Friday November 29th, a day off the bikes and on a Big Red Boat
https://worldheritagecruises.com.au/#go ... er-cruises
We woke to temps in the mid-40's but forecast to be sunny. We opted for a boat tour of the largest harbour in Australia - Macquarie Bay and the associated Gordon River.
We started with a coffee prepared by this outstanding Barrista/owner
After boarding our vessel we enjoyed a smooth ride out to
and through Hell's Gate at the mouth of the Harbour briefly entering the Great Southern Ocean in the Roaring Forties.
Hell's Gate
Outside Hell's Gate the swell picked up considerably
Coming back into Hell's Gate
After returning through Hell's Gate, a narrow, 60 meter wide channel, we sailed up to and inspected a Salmon/Steelhead farm.
Acquaculture is a big deal in Macquarie Bay due to its unique blend of fresh and salt water. Only Fish are raised, the water is not saline enough to grow Oysters or Mussels.
After the Salmon Farm we ventured to Sarah Island, the sight of an infamous early British/Australian prison where repeat convict offenders were incarcerated at hard labor building boats out of the local Huon Pine, an exceptional wood for ship building.
Sarah's Island - 12 acres of Hell!
Following our tour of Sarah's Island we cruised up the Gordon River to view the World Heritage Site Wilderness area and a few of the Huon Pines in their natural habitat.
While touring the World Heritage site we ran across Mr. No Shoulders sunning himself atop an ancient Huon Pine Log
Our guide said a family lives inside the log and that they often see one of these deadly inhabitants on the log. The Tiger Snake is apparently a frog eater, but quite deadly if it bites a human.
After our tour through the rainforest we cruised back to Strahan and visited one of the local saw mills where they handle salvage Huon logs that are recovered from the riverbank. There is no longer an active Huon Logging Industry as all the trees of any size were cut down in the early 20th Century. The good news is that as these trees are very slow growing, less than 1mm diameter per year, the young trees which are all over the place, will be big trees in 2500 or so. The trees harvested in the early 20th centure ranged up to 3 meters in diameter and 40 meters in height, kinda like Redwoods and Sequoias in the states
Our track for the day
Australians pay more for food. On the way back to our abode we stopped in the local IGA market. I was amazed at the food prices
Local scallops were $38 per kilo, local Salmon and Sea Trout, raised right here, were similarly priced.
Tomorrow we ride again, likely a route from Strahan to Zeehan to Tullah and back to Strahan. Sunday will find us moving South and East towards Hobart, then we will head up the East Coast. The East is supposed to be a little drier as the West and South are showing rain early next week. We head back to the Mainland on the evening of Thursday December 5th.
