What is Strahan in Tasmania known for?
Strahan is a small harbour town on Tasmania's west coast, the gateway to Macquarie Harbour, Gordon River cruises and the West Coast Wilderness Railway. It has fewer than 1,000 residents.
The town grew in the late 1800s as a port for the mining towns of the west coast, such as Queenstown and Zeehan, and for the Huon pine timber trade. Its sheltered waterfront is lined with old wooden buildings.
Macquarie Harbour is one of Australia's largest natural harbours, about six times the size of Sydney Harbour. Its narrow entrance, called Hells Gates, is notoriously dangerous for ships.
Railway and theatre
The West Coast Wilderness Railway runs between Strahan and Queenstown, using a rack-and-pinion system to climb steep slopes through rainforest. The line originally carried copper ore from the Mount Lyell mine.
The Ship That Never Was, a comic play about convicts who escaped from Sarah Island by stealing a ship, has run in Strahan since 1994 and is Australia's longest-running play.
Nearby Ocean Beach stretches for about 40 kilometres and faces the full force of the Southern Ocean. The Henty Dunes, a short drive north, are popular for sandboarding.
Did You Know?
Strahan was named after Sir George Strahan, a governor of Tasmania in the 1880s.