The West Coast: Strahan and Macquarie Harbour

Strahan is a former port for the mining settlements in Queensland and Zeehan but is now the gateway to the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. There are boat tours to Macquarie Harbour, and the lower Gordon River, including Sarah Island, the notorious Penal Station, that operated between 1822 and 1833. Because of its isolation, it was almost impossible to escape from there. Just north of Strahan is the Henty Dunes, Tasmania’s most extensive moving dune system, extending 15 kilometres along the coast.

The harbour of Strahan at the mouth of the Gordon River in 1988.

The harbour with the Esplanade, in Strahan, in 2024.

The harbour of Strahan, 41 kilometres west of Queenstown. In 1896 it was connected to Queenstown by a railway.

Victorian architecture on the Esplanade of Strahan, at the junction with Lyell Highway.

Entrance Island Lighthouse from the Outer Bay at Macquarie Heads at the mouth of the Gordon River.

Looking back at Entrance Island Lighthouse from the Outer Bay at Macquarie Heads, the entrance to Macquarie Harbour.

View of the small rural settlement at Macquarie Heads, on the western side of the entrance to Macquarie Harbour; it has no road access.

The Bonnet Island Lighthouse at the entrance to Macquarie Harbour, a huge inland sea of about 260 square kilometres.

Approaching Sarah Island in Macquarie Harbour.

Sarah Island, Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, a former British colonial penal settlement that operated between 1822 and 1833.

The large fishing dock on Sarah Island, Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, a former British colonial penal settlement that operated between 1822 and 1833.

Ruins of Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, a former British colonial penal settlement on Sarah Island that operated between 1822 and 1833.

Ruins of the bakehouse with the oven at Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, a former British colonial penal settlement on Sarah Island that operated between 1822 and 1833.

Ruins of the three-storey New Penitentiary above the old Penitentiary at Macquarie Harbour Penal Station on Sarah Island. Convicts ate and slept in these buildings.

Ruins of the Servants' Quarters and kitchens at Macquarie Harbour Penal Station on Sarah Island.

Ruins of the Military Barracks at Macquarie Harbour Penal Station on Sarah Island.

Ruins of a windbreak fence at Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, a former British colonial penal settlement on Sarah Island that operated between 1822 and 1833.

Sailing on the Gordon River, from Port Macquarie on the The West Coast: Strahan and Macquarie Harbour of Tasmania.

The forest at Heritage Landing on the Gordon River, in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park.

The Gordon River at Heritage Landing, in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park.

Old forests along the Gordon River, on the The West Coast: Strahan and Macquarie Harbour of Tasmania. This whole region is now a World Heritage Area.

View to the mountains of The West Coast: Strahan and Macquarie Harbour Range Regional Reserve from Macquarie Harbour.

Workshop in the Wilderness Woodworks in Strahan, providing the highest quality Huon Pine products and artwork.

Henty Dunes, 12 kilometres north of Strahan, on the Zeehan road, the largest moving dune system in Tasmania.

The Henty Dunes at the parking place, 12 kilometres north of Strahan.

The Henty Dunes, 30 metres tall, reaching several kilometres inland and extending 15 kilometres along the coast north of Strahan.