WEST COAST
In an island of unique experiences, the west coast is a land apart. Through its craggy mountains and World Heritage Area wilderness, you'll see thousands of millions of years captured in the ancient rocks, wrought in volcanic fire and scraped clean by ice. In West Coast towns and villages, you'll feel the presence of tough men and bold women who carved a boom-and-bust living from the mountains, forests and seas.
Your Gordon River cruise boat skipper will tell you about the heritage of the piners - chances are his grandfather once worked the rivers. A wood turner in Strahan or Tullah will show you what makes the mellow Huon pine so special - as the fragrant shavings fly, you'll understand.
Sample a West Coast crayfish or Macquarie Harbour salmon, fresh from the sea. Put on a miner's helmet and light, and go deep underground in Queenstown's Mt Lyell mine, they mined a fortune there in copper, silver and gold. Ride the newly restored Abt railway, now called the West Coast Wilderness Railway.
In the fine historic streetscapes of Zeehan, you'll feel more of the west coast's rich mining heritage. Nearby, Rosebery is a true mining town - far below, the drilling goes on. In Tullah enjoy the scenic lakes that create hydroelectricity. In Waratah, the pioneers once mined a mountain of tin - these days, it's where pure rainwater is bottled.
From Strahan, follow the tannin-dark Gordon River into the rainforest, or climb to the Teepookana Plateau. You can see trees that took root many centuries ago, and discover how today's piners are carefully working the precious Huon pine reserves for the future. Cross the restless waters of Macquarie Harbour and step ashore on Sarah Island.
Touch cold stones chiseled by convicts, and gaze towards the chain of mountain peaks that imprisoned them. Catch Australia's highest-altitude ferry frothe nearby crags melted 10,000 years ago. The last glacier that helped shape Lake St Clair's bed and the nearby crags melted around 10,000 years ago.
Strahan - the sheltered fishing village overlooks Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast. The harbour, at 78.57 square nautical miles, is according to a local estimate almost 6 times the size of Sydney Harbour and is the second largest in the Southern Hemisphere, after Victoria's Port Phillip Bay.
Strahan is the base for flights over the Tasmanian World Heritage Area; cruises up the Gordon River; a journey into the resilience of the human spirit on the restored West Coast Wilderness Railway; jet boat rides up the King River; kayaking and bushwalking. At nearby Ocean Beach, 40 kms of pristine sand is pounded by surf whipped up by the Roaring 40s.
Queenstown is approximately 30 kilometres inland from the midwest coast. The town was established in the 1890s when copper was discovered in the surrounding mountains. The mountains, stripped by mining of all their vegetation, became a tourist attraction, but technology has progressed and the vegetation is now slowly returning.
The town has an interesting collection of timber architecture left from early mining days and has been the main focus of the national project to restore the old and rare Abt railway, now called the West Coast Wilderness Railway and open for scenic rides. There is an excellent museum that covers a hundred years of mining and community development in the area.
