Day 4 saw us leave Burnie very early in the morning because we had to get to Strahan for our pre-booked cruise around Port Macquarie and up the Gordon River. It drizzled throughout the day, but whenever we needed to get out of the car, or out on the boat's viewing platforms, God blessed us by having the rain stop. It was kind of eerie, but much appreciated!
Port Macquarie is the 2nd largest port in the southern hemisphere behind only Port Philip (Melbourne). Sydney Harbour could easily fit inside Port Macquarie. So why is it a realitively little used port? Why does the vast majority of shipping traffic head to Devonport instead? Well, the problem, you see, is The Heads.
When we got on the Lady Jane Franklin II, The Heads was our first stop. The Heads, the oceanic entrance to Port Macquarie, is actually quite wide. The problem is it's depth. On the wide side it only gets to aboue 5 feet deep. Yep, I could stand out in it with my head about water. The part reaches out from the northern headland to a small island. Between the island and the southern head the entrance is quite deep... but the width of the channel is about 60 feet - barely large enough for ships in the 1800s and nowhere near wide enough (or deep enough) for modern commercial shipping vessals. Add to that the Great Southern Ocean relentlessly pounding the shoreline with waves that have travelled from South Amercia (the widest oceanic distance between continents in the world) and navigation in and around The Heads is very difficult and treacherous. Four-wheeling, however, is quite popular as we saw several 4x4 SUVs driven down along the beach on the shallow side. People were fishing and evidently camping out there!
Port Macquarie is the 2nd largest port in the southern hemisphere behind only Port Philip (Melbourne). Sydney Harbour could easily fit inside Port Macquarie. So why is it a realitively little used port? Why does the vast majority of shipping traffic head to Devonport instead? Well, the problem, you see, is The Heads.
When we got on the Lady Jane Franklin II, The Heads was our first stop. The Heads, the oceanic entrance to Port Macquarie, is actually quite wide. The problem is it's depth. On the wide side it only gets to aboue 5 feet deep. Yep, I could stand out in it with my head about water. The part reaches out from the northern headland to a small island. Between the island and the southern head the entrance is quite deep... but the width of the channel is about 60 feet - barely large enough for ships in the 1800s and nowhere near wide enough (or deep enough) for modern commercial shipping vessals. Add to that the Great Southern Ocean relentlessly pounding the shoreline with waves that have travelled from South Amercia (the widest oceanic distance between continents in the world) and navigation in and around The Heads is very difficult and treacherous. Four-wheeling, however, is quite popular as we saw several 4x4 SUVs driven down along the beach on the shallow side. People were fishing and evidently camping out there!
The Heads. See that tiny bit on the left between the island and shore? THAT is the only place boats have enough depth to pass through. That wide opening on the right - way too shallow.
Another view (heading back into the harbour) of the opening and a shot of the lighthouse on the island.
From The Heads we needed to travel the length of the harbour to get to the Gordon River, but we had a stop to make along the way. Because of the nice mix of salt water from the ocean and freshwater from the Gordon River, the harbour is an ideal spot for fisheries. We stopped for a few minutes and watched them feed the fish in their holding pens - by shooting a giant fire hose with the fish food in the water!
After that quick stop, we headed the rest of the way across the harbour (this boat is very fast) and headed up the Gordon River. The rainforest runs right up to the river and there are many different varieties of trees. The most precious is the Huon Pine. It takes 1000 years to grow to its massive height and was very much prized in the era of wooden ships because an oil it contains prevents wood-boring insects from eating it away - thereby making ships last a lot longer between refits. It is a very light wood and you can definitely smell the oils - even in products that have been made and sealed. The Lady Franklin has an 8 year old Huon Pine growing in a pot inside its main room. Eight years old and maybe a foot tall!
We stopped a way up the river and were able to debark and take a walk through the rainforest. Every rainforst is different, and this one was very, very dense.
After we got back on the boat and were back in the harbour, we made one more stop - at Sarah Island. Like Port Arthur, Sarah Island was a settlement for convicts. Unlike Port Arthur, the living conditions were not quite as bad once a shipbuilder was asked to teach the men to build ships. The shipbuilder convinced the warden that healthy, well fed convicts would be happier and work harder. Surprise, surprise, he was right. They turned out over 100 ships and boats in just over a decade before the island was closed by the government and consolidated with Port Arthur to save money.
When we got back to Strahan, Clarice and I went back into a wood-working mill and picked up some unworked blocks of different exotic woods the grow in the area, including a block of Huon Pine. Clarice ran over to the post, just before it closed, and mailed them to her dad for his birthday. Apparently, when he got the package with four blocks of wood, he was very confused, but much more excited once Clarice told them where they came from and about the woods.
After we got back on the boat and were back in the harbour, we made one more stop - at Sarah Island. Like Port Arthur, Sarah Island was a settlement for convicts. Unlike Port Arthur, the living conditions were not quite as bad once a shipbuilder was asked to teach the men to build ships. The shipbuilder convinced the warden that healthy, well fed convicts would be happier and work harder. Surprise, surprise, he was right. They turned out over 100 ships and boats in just over a decade before the island was closed by the government and consolidated with Port Arthur to save money.
When we got back to Strahan, Clarice and I went back into a wood-working mill and picked up some unworked blocks of different exotic woods the grow in the area, including a block of Huon Pine. Clarice ran over to the post, just before it closed, and mailed them to her dad for his birthday. Apparently, when he got the package with four blocks of wood, he was very confused, but much more excited once Clarice told them where they came from and about the woods.
The Strahan Post - one of the oldest buildings on the west coast of Tasmania
Well, that was day 4. We spent the night in the little town of Queenstown just north of Strahan and on the main road back to Hobart. We had all of Day 5 to get back to Hobart and find our last hotel for the trip.
1 comment:
Love the hair Clarice! :) He he he... Great picture by the river.
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