a 09:00 departure. We were fortunate enough to have window seating,
which had the weather not been good would have made a significant difference.
While we did have allocated seating, we were able and encouraged to wander
around the ship as desired. The wind on
the front deck as went across Macquarie Harbour was quite impressive.
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| Cape Sorrell Lighthouse |
First we headed out past the lighthouses,
through Hells Gates to Cape Sorrell, feeling the swell created by the roaring
forties – the next landmark to the West being South America. Hayden definitely did not enjoy this part! The lighthouses were originally established
to signal to boats what the conditions at Hells Gates were like, as once
committed to the passage by turning in at Cape Sorrell, a sailing ship could
not turn around against the swell and prevailing winds. This was a really pretty area, but would
allow best photographs of the coastline in the afternoon rather than the
morning, due to being on the Western Coast.
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| Entrance Island Lighthouse |
Hayden spent some time in the wheelhouse beside the
captain enjoying himself and checking out all the controls. We also saw Salmon Farms in Macquarie Harbour
and watched the salmon being fed with big hoses pumping out the food. The salmon farms actually looked quite pretty
the way they caught the sunlight.
Next, the “Eagle” took us to Sarah Island, this
appears to have begun as an earlier experimental version of Port Arthur but
later became an industrious boat building venture using convict labour. It operated as a penal settlement from 1822
to 1833. Sarah Island became the largest Australian shipyard of its time, prior
to its closure. The tour guide (Kiah)
was very dramatic, I think Hayden would love, and be good at, a job like this!
Kiah showed us many ruins and explained the background. Kiah laid out seven puzzles that indicated
that Sarah Island may have begun life as a venue for severe punishment, but
does not appear to have continued in this vein.
On our return to Strahan we viewed an old style
Huon Pine Saw Mill. The Huon pines are now protected and not permitted to be
felled but many that were stuck in the forests and on the river banks are being
retrieved as the wood does not rot and is therefore still in excellent
condition. Branches left behind, when
the trunks were previously floated downstream, are now being used in the craft
industry.
We headed back to the unit to wash some clothes and
have dinner.
Then, off to town again to see “The Ship That Never
Was” in the town amphitheatre. This was
performed by two actors and selected audience members. It was the tale of a ship called “Frederick”,
which was the last ship built on Sarah Island, with the official plan being
that the convicts who built the ship would be the crew to deliver it, and
themselves, to Port Arthur. The convicts
however, had other ideas and sailed it to Chile, allowing it to shipwreck
there. This meant that there was no proof of its theft and loss of all the
papers that showed the ship had indeed been built. The mutiny to take control of the ship had
taken place in Macquarie Harbour, not at sea, so it did not technically
constitute piracy. As a result the few
convicts who were eventually apprehended were only able to be charged with a
felony. The play was very well presented
and very humorous. Hayden got to blow up
a paper bag and be a “shot”, he also got to provide some of the wild storm with
the aid of a spray bottle of water. Really enjoyed this.
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