On to Queenstown, where we had been warned not to stop... But stop we did - well just out of Queenstown next to Lake Burbury. And then came the rain. A record even for this wet area (rains 300 days a year...). One local confided in Kate her conspiracy theories involving cloud seeding and money-hungry hydro-electric damn magnates... hmmm... It rained all night and when we got up in the morning the ground underneath the camper felt like a swamp and our second room had leaked. But we rallied and jumped in the car and drove the insanely windy road down into Queenstown - the copper mining town with a moonscape of decimated hillsides. In Queenstown we hopped aboard the main tourist attraction - the Western Wilderness Railway - on which we learned way more than we could ever want to know about the Apt System which allowed them to get the copper up over the steep hills to be exported for big bucks (yep fair enough, no more about that). Someone had told Sash about this railway on our second day in Tasmania and he had been asking when we were going on it every day since. So we were all a bit relieved that we had finally made it. It was a bit of kitchy fun - did a bit of unsuccessful gold panning at one stop then back on the train to watch the beautiful big celery tops and huon pines pass by. Got to the lunch stop where we were to meet the folk coming from the other direction, eat the provided lunch, then swap trains for the rest of the journey into Strahan. We were waiting hungrily on the platform when we heard the massive boom of an enormous tree falling onto the kitchen carriage of the other train. We have all admitted since that our first thoughts were for our lunch, but we were pleased to learn that no-one was hurt - although there was serious damage to the train and many traumatised passengers who described the train lurching from side to side over a steep drop into the (clinically dead) Queen River. We couldn't continue the journey and were forced to retrace our tracks back to Queenstown. Sash was disappointed because the promised journey had included a bus back to Queenstown from Strahan. But we celebrated when they amazing staff opened the cafe to us to pillage free of charge AND refunded our money in full. Seriously, the customer service was mind-blowingly impressive! But really bad for them as we heard nearly a week later that the trains still weren't going. A bit of excitment which we have enjoyed re-telling at every opportunity...
Another excitement for us during our time in this area was our first birthday on the road. It was Bill's birthday and so Kate, Zara and Sasha planned a day of great excitment with seaplane rides over the Franklin River, pancakes for breakfast and a fancy-pants dinner out on the town. But Bill just wanted to go on the Gordon Rover cruise (which we had originally ruled out due to cost but could now justify due to refunded train trip). So a very early start (no pancakes, just bleary 'happy birthdays'), then a lovely cruise down the river and a visit to Sarah Island (for more morbid tales of convict life) and a short wander through the amazing old huon pines in the rainforest. It was a beautiful warm sunny day which was lovely but sucked for the famous reflections of the Gordon River cos there weren't any. Dinner at the pub. Next day, Bill was showered with precious gifts chosen by the kids including a 'Bill' keyring, a magic 'best dad' handtowel (expands when it is wet), and a pair of funky 'Western Wilderness Railway' socks! The birthday cake was a Mars Bar Slice (no bake)... Clown party hats topped off the wild celebrations.
We went to the theatre in Strahan to see the oldest running play in Australia (18 years!) which was another convict tale called, The Ship that Never Was. Was really funny but none of us could follow the story and had to Google it afterwards to fill in the details. Zara was chosen (because she ALWAYS gets on stage) to be a cat. Bill had to sing (!), Kate was Fanny (dubious scone-making female character) and Sash, was was wrapped in a blanket for warmth and snuggled up next to Bill, was (mistakenly?) chosen for a key role - a 95 year old scoundral called Billy Nichols, who had to hit someone on the head with an axe and then kick someone else 'where it hurts'. I think they were a bit surprised when he got to the stage because they hadn't realised he was so little! He did well though and brought the house down with a few bold moves.
Kate bought an $9 copy of For the Term if His Natural Life and began reliving the trials and tragedy of Rufus Dawes at Sarah Island, Port Arthur and Norfolk Island. Uplifting stuff!
Then we realised that time was running out! Yikes - how could we take 5 weeks to get down the East Coast! And what about the rest? Tried to extend our time by a week but no spots on the Spirit of Tasmania... Oh well, time to hot foot it up the wild wild west coast.
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