The trip from Bathurst Harbour to Macquarrie Harbour and Strahan was fairly uneventful. We had to motor most of the way as the wind died out after the first couple of hours. We came through Hell's Gates (the entrance to Macquarrie Harbour) at about 10am on a beautiful sunny day. There was virtually no swell around the entrance making it look very tame indeed. However, at the actual point where we passed through the narrowest part, the outgoing current was very strong and our motor certainly worked had to get us through. After 15 hours we were very glad to be finally tied up at the jetty in the centre of town. But we were not there for long. After checking the weather, we decided to head off for the Gordon River the next afternoon. So it was a frantic 24 hours during which we washed (clothes), shopped and caught up on our sleep. The reward was fantastic.
Our first stop up the Gordon was to be at the Boom Camp, which is a place where the piners used to live and collect the logs which were floated down the river. It is now used as a recreational camp by about 150 members. This group got going before the area was declared world heritage and is now the only shack where people can stay in a world heritage listed area, apparently. Phil had met some of the members while filling up with fuel before we left Strahan and we were invited to visit them as they were going up to spend the week end there. We got about 4 miles up the river before we found the Camp and tied up to their small pontoon for the night. What a beautiful location - words can't describe it. It was a beautiful still evening, so still in fact that not only was the moon reflected in the river but the stars also. The group at the Camp were very friendly and we spent some time chatting to them and hearing their stories about the Camp and their group. We were very lucky to have this experience as it is not really on the tourist trail.
Next day we went further up the river, stopping at Heritage Landing to do the boardwalk through the rainforest there. This is the place where the commercial boat tours take people for their rainforest experience. We were lucky to be there on our own so we did the whole walk without having to share it with anyone else. I am going to run out of superlatives in this blog - but the rainforest here was truly magnificent. We continued on up the river which was becoming prettier the further up we went. The banks are just completely covered in a great variety of trees right down to the waterline. The water provides beautiful reflections of the trees. We spent the night at the Sir John Falls landing which is about as far up the river as most keel boats go. This is the spot where the sea planes take people for another kind of rainforest experience. We had the place to ourselves for the afternoon and night - absolute peace. Not another soul in sight, no telephone, no radio, just us, the river and the forest.
We reluctantly left the next morning and motored a little further up (about 1 nm) before it got too shallow, and then headed back down the river to Macquarrie Harbour. This was also a lovely trip despite some drizzling rain which actually added to the atmosphere along with some classical music. There was a bit of added excitement when a sea plane flew in and landed right beside us on the river.
We then stopped in at Sarah Island, the site of the notoriously harsh penal settlement, and had an interesting few hours there looking at the ruins and learning about some of the history of the island. There was not enough time in the day to get back to Strahan so we spent the night in the Kelly Basin at the end of the harbour. While sitting out on deck having our sundowners, we saw a couple of guys off in the distance in a dinghy pulling up a net in which there was clearly something large. We were wondering what they had caught and we didn't have to wait too long to find out, as they motored over to us and gave us one relatively large Atlantic salmon. So we have been dining on this tasty fresh fish for the last few nights. Apparently, several hundred tons of these fish recently escaped from one of the local fish farms. We later found out that a lone sailor from Sydney came to grief in that bay last year, when he seemingly had a fatal heart attack on the little beach where some Tassie devils then made a mess of his body. Glad we didn't know that before we went there. In the morning before heading back to Strahan, we were able to explore the ruins of East Pillinger, a former mining town.
Luckily our spot on the jetty in Strahan was still vacant so we are now tied up there and spending some time exploring this cute little town. There are several nice walks and some interesting shops and galleries selling all kinds of things made out of Tassie timbers. Last night we went to an excellent play about the last escape from Sarah Island during which 10 convicts absconded on the last ship that was built there. Ship building was one of the labouring activities to which the convicts were put. The story goes that they stole the ship and sailed it to Chile where they lived for a couple of years before the long arm of the law caught up with some of them who were tried for piracy in London. They beat the charges on a technicality in that since the ship had never been launched and there were no official papers on it, it was not a ship but a bundle of timber, and they therefore escaped a hanging. The play was very entertaining as the story was presented as a comedy with lots of audience participation.
We are now waiting for the right winds to blow us home as the last leg of our journey will be to return to Melbourne, hopefully in time for Phil to go back to work on 12th April.
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We spent our last day in this area in this pretty bay mainly so we could do the walk across to Stephens Bay which as written up in our cruise guide as a pleasant walk. It was a lovely day but the walk was not really pleasant being very wet, muddy, boggy and overgrown in parts. Stephens Bay was worth the walk. A wide sandy bay with rolling surf of 2-3 metres and some whale bones which were interesting. On return to the boat, we prepared ourselves for the long sail ahead to Strahan.
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Things were not looking too promising when we woke up to a drizzling cold morning. However, by the time we reached our destination for the day, Schnooner Cove, the sun was out and we had everything on deck drying out. After lunch and a gorgeous hot shower, we explored the Cove which is very pretty, and includes an ochre cave which was quite interesting. We caught up with Roger and Val from Maluka, who we had met when we were first here, and enjoyed afternoon tea on their boat, followed by sundowners on Sandpiper. Lots of boats were on the move today, as everyone is making the most of the much improved weather, with some them including ourselves heading towards Port Davey for departure tomorrow. Strahan here were come at last!
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Another wet windy and cold day. Pity, because we have not been able to explore this inlet. It is quite amazing how we can pass a whole day on the boat fairly happily without doing much, but I don't think we could do it day in and day out. Phil had a few repair jobs and Lesley's knitting is so long that she finished the back of the jumper today and has started on the front. There was some excitement this afternoon when we got the forecast for Thursday as if it come to pass, we will be leaving here on Wed night to arrive in Strahan on Thursday. We have just over two weeks until Phil is due back at work, which we figure will be just enough time to see the Franklin River and make the trip home.
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Saturday is usually the day of chores, and Sunday is usually the day of rest. And so it was this weekend (well, almost). Thank goodness Saturday was a warmer day with less rain. We baked, cooked, cleaned and refuelled. After Lesley spending some time during the night working out how many meals we have left, we were lucky enough to be given some grocery items by Sam from the boat Schouten Pass. He is here as the support boat for a group of marine scientists from Hobart who are doing some sort of survey of marine life in Port Davey and it's entrance. However, the weather is too rough (too much swell) for them to do any more work so Sam tied up the boat at Meleleua Inlet and they flew back to Hobart in the afternoon. Sam is a really genuine bloke and has been very helpful sharing their long range weather forecast with us, as well as local knowledge regarding anchorages, and the use of his sat phone last night. We went to see if we could find any nocturnal animals - our Saturday night out - as we were planning to leave the jetty on Sunday and be back at anchor.
Sunday was yet another day of strong wind warning (20-30 knts) and a drizzly morning (more rain). We set off in the drizzle for Moulter's Inlet and arrived in time to drop anchor and have lunch. It is a pretty spot but unfortunately too windy, and a bit too cold, to be out and about in the dinghy. So another quiet afternoon playing scrabble. There is a glimmer of hope in this afternoon's updated forecast that we might be able to make a run for Strahan on Wednesday or Thursday.
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Well we have had horizontal rain on this trip, and now we have had horizontal hail. During the night last night, there were several heavy hail showers, and it has been hailing and raining on and off all day today. The maximum temperature in sandpiper's cabin was 10 degrees. The winds are still westerly and still blowing at 20 to 30 knots. We have had strong or gale wind warnings for the last 4 days and it is not over yet. It is very lucky for us that at the end of the jetty to which we are tied is a small house that once belonged to a local crayfisherman (Clyde Clayton) and which is now maintained by a group of volunteers for the use of yachties, fisherman, and bush walkers. We spent most of the day up there in front of the fire, drying clothes and playing scrabble. We also established the Clayton's Corner Yacht Club (CCYC) of which Phil is the Commodore. There is now a smart sign on the mantelpiece of the house, and a tin for membership fees which we hope will be put towards maintenance of the house (club rooms). In his foraging for firewood, Phil found a 4 metre Huon pine tree not 25 metres from the house. The weather situation is starting to get desparate. It seems like we might be here for at least another 5 or 6 days before it would be reasonable to make a run for anywhere. The locals are saying that this is more like winter weather patterns and saying that it has not been like this at this time of the year for at least 8 years. Due to the generosity of one of the other boats, Lesley was able to call Reece tonight to let him know that we have not disappeared, and check all is ok at home. Being completely out of touch for this long is a bad feeling. It is now about 8.30 and the only thing left for us to get into bed and read to keep warm.
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