TAS Road Trip 2024

Living it up in the Wild West!

We were extremely fortunate to score another magnificent blue sky day to cruise the waters of Macquarie Harbour from Hells Gates to the notorious ex-convict settlement on Sarah Island and the magnificent world heritage listed Gordon River, all aboard ‘Spirit of the Wild’ operated by Gordon River Cruises. It was a fabulous experience on a sensational purpose-built boat, complete with hybrid electric engines for ‘silent’ cruising down the river.

In spite of the calm and sunny day, it was easy to see why the deep black waters of Hells Gates and Sarah Island were feared by convicts and free settlers alike. The Gordon River on the other hand was peaceful and serene, thanks to one of the great victories of the environmental movement.

A highlight of the day was stepping off the boat for a close-up experience of the older-than-time rainforest on an elevated boardwalk through the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park. The guided short walk showcased some of Tassie's endemic flora including the ancient slow growing Huon Pines - once heavily exploited as the best boat building timber in the world, they were nearly wiped out entirely by the 'green gold' logging industry in the early-mid 1900s. Thankfully these magnificent trees are now protected after a consensus that it was neither sustainable nor prudent to cut down trees that were 1000 years old!

We also disembarked for a guided tour of Sarah Island where we learned of its reputation as a place of unspeakable horrors and a living hell and heard tales about some of its more colourful characters - such as Alexander Pearce, the Cannibal Convict.

Back in town, Dan, Helen, Anthony and I celebrated our unique time on the west coast with dinner at View 42º Restaurant (sans kids) and a seafood buffet as expansive as the view! The kids had chicken rolls and chaos back at the accommodation - fun all round 😁

Fun facts: Sarah Island was established in 1822 as a place of 'secondary' punishment in an attempt to control the uncontrollable. Located in the middle of nowhere with no regular water supply and horrendous work conditions, the settlement verged on bureaucratic insanity - so much so that by 1834 the place was abandoned with the convicts moved to the new settlement at Port Arthur.

In the late 1970s there was an official belief that hydro-electricity would be the economic saviour of the State and with this in mind the Government of the time proposed to dam the Franklin River with a huge dam on the Gordon River 40km upriver from Macquarie Harbour. This prompted some of the most divisive protests in Tasmanian history with more than 1,200 protesters arrested in the summer of 1982/83, before the dam proposal was ultimately overturned by a decision from the High Court in Canberra in 1983. The saga ultimately led to the area being listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Area register, saving the pristine wilderness for generations to come 🙏Les mer