Days Four and Five – Strahan

The pretty bayside town of Strahan in Tassie’s West is essentially a company town. Pure Tasmania is a tourism company that has a fair old interest in the area, and seems to have a monopoly on Strahan’s tourism ‘experiences’, and fishing seems to be the other main industry in town with a great deal of mining in the area). It is easy to get a little judgmental about the concept of a big lush company essentially owning a town, but bear in mind these facts: that since logging of the ancient world heritage old-growth forests ended, tourism has become the region’s biggest industry, and that most of the people we spoke to who work for Pure Tasmania in the region were locals whose families had lived there for generations. I don’t know the entirety of the situation but I can tell you that we have participated in two of Strahan’s big Pure Tasmania tourism experiences, and they were well worth our time as visitors, especially if it is keeping the people in the area and helping to fund the protection of that World Heritage Area.

The first experience was especially for the sake of the Captain, who adores trains and everything to do with them: the West Coast Wilderness Railway. We forked out a little extra money for the Premium tickets (whooo!) which took a pleasant day and turned it into a super-special one. The day involved a trip through the WHA in a restored steam train (now fueled by diesel rather than coal) between Strahan and Queenstown, with a bus ride back at the end. Standard tickets include luncheon; premium tickets include a gorgeous separate carriage with a dedicated guide who continually plies you with delicious Tasmanian gourmet food, wines and beers, and luncheon.

Obviously, there was a need to dress up  bit for the occasion. I always dress up a bit for trains, and especially heritage train trips. It is my way of complimenting the people who have put so much effort and time and love into the restoration, not to mention those who serve on board. For this occasion it was my black sailor pants, black turtleneck, bright red accessories including beret, and jaunty makeup. Sensible mary-janes, of course, as a small amount of walking was expected in the day.

As we boarded our adorable guide Paula (a local girl from generations back) pressed tall flutes of sparkling wine (I believe it may have been Jantz) into our hands, and from that point onwards it was all lovely Tamar wines, chicken-and-brie pies, fresh fruit (including the ubiquitous Tasmanian apple: I am munching one as I type and it is crisp, sweet, in season and perfect), cheeses, walnuts and brownies.

The train took us through breathtaking old-growth and regrowth forest, with the information guide giving us all a running commentary on the history of the train and the region. It stopped numerous times to allow us to take in forest walks, breathers and, amusingly, a gold-panning demo. The train staff members were friendly and delightful and the Premium carriage folks really were treated as VIPs. The lunch was SUBSTANTIAL, which made it difficult to finish the snacks that we were continually plied with. By the time the journey was finished we were dreamy with food and drink …

… Which did not stop us from heading out for dinner! First, however, I wanted to check out View 42°, the bar and restaurant attached to our hotel (and indeed most of the hotels in town). We were far too full for a buffet dinner at the restaurant but I did want to find out if it is possible to get a decent martini in Strahan! This is possibly, Charming Friends may say, a risky business. The fact is that resorts very rarely do decent cocktails. They tend to hire young folks, one would hope usually locals, who have been trained by the resort and never actually studied mixology. They tend to cater for non-cocktail-drinking holidayers, more likely to want a beer, wine or nasty nasty nasty faux-tropical horror involving Midori, cream and Coca Cola than a classic. I took a look at the cocktail list on the bar and was duly horrified. It was … well, I don’t wish to turn your stomachs so I won’t go into details.

As it turned out, the young local fellow from whom I tentatively ordered an extra-dry Bombay Sapphire (they had that at least) martini STIRRED please, did a reasonably decent job. Okay, there was too much vermouth (it was dry rather than extra-dry which is better than it might otherwise have been), it was not cold enough and he didn’t so much stir it as swirl it around a bit, but it was certainly drinkable, and he was friendly and personable. Points for that.

More points for having a decent-looking mocktail list. Points right back off again for not having any of the ingredients to hand for the mocktail that K actually ordered. Major points for giving it a go all the same, and using substitute ingredients (as far as we could make out the only ingredient in common with the original listed drink was ice, but he did his best). Sadly, after all his work, K said that it basically tasted like watermelon and cream. Ah well. She gamely described it as ‘nice’ but she may have been referring mainly to the lovely bartender …

Extra points on top of that for a good beer and wine list, and for astonishingly lovely sunset views over Strahan and the harbour. Frankly, it probably is the best drinking establishment in town if you are willing to have a nice beer or glass of wine, and the staff evidently likes to try and please their customers.

A quick meal in the local pub (pub food: plentiful and heart-starting) before retiring for an early start the next day.

Day Five in Strahan was dedicated to the Gordon River Cruise, in the Lady Jane Franklin II, a fabulous gigantic catamaran which was to take us all the way up the Gordon River (into which the legendary Franklin flows) and into the mouth of Macquarie Harbour, taking in the former notorious convict camp of Sarah Island.

Once again we could have gone for the premium service, similar to that on board the train, but on this occasion we decided to go for the standard service, which was perfectly nice with a very clean and neat boat, a buffet lunch, and an open kiosk to purchase additional drinks and snacks.

The boat was very stable – perfect for those who are not easy sailors, and not a single person on board had trouble. I myself am a very good sailor and unable to resist the feeling of waves under my feet and wind on my face. Consequently I spent most of the trip on deck, experiencing some of the most incredibly powerful winds of my life as we raced into the open harbour. This was worth it, as the scenery was heartbreakingly gorgeous. The scenery was equally beautiful, but a much calmer journey, as we sailed slowly up the Gordon River past ancient forest.

There was a brief boardwalk in the forest which, to be frank I didn’t particularly enjoy, as with 300 or so guests on board, it turned into more of an orderly queue, shuffling around the short walk. Much much better was the tour on Sarah Island, a notoriously hard penal settlement. Although the island scenery was partly grim and partly darkly beautiful (and, er, pouring with rain), the tour guide, gorgeous Chilean Patricio, made the occasion special, informative and at times very very funny.

Overall it was a marvellous day, although my insistence on remaining on deck left me soaked through: but warm natural fibre trousers, an equally warm woolen sweater, cotton gloves and my trusty beret (suitable for all occasions!) kept me warm enough in spite of my wetness.

We dried off in the car as we made our way from Strahan to the Cradle Mountain area, and our next accommodation: the luxurious Lemonthyme Lodge …

Note to Charming Friends: it was only when we arrived at Lemonthyme Lodge that we realised we had left our camera on the boat! Happily a quick phone call resolved the problem: the staff had discovered it and were happy to post it back to our Canberra home. K and A have a camera so all is not lost ... however it does mean you will have to wait to see photos of our trip and the cleverness of our luggage packing!