Franklin-Gordon Wild River National Park

Today we boarded another river cruise, but this one was a little bit different.
We joined the Gordon River Cruises for a 6 hour cruise out through Devil's Gates into the Southern Ocean and then along the Franklin-Gordon River, into a World Heritage Area.
We heard about the engineering to create a faster water flow to ensure that the mouth of the river didn't get silted up and the treacherous stories of the ships coming into the Harbour. The Harbour, which is larger than Sydney Harbour has very little industry around it - but one of the activities is fish farming, a big change from the days when the mighty Huon Pine was felled and floated downriver for milling.
The Pine is a very slow growing tree, taking around 100 years to become around 20 centimetres thick. But it had great properties, including being resistant to rotting so it was almost harvested out of existence.
We sailed into the Franklin-Gordon Wild River National Park, entering a UNESCO World Heritage area. As the diesel motors were cut and we went under electric power you could hear a chorus of bird song, including the Glossy Black Cockatoos.
We stopped at an elevated boardwalk for a walk amongst the rainforest. We noticed so many of the smaller details of the rainforest, such as the mosses and fungi.
Once back on board we had a smorgasbord lunch as the boat set sail for Sarah Island - the site of a former penal colony and one of the harshest to have existed in Tasmania (or anywhere else for that matter).
We toured the island with Lyle from the Round Earth Theatre Company whom we had seen perform the night before.
At the end of the tour the adults booked into 42º Restaurant for a smorgasbord of wonderful seafood, salads, hot food and deserts whilst the kids had chicken rolls and chaos back at the accommodation. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves that night!Leggi altro