Thank Goodness They Didn't Dam the Franklin

We booked Gold Class seats on the World Heritage Cruises Macquarie Harbour and Gordon River cruise. We paid extra for gold class which entitled us to upper deck reserved seating at a table for 4, free espresso and cake for morning tea plus first place at the buffet. We feel it was worth it as we had plenty of room with some seats unsold whereas standard seating was absolutely packed.

The cruise itself was well run, with helpful staff and a good commentary along the route. This is operated by a local family who has cruised boats in the region for 100 years.  Our skipper told us about the anti Franklin damming campaign of the 80s - if it had been unsuccessful, we wouldn't be cruising to the locations we saw today. He even believed that it would have been the end of Strahan as a viable town.

It took us about 15mins to walk under grey skies from our caravan park to the boat. PD's trusty weather app kept telling us that the weather would be clear by 11am - and so it was. What a beautiful, calm and sunny day it was which showcased Macquarie Harbour and the Gordon River at their very best.

Strahan:

Hells Gates - a narrow 80m channel from the harbour to the ocean. It was calm today, albeit still overcast:

Once the sky cleared, the views around the harbour were spectacular. There are many Atlantic salmon and ocean trout fish farms in the harbour and we pulled up alongside one to view feeding up close.

The boat stops at Sarah Island - the prequel to Port Arthur. The guides really put in an effort to bring the story of Sarah Island to life. This is a beautiful spot with a bloody past.

After Sarah Island, we cruised into the Gordon River. By this time, PD had befriended the skipper and had a prime seat for most of the remaining cruise.

The boat had one last stop at a boardwalk through the rainforest for which the area is renowned and understandably world heritage listed.

It is now illegal to fell Huon Pine, or to remove it from the forest floor. Only trees which fall into the waterways can be salvaged for wood work as even toppled trees can still resprout. We were told of one Huon pine which has lived for over 10,000 years through several cycles of growth, topple, sprout and regrowth. It is the oldest living thing in the Southern Hemisphere and the second oldest living thing on earth. 

Huon pine is very slow growing at 1mm trunk width a year. We saw a 200 year old tree where the trunk could be easily encircled by two hands. 

The boardwalk includes a slice from a fallen Huon pine demonstrating age:

The cruise finishes around 3pm at the sawmill where you see logs milled the old way:

Salvaged Huon Pine logs (thousands of dollars worth):

We are thankful that the weather continues to be kind to us but we are expecting showers for the next few days.