Strahan - Gordon River
A liquid sunshine day on the water in the World Heritage Area
The Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park is in the western sector of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area and accessible via Strahan, a harbour side village on Macquarie Harbour.
World Heritage listings are granted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to preserve natural and cultural icons of outstanding value to all the world's people. Its cultural icons include India's Taj Mahal and the Pyramids of Egypt, while its natural icons include the Ha Long Bay in Vietnam and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. In total only 851 icons are listed worldwide, of which 166 are natural icons. Australia is home to 11 of the world's 166 natural icons.
Helicopter in or fly over this area but getting out on the water is the real deal and for that Strahan is Expedition Central. Being the heart of a RAINforest it gets about 3 metres a year of what locals call liquid sunshine - so be prepared for rain and bring appropriate clothing and a compact umbrella.
Both the Franklin and Gordon rivers rise deep in the mountains then hurtle through gorges and rapids into rainforest on their way to Macquarie Harbour and the Southern Ocean.
Day-long cruises leave Strahan for the southern end of Macquarie Harbour, which is six times bigger than Sydney Harbour, and up the Gordon River to Heritage Landing where you see rare Huon pines, some more than 2000 years old. The cruise will also take you to the former penal settlement of Sarah Island. In colonial Australia this was Australia's elite banishment settlement, the world's remotest gulag, Guantanamo Bay-plus!
The rivers and Macquarie Harbour offer bushwalking, salmon and trout fishing, camping, kayaking, jetboat rides, and 4WD tours. Put names to the forest kings - Huon pines with light green needle-shaped leaves, towering dark green myrtle beeches with diamond-shaped leaves and the gentle sassafras with their conical tops.
December 2007 was the 25th anniversary of the area's World Heritage listing which followed massively successful environmental protests against plans to dam the Franklin for hydro-electricity. The protesters succeeded and today the river remains one of the world's few Wilderness World Heritage List icons.
