Strahan, a charming fishing village with a permanent population of about 900, is the major harbor town on Tasmania's west coast. It is the place to go if you want to explore the nearby wild and beautiful World Heritage Area. It is the last outpost of civilization on the west coast and surely one of the loneliest places on earth.
Aborigines had lived in the area for at least 20,000 years. Tragically by about 1830 there were none left in the area although, in recent times, the discovery of Kutikina Cave near the Franklin River, has offered a rare insight into their lifestyle 15,000 years ago.
The town's name reminds many Australians of 19th century piners and miners, and 20th century protesters who stopped the damming of the wild Franklin River. Today visitors can take a cruise across the 50 kilometer (31 mile) length of Macquarie Harbor and along the wide Gordon River. The West Coast Wilderness Railway heads across a mountain range to Queenstown.
It was the huon pine, a superb fine-grained wood which was ideal for shipbuilding, which brought the first Europeans to the harbor. It was huon pine which was also the cause for the establishment of a penal colony at Sarah Island in 1821. At that point a signal station was established on Cape Sorell, another tourist attraction of the town.
Some of the remaining 1000-year-old huon pine and myrtle trees can be searched out by seaplane. Other visitors prefer to kayak the rivers and waterways, jet boat on the King River, walk the long expanse of Ocean Beach, slide down a sand dune, or explore the forests by all-terrain vehicle. [Whenever you visit Tasmania's West Coast, be sure to pack all-weather gear, as the weather can be wild at any time of year.] |
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| Harbour in Strahan: Gateway to the Wilderness |
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