We anchored at Strahan by mid morning and spent a few hours taking it easy before our friends Don and Sheryl drove over from Hobart and joined us for the voyage the upper reaches of the Gordon River. By early afternoon we were under sail to the south east headed for the mouth of the river. Mirror-like conditions at Kellys Basin made us feel like we were attached to mother earth with barely a movement during the night. The following day we steamed a further 20 miles up the Gordon River to the further extent possible to Sir John Falls. The commercial boats only go 5 miles along the river. We wound our way through many gorges and finally tied up to a jetty that gives access to the falls. The jetty also has a pontoon attached to it for access by a seaplane tour that stops for 10 minutes a few times a day. Other than the jetty and boardwalk that leads up to the falls - there is nothing else there and nothing for many, many miles. The following day Don, Frances and I took our dingy a further 5 miles upstream to the junction with the Franklin River and then further upstream as far as the rapids would allow. The waters around Macquarie Harbour and these rivers is not clear but rather tea coloured, being tinted by runoff from surrounding vegetation. One of the things this does is to make the reflections in the still waters very clear. We were thankful for the efforts of conservationists in the 80's as their efforts prevented its destruction in the name of progress.