Macquarie Harbour

1 – 7 March 2015

Hawks Nest Cove in Birchs Inlet proved to be a perfect spot for us to catch up on our sleep. The anchorage had good holding in mud and was very protected. Macquarie Harbour is 20nm long and 3 to 4 nm wide which makes it six times the size of Sydney Harbour.

As we were now at the southern end we decided on Sunday morning to motor up the Gordon River.  We followed another yacht, Marni, who had a local chart for the river. Our Navionics chart stops about 3nm up the river so we had the slightly disconcerting sight of the boat going another 15 nm over land.

There were showers throughout the morning but we still saw the spectacular scenery of rainforest reaching down to the river. 

We went up the river as far as Sir John Falls jetty where we rafted up next to Marni.

From here it was a short stroll to the falls and a slightly longer walk through the rainforest to the Lower Gordon Camp.               

The water in the river and all of Macquarie Harbour has a lot of tannin so is dark brown which results in beautiful reflections.    

We had a peaceful but cold (6 degrees) night. As Marni wanted to get away early Monday morning we cast off at 0700 in fog and mist for the trip back down the river.              

Early start

A few hours later

After exiting the river we headed for Kelly Basin, which is the site of Pillinger, a mining boom town of the late 19^th century. Another very protected anchorage, we went ashore Monday afternoon to explore East Pillinger where the Tas National Parks have boardwalks around the ruins.              

We walked about half of the 15km walk that follows the old rail line up the Bird River valley.

Tuesday morning we headed across the Harbour to Sarah Island, site of a penal settlement from 1822-1833. We joined a guided tour that explained how treatment of the prisoners changed with different commandants. This island was also the largest shipyard in the southern hemisphere at the time making ships up to 300 ton.

Tuesday afternoon we went back to Kelly Basin and ashore at West Pillinger. Not as much left here but an interesting shack with some old photos. It was windy and rainy all day Wednesday so we found things to do on the boat including Warren taking out the accumulator tank in the fresh water system which had sprung a leak. 

Once a bustling town

Not much left

On Thursday we sailed up the Harbour to Strahan where we anchored in Mill Bay. It has rained off and on since then and is cold and windy as well. We definitely did not see the town at its best. We had a good BBQ with the fleet yesterday, shopping and washing and we are now motoring towards the mouth of the harbour for the night. We plan to exit Hells Gate at first light and venture further south to Port Davey tomorrow.

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