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These intrepid folk were getting ready to paddle up the Gordon River for a 4 hour trip.

This is a stand of young Huon Pine.

Would you believe this fallen tree is about 2000 years old!

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These fallen and still standing trees were covered in mosses...just beautiful to look at.

Interesting Fungi grabbed our attention from day one of this trip and both Mike and I spent quite a bit of time trying to get the perfect shot. sometimes succeeding other failing dismally...but we had fun trying.

Grey moody clouds over Macquarie Harbour, Strahan.

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This is one of the Trout Farms...got my photos a bit out of order...sorry. This is the young Huon Pine.

We had quite a few rain showers during the day and were lucky to see some wonderful rainbows too.

Day 1 in Strahan sees us head up the Gordon River on The Lady Jane Franklin II. A luxurious way to see such pristine wilderness. We headed first to the mouth of the harbour to view Hells Gates, the narrow entrance where many a ship was lost.

Saw the amazing feat of 19th century engineering a rock wall running for an incredible distance that ensured the channel stayed at the right depth for shipping.

We passed Trout and Salmon Farms before cruising up the actual Gordon River.

On our way back we stopped at Sarah Island the site of a convict prison. Also we stopped at the Heritage Landing where we went on a boardwalk through the rainforest and were able to view massive Huon Pine trees as well as some baby ones...mind you the babys were 80-150 years old but when you consider it takes a Huon Pine 500 years to mature and they know of specimens 3000 years old...150 is very young!

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We drove into Cradle Mountain Reserve but were unable to see anything that resembled the mountain or Dove lake as there was low level cloud and cold drizzling rain...ahh well something to do on our next visit.

We continued on, swapping drivers every so often on the very windy roads. Queenstown is our lunch stop , still raining we find a bakery that makes nice pies. We have a quick wander around town and take a few photos.

We reach Strahan mid afternoon and head straight for Kitty's Place where we will spend the next 3 nights.

A cuppa is in order and time to sit and relax in the warmth.

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Our first morning was spent driving toward Strahan on the west coast where we were to stay for the next 3 nights. We passed Mt Rowland, stopped at the Round Mountain Lookout and crossed the Forth River.

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There was a lovely sunrise as we headed out to the car park to collect our "Budget Nissan Tiida", which was to transport us for the next 3 weeks.
We arrived in Devonport after a rather rough night, one of us coped better than the other...say no more, we shall put it down to the Cascade Stout drunk with dinner!

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We had a small hurdle to our plans for driving our own car around Tasmania when 4 weeks before we were due to leave we had an altercation with a tram! Trams ALWAYS win these sort of arguments and this was no exception. I booked a hire car just in case which turned out to be necessary.

So we took a taxi to the ferry on sunday evening the 11th April and we got to watch everyone driving line up with their cars, go through security then queue to get on board.

It was a bitterly cold and windy evening which did not bode well for smooth sailing!

Some very dear and thoughtful friends (Marion and Brian) organised a surprise bottle of champagne to get our holiday off on the right foot. When we found the bottle sitting in its ice bucket (no card) we got the steward to take it back thinking someone had delivered it to the wrong cabin! The steward quickly returned saying it was indeed for us and they were sorry they had not attached a card.

Cheers!

We booked a table in Seasons Restaurant then went back to our cabin for a glass of champagne before we explored the ship prior to departing.