s/y Nine of Cups Tasmania ... Van Diemen's Land February 2012 - January 2013 |
Tasmania boasts...
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Some Tasmanian Facts...
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The state is named after Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who made the first reported European sighting of the island in November 1642. Tasman named the island "Anthony van Diemen's Land" after his sponsor, the Governor of the Dutch East Indies. The name was later shortened to Van Diemen's Land by the British. It was officially renamed Tasmania in honour of its first European discoverer on 1 January 1856. |
Sure enough, a seaplane landed later in the afternoon. |
OR may we suggest more Australia pages?? |
The Bass Strait islands are part of Tasmania. Don't forget to visit the Kent Group National Park, Deal Island, with us for great views, close encounters with wallabies and little penguins, a tour of the lighthouse and a meet-up with the island's caretakers. |
A greater percentage of land is allocated to national parks or reserves in Tasmania than in any other Australian state. The Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife Service manages 423 reserves including 19 national parks. |
Tasmania's West Coast - Back to the Roaring 40's |
Green Point, Ann Bay - 40S54.11 / 144E40.39 - 34' |
A Telstra tower atop Cape Grim had us running for the 3G modem to see if we had an internet connection... hoorah, we did! |
Hundreds of sooty shearwaters dive for brekkie. |
A windmill farm on the hill near Ann Bay and an albatross fly-by. |
Rolling hills and beautiful views from the boat. |
We left Deal Island to cross the other half of the Bass Strait. With 3 days of easterly winds forecast, we were hoping to making it around the northwest cape of Tasmania and down the coast to Strahan in Macquarie Harbour. So much for forecasts and plans. We made it as far as Green Point before a strong wind warning from the SE got our attention. Just a reminder that we're back in the Roaring 40's! |
Sandy Cape - Kenneth Bay - 41S24.42 / 144E45.67 - 50' |
A daytrip and quick overnight stop at Sandy Cape in the shelter of Kenneth Bay The night was rolly, but tenable. At right, a beautiful west coast sunrise and the Sandy Cape Light. |
Gaggles of gannets floated by us unconcerned with our presence.They were obviously involved in a chinwag, catching up with the local gannet news. |
Above, a panoramic shot shows the entrance to Macquarie Harbour. It looks wide and benign, but in actuality it was probably one of the more challenging, tortuous entrances we've negotiated with breakwaters, rocks, islets, shoals, eddies, current, reefs and training walls with which to contend. The Entrance Island Light is to port. |
Strahan - Risby Cove - 42S09.43 / 145E19.74 |
Another pan shot of the Strahan foreshore viewed from Nine of Cups' deck. |
A view of the Esplanade, Strahan's main street, taken from the top of the walk at View 42 Degrees Restaurant. No dinner, just the view. |
The climate, the topography and even the local flowers remind us of Patagonia. Above from left, hydrangea, fuschia and wild blackberry all grow wild and unattended. |
Our usual first stop in any new port is the Tourist Info Center and Strahan had a good one. It was a rustic construction and attached to it was a small, interesting, very different museum called West Coast Reflections. The museum's focus was on Strahan and the Macquarie Harbour area from original Aborigine inhabitants, the infamous penal colony on Sarah Island, the saga of the "piners", lumbermen who harvested the huge Huon pines in the area to the Franklin Blockade, a successful blockade by conservationists to forestall the building of an hydroelectric dam on the Franklin River. This area is now a World Heritage Site since 1982 and referred to as the West Coast Wilderness. |
"The Ship That Never Was" is the longest continuously running production in Australia's history. It's offered daily in the amphitheater adjacent to the Info Center. It tells the story of 10 Sarah Island convicts who highjacked a newly built ship and escaped to Chile. During the course of the 70-minute production, the two actors with the help of much audience participation, actually construct a ship on stage. It was well done, fun and most informative. |
People's Park is the gateway to Hogarth Falls (right), one of Tasmania 's 60 Great Short Walks. About 3km return, the walk took us along the Botanic Creek inhabited by platypus which we didn't see, but had fun looking for. |
Opposite Strahan town is Regatta Point and the West Coast Wilderness Railway station which still runs daily steam train service between Strahan and Queenstown. At right, David picks (and eats) wild blackberries. |
Woodworkers and woodturners in town offer beautiful handiwork at the shops. |
Strahan is still a working fishing port. Above, a lobsterman unloads his day's catch at the wharf. |
The area is rich in bird life as well as flora. We enjoyed listening to the kookaburra's laughing call in the forest. We tramped along rain forest paths, amazed by the size of the tree ferns, gum trees and blackwoods. Check out lots of Australia birds here. |
Macquarie Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in the southern hemisphere after Sydney. |
"Tasmania is the most thoroughly mountainous island on the globe." Pub 127 Australian Pilot |
Sarah Island - 42S23.37 / 145E27.12 - 10' (Stormbreaker's mooring) |
The Macquarie Harbour Penal Station was a notorious British penal settlement established on Sarah Island in what was Van Diemen's Land in (Tasmania), Australia. Built in 1822, the prison housed mainly male convicts, although some women were also sent to the island. The penal colony was closed in 1833. Sarah Island was established as a place of banishment within the Australian colonies. It took the worst convicts and those who had escaped from other settlements. The isolated land was ideally suited for its purpose. It was separated from the mainland by treacherous seas, surrounded by a mountainous wilderness and was hundreds of miles away from the colony's other settled areas. As Sarah Island could not produce food, malnutrition, dysentery, and scurvy were often rampant among the convict population. The penal colony had to be supplied by sea. Living conditions were particularly bad in the early years of the settlement. Conditions were so crowded, convicts were unable to sleep on their backs in the communal barracks. Punishment involved solitary confinement and regular floggings; 9,100 lashes were given in 1823. (Wikipedia) |
Cups waited for us patiently on Stormbreaker's mooring |
Remains of the solitary cells, which were completely dark inside and barely large enough to lie down in. |
Though it only operated for 11 years, Sarah Island achieved a reputation as one of harshest penal settlements in the Australian colonies. |
Sarah Island is now Sarah Island Historic Site, part of the larger Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area |
The harsh conditions of the island were not reflected in this scene. |
Hawk's Nest Cove/Birch's Inlet - 42S26.44 / 145E28.01 - 20' |
Birch's Inlet is a narrow inlet on the southwestern side of Macquarie Harbour named after Thomas William Birch (1774-1821), a surgeon, whaler, merchant and shipowner who settled in Tasmania in 1808. Hawk's Nest Cove, our anchorage just inside the inlet, was tranquil and utterly beautiful. |
Further reading about Sarah Island... Marcus Clarke's For the Term of His Natural Life Richard Flanagan's Gould's Book of Fish Robert Hughes's The Fatal Shore |
Gordon River - Warner's Landing - 42S34.10 / 145E41.44 - 14' |
Kelly Basin - 42S21.42 / 145E17.33 - 26' |
Port Davey/ Schooner Cove - 43S20.50 / 146E00.29 - 30' Bathurst Harbour / Ila Bay - 43S20. 2/ 146E06.22 - 26' Anchorages King's Point - 43S21.91/ 146E07.90 - 18' Clytie Cove - 43S20.91/ 146E05.64 - 20' Bramble Cove - 43S19.35/ 146E00.20 - 21' |
The Gordon River, one of Tasmania's major rivers, flows westward from Lake Richmond for about 193km (120 mi) where it empties into Macquarie Harbour. The entire course of the river is uninhabited wilderness area. The Gordon Splits, impassable gorges, divide the Upper from the Lower Gordon. The Lower is part of a World Heritage area and contains a cold-climate rain forest and rare trees. The water is fresh and drinkable, but has the color of weak tea due to the absorption of tannin from button grass growing in the area. River rules apply here...stay to the outside, deeper, fast-flowing areas of the river bends. We obtained handdrawn "mud charts" and local knowledge from Trevor on Stormbreaker. |
Nine of Cups tied up at historic Warner's Landing. That warning sign advises that sea planes take off and land just upstream of this wharf. |
We explored Sir John's Falls as soon as the seaplane and its guests left. Note the brownish tannic water. |
Climbing heath was common along the river banks and is a species endemic to Tasmania. Its closest relative is a species found in the rain forests of Chile. |
The Franklin Dam was proposed just downstream of the junction of the Gordon and Franklin Rivers and would have flooded much of both rivers. It was a major political and environmental issue in the 1980s and the plans were finally abandoned due to public outcry and persistence. |
We had the pleasure of sharing a dinner with Bob. He's a kayaker whose dream was to kayak the Franklin River solo when he was 80. He succeeded on that very day and celebrated his feat with us aboard Nine of Cups. |
Bob left on a rainy morning, but was well prepared for the wet weather. |
Across the river from Warner's Landing is the Lower Gordon Falls Camp where Bob overnighted. He told us that several tiger snakes lived in the area and invited us to take a look. We saw three in just a short period of time. Tiger snakes are the most venomous of Tasmania's three endemic snakes. |
James Kelly wrote in his narrative "First Discovery of Port Davey and Macquarie Harbour" how he sailed from Hobart in a small, open, five-oared whaleboat to discover Macquarie Harbour on 28 December 1815. Kelly Basin, on the southeast side of Macquarie Harbour, was the location of the terminus of the Lyell Railway and the abandoned town of Pillinger which smelted and shipped zinc and copper ore. When the mines closed, so did the town. We enjoyed exploring this ghost town, but the overgrown tracks and preponderance of snakes discouraged us from doing any longer bushwalks. The ruins of the brickworks, extant buildings and remnants of the town were very interesting. |
The remains of a wharf at West Pillinger. |
The bushwalker's hut at Kelly's Basin was pretty basic. |
The track was overgrown and took us over little streams and old railroad ties. |
This dunny (outhouse) looks like it might be difficult to use. |
The remains of the old brickworks had been reclaimed by the rainforest. Fern trees and moss prevailed. |
As we wandered the paths amongst the tree ferns and heavy vegetation, we thought how difficult clearing this land more than 100 years ago must have been. Interpretive signs along the paths provided significant insight into this ghosttown . Relics like the old boiler (far left) and the dilapidated, but still recognizable railway car, reminded us that this was a working town, created to support the mining industry that thrived here for awhile. A pleasant picnic area under huge fern trees provided a good spot for eating our apples and enjoying our surroundings. |
A land-sat image of Macquarie Harbour allows you to see its nooks, crannies, inlets and the snaking Gordon River. |
A quick trip back to Strahan had us all re-provisioned and heading back out through Hells Gates. Having our own inbound track to follow, the exit wasn't nearly as challenging as the entrance had been. We knew we'd have a good trip south as soon as the dolphins showed up to wish us fair passage. Mount Sorrel Light stands tall on the promontory leaving Macquarie. |
Unpopulated, Port Davey is an inlet on the south west coast of Tasmania that lies next to Bathurst Harbour and is sheltered from the Roaring Forties navigator Marion du Fresne was the first European Davey in March 1772. It was James Kelly in 1815 lieutenant governor Thomas Davey (1813–17). |
by the Breaksea Islands.The French to record the inlet now called Port who named it after the Tasmanian |
The entrance into Port Davey looked ominous with a squall approaching. |
Heading behind the Breaksea Islands provides protection from the battering winds and SW swell. It was like a different world once we were inside. |
The Bathurst Channel offered even more protection and lots of nooks and crannies for good anchorages. |
Mount Stokes passing by Bramble Cove (left). Panoramic view of Cups anchored in Schooner Cove (center). A sea eagle poses in Schooner Cove. |
Clayton's Corner was easily accessible from our anchorage in King's Point. The Claytons, Win & Clyde, were the ultimate self-reliant couple. They lived at Clayton's Corner for most of their adult lives. Their house and property are now part of Tasmania's Southwest Wilderness National Park. The long pier at Clayton's Corner afforded a tie-up for shallower draft boats than Cups (far left). A collapsed building with a warning sign indicating the building was not stable and might collapse warranted a chuckle (left center) The Clayton's cabin now accommodates bushwalkers (hikers) and was a comfortable, dry spot to wait out a rain shower and have a snack. |
Good reading! |
We climbed the hill behind the cabin for a great view of Cups. |
Buttongrass and wildflowers grew on the path up the hill. |
Because we were not sure of depths with our 7' draft, we dinghied the 4 miles up the Melaleuca Inlet keeping the rudimentary stakes to port. |
There are three ways to get here...by boat, by plane or on foot. Above, the Par Avion airlines terminal and first class lounge. |
This tin-mining complex was once operated by the legendary Deny King (another good read) and is still owned by the family. |
The orange-bellied parrot is a small broad-tailed parrot endemic to southern Australia, and one of only two species of parrot which migrate |
These delicate Tasmanian bladder- worts aka blue fairy aprons, are really tricky. They suck unsuspecting tiny inverterbrates into their lower stem 'bladder' and digest them for nitrogen. |
The entire area was scenic...everywhere we turned, there was something to see or photograph. |
This area is sacred to the Needwonnee, one of four bands of Aborignals that comprise the Southwest Nation and originally lived here. Left, a view of the Melaleuca lagoon and an Aboriginal canoe. David looks at a hut along the well-marked pathway (center left) and a native basket hangs from a tree. We were enchanted with the forest figures along the way made of the same vines used to make their huts and baskets. |
Despite the tea brown, tannic water, the bright orange jellyfish (left) was definitely noticeable floating near the surface. A view of Cups anchored in Clytie Cove with Mt. Rugby in the background (center). The Narrows looked even narrower from our vantage point on the ridge above Clytie Cove. |
Exiting the Bathurst Channel back into Port Davey, the Breaksea Islands looked less intimidating from this view. |
Maatsukyer Island Lighthouse...Australia's southern-most lighthouse. |
Rounding Southeast Cape, Tasmania...one of the world's great southern capes. |
Rounding the Cape warranted a tot of rum to Neptune. We don't take any chances when it comes to keeping the god of the sea happy. |
A great view of three southern Tasmanian capes... Southwest Cape, Southeast Cape and Whale Head. |
Whale Head Lighthouse sitting atop Whale Head promontory signalled our turn north into D'Entrecasteaux Channel. |
A D'Entrecasteaux Channel view...simply beautiful |
D'Entrecasteaux Channel anchorages:
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The entrance to the Pigsties anchorage is guarded by the shags of Shag Island. The next overnight stop was in Southport... convenient, but unremarkable. |
Several lobster boats aka crayfish boats were tied up at the Port Esperance wharf. Above, the distinctive crayfish pots used throughout Tasmania. |
The King George III was a British penal transportation convict ship that was shipwrecked with heavy loss of life during its last voyage when she was transporting convicts from England to the Australian Colonies. . |
Cygnet - 43S10.60 / 147E05.16 - 21' |
Cygnet was originally named Port de Cygne Noir (Black Swan Port) by the French explorer Bruni D'Entrecasteaux on his voyage through the area in 1792. |
Tasmanian apples were in season and we contributed to the "honesty box" daily for the best apples ever. |
One innovative, imaginative local transformed his sailboat into the town's iconic black swan. The wings were articulated and he said he could make up to 3 kts going downwind! |
Nine of Cups is wintering in Tasmania while the crew is enjoying a northern spring/summer respite in the USA. Join us on our American Odyssey 2012. We'll return to Cups in September to complete our exploration and circumnavigation of Tasmania. |