Choose a diary entry31/03/2004 - Retrenched! 02/04/2004 - Farewell Lunch 03/04/2004 - Preparation 1 04/04/2004 - Preparation 2 05/04/2004 - Packing 06/04/2004 - Sydney to Hobart to Mt. Field NP 07/04/2004 - Tarn Shelf, then into the Southwest 08/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 1 - Up Alpha Moraine 09/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 2 - Lake Cygnus 10/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 3 - Lake Oberon & Square Lake 11/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 4 - Lake Oberon to Lake Cygnus 12/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 5 - Lake Cygnus to Junction Creek 13/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 6 - out to Mt Field NP 14/04/2004 - Back to Hobart for resupply and on to Southport 15/04/2004 - Southport, Hastings springs, Cockle Creek 16/04/2004 - South Coast Track - Day 1 - Cockle Creek to South Cape Rivulet 17/04/2004 - South Coast Track - Day 2 - South Cape Rivulet 18/04/2004 - South Coast Track - Day 3 - back to Cockle Creek, then Hobart 19/04/2004 - Hobart to Lake St. Clair 20/04/2004 - Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 1 - to Vera Hut 21/04/2004 - Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 2 - Tahune Hut and the Summit 22/04/2004 - Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 3 - Tahune Hut to Vera Hut 23/04/2004 - Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 4 - out to Derwent Bridge 24/04/2004 - Derwent Bridge / Lake St. Clair to Hobart 25/04/2004 - R&R in Hobart 26/04/2004 - Hobart, buying a new Camera 27/04/2004 - Hobart to Port Arthur 28/04/2004 - Port Arthur Historic site, then to Fortescue Bay 29/04/2004 - Tasman Trail Hike - Fortescue Bay to Eaglehawk Neck 30/04/2004 - Eaglehawk Neck to Hobart, Targa 01/05/2004 - Hobart R&R, Salamanca Markets 02/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 1 - to Wombat Flat 03/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 2 - to Mt. Ramsay 04/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 3 - Mt. Ramsay to Huskisson River 05/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 4 - Camped at Huskisson River 06/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 5 - Across the Huskisson 07/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 6 - Out, then to Strahan 08/05/2004 - R&R in Strahan 09/05/2004 - Dissapointing Gordon River Cruise 10/05/2004 - Strahan, R&R, Preparation for Overland Track 11/05/2004 - Strahan to Lake St. Clair 12/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 1 - Lake St. Clair to Pine Valley Hut 13/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 2 - the Labyrinth and Acropolis 14/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 3 - Pine Valley Hut to Kia-Ora Hut 15/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 4 - Kia-Ora Hut to Mt. Ossa to Pelion Hut 16/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 5 - Pelion Hut to Windermere Hut 17/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 6 - Windamere Hut to Cradle Mountain Village 18/05/2004 - Sick!, Cradle Mountain to Launceston 19/05/2004 - Recovery 1 20/05/2004 - Recovery 2 - Doctor, and Cataract Gorge 21/05/2004 - Recovery 3 22/05/2004 - Recovery 4 23/05/2004 - Recovery 5 24/05/2004 - Launceston to Bicheno 25/05/2004 - Freycinet Hike - Day 1 - the Hazards to Cooks Beach 26/05/2004 - Freycinet Hike - Day 2 - back to Bicheno 27/05/2004 - Exploring Bicheno 28/05/2004 - Bicheno to Launceston 29/05/2004 - Exploring Further in Launcestion 30/05/2004 - Cataract Gorge 2 31/05/2004 - Launceston to Liffey Falls to Deloraine 01/06/2004 - Trowunna, Devils Gullet, Walls of Jerusalem National Park 02/06/2004 - Walls of Jerusalem Hike - Day 1 03/06/2004 - Walls of Jerusalem - Day 2 - Out, then to Hobart 04/06/2004 - Mt. Field NP, Styx Valley & on to Triabunna 05/06/2004 - Maria Island - Day 1 06/06/2004 - Maria Island - Day 2 07/06/2004 - R&R in Launceston 08/06/2004 - Flying Back Home

Tasmania Diary

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Sunday, May 09, 2004

Dissapointing Gordon River Cruise

Today I went on a Gordon River cruise. I got some breakfast at Banjo's Bakery, then boarded the boat at 8:30. The World Heritage Cruises boat was a big catamaran, with a fully enclosed lower deck, half enclosed top deck and an open air roof deck.
At 9:00 we got underway. It was an overcast, cold day. The boat took us first to the gates of hell (the entrance to Macquarie Harbour), and although we were moving fast, Macquarie Harbour is very big, so it took a while. The Gates of Hell are a channel of water which is extremely narrow, probably only 50 metres wide. As we went through the channel, I went onto the open air foredeck, which was freezing. There are two lighthouses at the Gates (very small ones), one of which is on a tiny island. The water flowing through the Gates was fairly turbulent, and apparently depends on the wind more than the tide for it's direction.

We then went briefly out into the Southern Ocean, where we saw a pod of dolphins feeding on a shoal of fish, at a distance of about 100m. The wind-chill on the foredeck when the boat was moving (even slowly) into the wind, was icy, it must have been well below freezing.
Moving on, we went to Sarah Island. It is a pretty small island, with not many remains of the convict days. I found it surprising that the shipbuilding slipways were largely intact underwater, even though they were made of wood. The tour guide was a bit too much though, as was the size of the group, and makeup of it (mostly retiree package deal tourists).

After Sarah Island, we went the short distance to the mouth of the Gordon River, where the boat speed dropped dramatically to reduce the wake impact.
We cruised for about an hour upstream, with a dense but fairly short rainforest on both banks. After some time, we came into a wide gorge and then into Horseshoe Bend (a 180 bend) where the boat stopped at 'Heritage Landing' for a short walk in the rainforest.
A boardwalk in a 400 metre loop went through dense low rainforest. It was seemed somewhat pointless though.The entire reason the landing and boardwalk was set up was to see a 3000 year old Huon Pine, which was left by the piners, as it was too twisted. But a few years ago the tree fell over, so now all you see of it is a big log. The forest you can see from the boardwalk is also quite pathetic compared to what I saw in the Tarkine, and made me wonder if the reason many people are indifferent to the fate of rainforests is because they only see examples like this. After filing around the boardwalk, we got back on the boat for the run back to Strahan.

I though the best part of the trip was the river views, and the mountains to the north east of the harbour, but on the whole it was not really worth the $75 ticket, as it was too packaged and commercialised
At Strahan, we docked beside the Huon Pine Saw Mill, which was also boring and commercial. I left and went back to the hostel for the night, thinking it was a bit of a waste doing the cruise.

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