Gordon River

We took a cruise from Strahan with the local family ,World Heritage Cruises. It took us along the magnificent Gordon River into the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area across Macquarie Harbour passing through Hell's Gates, the narrow entrance into the Southern Ocean. Much of the river course flows in an uninhabited wilderness area and contains a cold climate rainforest-the colour of the Gordon River freshwater is of weak tea appearance due to the absorption of tannin from vegetation namely Buttongrass. We had the opportunity to go ashore and take a stroll into the rainforest observing some ancient Huon Pines. The length of the river is approximately 193km and is the major river located in the central highlands, south west and western regions of Tasmania. This part of Tasmania's World Heritage Area is closely linked to the successful campaign to protect the beautiful Franklin River from being flooded as a result of the proposed damming of the Gordon River in 1980's .Read more