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<\/a><\/p>\nThat entire strip in the above photo is a museum, known as the West Coast Heritage Center.\u00a0 We had time to kill so we checked it out.\u00a0 While the reviews were excellent, unless you are really into old trains, mining or gemstones….well, you might be underwhelmed.\u00a0 Still, I found these little transportable jail cells quite interesting.<\/p>\n
Very inviting interiors, almost like an El Salvador prison!<\/p>\n Ok, that was the highlights.\u00a0 Onward to one syllable Strahan!\u00a0 We stayed here two nights at the “Franklin Manor”, which was nice but it’s showing it’s age (there were dead flies on the window sill…just saying).\u00a0 We decided to spend our one full day here doing a cruise with Gordon River Cruises.<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0 Despite the fact it was raining most of the day, it was well worthwhile!\u00a0 Here was the view of Strahan on the walk to the cruise dock.<\/p>\n This is the interior of the second deck premium cabin, complete with nautical charts on multiple screens.\u00a0 Definitely splurge if you decide to do this.\u00a0 Free flowing (and fairly decent) wine all day, despite the 0900 start!<\/p>\n Kim is relaxing into her seat.<\/p>\n The boat cruises north through Macquarie Harbor, with gorgeous views!<\/p>\n The harbors opening to the ocean is known as “Hell’s Gate”, as it’s the spot that convicts would sail through on their way to the dreaded Sarah Island, which comes up later in this post.\u00a0 Apparently the boat normally passes through the gate, but the seas were too rough on this day to attempt it.<\/p>\n The boat got near the lighthouse for this excellent shot!\u00a0 Look at those swells in the background!\u00a0 This is why they call it the “Wild West Coast”!<\/p>\n Here are the waves to the right of the lighthouse.\u00a0 Such a beautiful spot, despite the weather!<\/p>\n We then turned around and headed south towards the Gordon River.\u00a0 Here we are approaching the mouth of the river.<\/p>\n The rainforest is pretty much a wall of green along the riverbank.<\/p>\n The river narrows down, which just makes the views more dramatic.<\/p>\n More riverbank off the starboard side.\u00a0 It was raining pretty steady at this point.<\/p>\n Our guide said that this tree, hanging at 45 degrees over the river, is one of the oldest Huon Pine trees on the Gordon River, at hundreds of years old.\u00a0 Sorry, I didn’t hear how many hundreds.\u00a0 It’s not like they speak English here!<\/p>\n As we were approaching our first stop of the cruise we passed this waterfall.\u00a0 I don’t think it had a name, but again I don’t speak Australian.\u00a0 It’s also not on Google Maps.\u00a0 WTF?<\/p>\n This dock is known as Heritage Landing, where you disembark and take a short walk through the rainforest.<\/p>\n They have plenty of signs so you know where you are!\u00a0 Trust me, as an occasional blogger I appreciate it!<\/p>\n Here is another super old Huon Pine tree….no, I don’t recall how old.\u00a0 They are VERY slow growing, worse then Sequoia’s!<\/p>\n Our cruise made another stop at a rather infamous spot known as Sarah Island.\u00a0 This island is Tasmania’s oldest convict settlement and was considered one of the most severe penal establishments in the history of “Transportation” to Australia.<\/p>\n For those that might not know, “Transportation” was what the British called those who were exiled to Australia for a variety of crimes, some of them quite petty.\u00a0 This action started in 1788 and lasted until 1868, with 162,000 people being moved from Great Britain and Ireland.\u00a0 Our guide was quite colorful!<\/p>\n A sign near the entrance to the site lists all of the various deaths that happened on the island, which makes for quite the happy greeting!\u00a0 Cannibalised??\u00a0 Sounds like fun!<\/p>\n Despite it’s dark past, it’s currently quite beautiful.<\/p>\n The setting is a photographers dream!<\/p>\n The sun decided to make an appearance over the building ruins!\u00a0 This place is quite small, and only house about 400 convicts at a time.\u00a0 It operated from 1822-1833, and was mostly phased out with the construction of Port Arthur, near Hobart, Tasmania (we are going there later).<\/p>\n This is the ruins of the “New Penitentiary”, which was built as the numbers of arriving convicts kept increasing.\u00a0 This remains today as it was built from brick, versus the old one that was timber and has since disappeared.<\/p>\n The tea trees frame the beautiful path on the way back to the boat.\u00a0 We were so lucky to have a bit of sun, as it was dumping on our way to the island.<\/p>\n This is the long pier to the island from our boat.\u00a0 Doesn’t look very big at all!<\/p>\n The weather cooperated that afternoon so we took a short hike about 100 meters from our hotel, which starts at People’s Park.\u00a0 It was distinctly not Berkeley!\u00a0 The fence at the entrance was replaced in the recent past, but the overhead sign from 1905 is still on display!<\/p>\n A sign just inside the gate lets you know you are about to hike one of Tasmania’s 60 Great Short Walks!\u00a0 If only we had the time to hit all 60!<\/p>\n The trail is quite stunning.\u00a0 I spent the bulk of the time looking for a Platypus, which is rumored to be living along the river here.\u00a0 No luck though!<\/p>\n If you are looking for brightly colored fungi, you are in luck!\u00a0 This stuff was all over the sides of the trail.<\/p>\n Since it had been raining quite a bit, I think the waterfall was far more impressive than usual.\u00a0 It looks like a tree is growing up right next to the waterfall, but that’s just a stick with greenery above it.<\/p>\n On our way back to the hotel we saw this unusual looking bird, first on a home’s porch, then on this power line.\u00a0 According to my phones Merlin app<\/a><\/strong>, this is a Laughing Kookabura!\u00a0 Download the app!\u00a0 Cool bird.<\/p>\n One last shot of Strahan at sunset as we were walking to dinner that night.\u00a0 Gorgeous 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