Sarah Island Historic Site

It was a very wet and cold morning this morning. I had booked the World Heritage Cruise down the Gordon River. It wasn’t the ideal day for it but still a great experience.

We went out to the entrance of the Macquarie Harbour through Hell’s Gates before heading back down the harbour. While the sky was very grey the rain was sporadic and fairly light. That seems to be the rain in Tasmania, frequent but light.
We stopped at Sarah Island which was a secondary penal colony (you got sent there if you committed crimes as a convict). Not the finest point of Tasmanian history. Even putting aside the 21st century lens I’m viewing the history through the first 7 years of the colony were extremely brutal. It was a small island for a colony and I’m keen to read more about it. We continued towards the end of the harbour and into the Gordon River, learning about the history, the significance of the Huon pines and the threat of the Franklin Dam.

We got off again at Heritage Landing and saw examples of the various trees in a cool rainforest and learnt more about the life of the Toogee people of the area. It was a long day but thoroughly worth it.

This evening I attended a performance of The Ship That Never Was. I hadn’t realised it relied heavily on audience participation until I was speaking to the woman I sat next to on the boat. All I knew was it was heavily recommended. The two things to do in Strahan are the Gordon River cruise and The Ship That Never Was. I thought if I sat up the back I’d be safe. The play is performed in an outdoor but protected amphitheater. It was cold. So cold. They provided blankets and hand hot water bottles.
The bloke next to me and I were the first two audience members to be chosen to participate. All we had to do was be booed at. If you’ve been there I’m sure you know the role I was cast in. The two cast members are extremely good at reading people as they seemed to make great choices for each character. It was a great experience and highly recommended.

After the play I went out to Ocean Beach to see the sunset. It was obscured by clouds but still a nice view.Read more