A river cruise along the Gordon River. First, though, we went across Macquarie Harbour to the narrow opening to the sea, known as Hell's Gate, not because of the rough entry but because of the terrible conditions of the convict settlement here on Sarah Island.
The Gordon River is renowned for its still waters in the morning. Passing through rain forest the scene is one of green health and calm waters - helped by our boat having electric engines.
Huon Pines are the second longest living trees in the world. This one is estimated to be 800 years old. They produce fine grained timber that is easy to work and long lasting. The oils in the timber mean that they don’t rot and they also have great nail holding properties which make them excellent for ship-building. Unfortunately they were so valuable that the forests were almost wiped out before the Tasmanian government banned logging of them. The only Huon Pine available now is from logs that have been found along the river, left over from when they were floated down the river to be collected for the lumber yards.
In on the edge of Macquarie Harbour is Sarah Island which was chosen for a convict settlement to house convicts who had been convicted of further offences while in custody. This was a violent place with little care taken of prisoners by a harsh commandant and his soldiers. The island was set up in the early 1800s and was used until Port Arthur was opened in the middle of the century.
The bakers ovens were placed next to the leather tannery for some reason. The tannery was used to tan kangaroo hides, often traded to the soldiers by convicts who had killed them for their meat.
The bluestone penitentiary was built but never used as a prison. Instead hundreds of convicts used it as sleeping quarters.
Conditions at the settlement improved when a shipwright arrived with the offer of training convicts in how to build ships using the local Huon Pine timbers.
