Wednesday 2nd January

We set the alarm for an early start. Breakfast in the hotel restaurant at 7am, down to the wharf at 8am, departure on time at 8:30am.

The cruise boat was a large catamaran that holds 220 people on two decks. The upper deck has a better view and better service and so is more expensive. We were on the lower deck. Although we were in the middle of the boat, we still had a good view.

There was a choice of five viewing decks. We preferred the deck at the top of the boat because it gave the best view. However, you needed to be well rugged up out there because the breeze was very cold.

The boat headed towards the heads of Macquarie Harbour and managed to navigate through Hell’s Gates and out into the Southern Ocean. Today it was beautifully sunny and calm.

The guide told us that they have recorded waves of 20m or more off the coast. I guess they wouldn’t go outside the heads on such a day.

Next we sailed across the harbour and up the Gordon River. Because of the efforts of the environmentalists decades ago, this area still is completely natural. The boat stopped at a pier where we all got off for a closer look at the native bushland. They've built a boardwalk through the bush to cater for tourist groups like us. The walk took about 30 minutes.

On the way back down the river, they served us a very nice buffet lunch. Their galley was also available throughout the trip for snacks and drinks including beer and wine.

The next stop was at Sarah Island which is an island within Macquarie Harbour where they kept convicts during the early 1800s. It was intended to be a harsh penal colony for secondary offenders – just like Port Arthur.

We were on the island for almost an hour during which a guide gave us a very entertaining tour of the island telling us about the convict era.

We got back to Strahan by 2:15pm. We were very impressed with the tour and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who visits Strahan.

Back at the hotel, we turned on the TV to see how the cricket was going. We found out that Australia was batting and was 6-160! Good grief! However, we were in time to see Andrew Symonds score a century and for Hogg to score 79.

The hotel only offers dialup internet access in the rooms. However, in the lounge you can get access to wireless internet by purchasing an access card from reception.

This enabled us to catch up on our blog and check emails etc. While we were sitting there with the Macquarie Harbour below us, we saw a helicopter buzzing across the sky and we saw it land next to the visitor centre. We also saw a seaplane land in the harbour.

After the cricket and before dinner, I went for a walk to the point opposite Strahan village. At the point, there is a restored railway station with a nicely restored train waiting at the station. Apparently it runs between Strahan and Queenstown.

For dinner, we went to the bistro at the hotel. The food was great and the view was even better. The restaurant is at the top of the hill overlooking the town. There are big glass windows so you can admire the view while you have your meal.

The view looks straight up Macquarie Harbour. When we sat down, the sun was slowly setting over the clouds on the horizon. It was fabulous watching the colour of the harbour change as the sun got closer to the horizon and finally set. It was a beautiful, peaceful setting.

Towards the end of our dinner, we saw the cruise boat return from the evening cruise. We also saw another similarly-sized cruise boat return from all-day cruise.

In the adjacent lounge, there was a piano player to entertain us while we ate our dinner. It was a very pleasant evening.

I went for a walk to check out the wharf and the helicopter landing site.