Late last year the ABC happened to replay an old documentary on TV, titled “Franklin”, whichdealt with the environmental campaign which had been waged, back in the 1980s, to “save the Tasmanian wilderness from a contentious dam”. Although this had taken place all those years ago, most older readers in Australia would well remember the upheaval and political fallout caused by the blockade of the site of the proposed “Gordon-below-Franklin” dam, on the Gordon River in Tasmania. Just as they would well remember that the proposed dam was never constructed.
The dam’s purpose had been to generate hydroelectricity, but its proposed construction became the subject of one of the largest environmental campaigns in Australian history. The Franklin River, which joins the Gordon River, and which is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Area register, was shown in the documentary to be a wild-water river of exceptional beauty, with magnificent rock formations and ancient, huge Huon Pine trees. The narrator referred to the protests, the politicians, and the famous people involved in the campaign, as well as to the Federal Election, the High Court case and much more.
Watching this documentary reminded me of our own wonderful experience on the same Gordon River, and of the Wild Rivers National Park surrounding it. It was in July of 2003 (in the Australian winter), when Sue and I had travelled to Tasmania, together with our daughter, Nikki, and her husband, Mike. Nikki and Mike had been married only a few months before this trip and they had never been to Tasmania before. The four of us were very much looking forward to spending 14 days there, visiting some of the island’s spectacular scenery.
In 2003 we were still living in Sydney, from where the flight to Hobart, the capital city of Tasmania, took just under 2 hours. Upon arrival, we picked up a car at the airport and drove straight to our accommodation, “The Elms of Hobart”, where we stayed for 5 nights. Hobart is well-known for its waterfront scenery and its many attractions, including Mount Wellington, the Salamanca market and much more.
Of special interest to me (and it did not take us long to be reminded of it, when we made some day trips away from Hobart) was Tasmania’s convict history. In the nearby village of Richmond, we visited a still intact, old convict goal, with its solitary confinement cells and its brutal punishment area, as well as its flogging yard. It was built in 1825 and was used before the infamous Port Arthur penal colony was established on the Tasman Peninsula, where we also spent a full day exploring the historic buildings and ruins. You may recall that I wrote several blog posts last year about another convict penal settlement (posts 83-87) which was in operation in Queensland at around the same time.
On one of our day trips while we were based in Hobart, we were also able to follow the so called “Huon Trail”, which led us into the Huon Valley, one of the most beautiful and scenic places we had ever visited. We both remember the village centre of Cygnet, where we sat down for a coffee break along the way. We also walked “on top of the trees along the “Tahun Forest Air Walk”, with views over two of Tasmania’s mighty rivers, the Picton and the Huon. The Pine and Eucalypt Forest there features special timber species, such as Sassafras and Blackwood.
I referred to the beautiful Huon Valley and the Sassafras timber species in a previous blog post, in May 2024, (43. Dickens – The “Flâneur”).We met a woodcarver there, who was working in a large wooden barn. Inside the barn, some logs were burning in a stove, and the smoke was spiralling through the chimney, out into the valley. It was truly a magical place. We got talking to the woodcarver, who introduced us to his range of “Deepings’ Dolls”, which were individually crafted figures which were made out of Tasmanian White Sassafras wood. We asked him if he could make us a “Charles Dickens” figure and he happily agreed to do this for us. We wanted to give this figure to Nikki, who was studying some aspects of Dickens’ literature at that time. True to his word, the carved Charles Dickens figure was sent to us, and arrived weeks later, at our home address. It still has pride of place on a shelf in my study, as Nikki felt it was best kept there.
Following our stay in Hobart, we drove across central Tasmania, towards Lake St Clair, and from there we travelled to Strahan, a small town on the west coast of the island. Strahan is known as “the gateway to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.” There, we stayed in a comfortable hotel, the “Franklin Manor”, for 4 nights. Whilst in Strahan we enjoyed a very pleasant day out, travelling to Queenstown on the West Coast Wilderness Railway.
Our main purpose for visiting Strahan was, however, to experience a cruise to, and on, the Gordon River. This cruise, which started on Macquarie Harbour, was made on the “Lady Franklin” and was advertised as a cruise to discover the mighty Gordon River, as well as to visit the Wild Rivers National Park and the fascinating Sarah Island. Sarah Island was another brutal penal settlement, for convicts who had re-offended. It became the inspiration for theatrical performances, as well as for a book, “The Ship That Never Was. The Greatest Escape Story of Australian Colonial History”, both of which describe the brutal conditions endured by convicts and their attempts to escape from the island.
When the Lady Franklin eventually reached the Gordon River at the southern end of Macquarie Harbour, we entered a different world altogether. An unbelievably quiet and magical expanse of dark, mirror-calm water, which has been described in the promotional material for this cruise, as “Nature’s Mirror”, with a colour “like strong tea, the colour being due to natural tannins leached from the buttongrass plains and peaty soils in the catchment”. As the Lady Franklin glided into the Gordon River, the trees and forests bordering it, as well as the sky above it, were precisely reflected on the natural, mirror-like surface of the river. I had never seen anything quite like it!
Upstream, we were able to step ashore and make an unforgettable walk through the rainforest. Had we gone even a little further up the river, we would have reached the spot where the Franklin River joins it. It became quite easy, for me, to see why protestors in the 1980s had become so passionate about preserving this breathtakingly beautiful and irreplaceable river.
After Strahan we travelled to Stanley for 4 nights and then to Launceston for another 5 nights, before driving back to Hobart and our flight back to Sydney. However, that part of our Tasmanian holiday will have to be a story for another day.
Without a doubt, visiting the Gordon River was, for us, the highlight of our Tasmanian holiday.
O.P.
P.S. On Sunday morning, 12th of April, we’ll be travelling to the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.