ABOUT STRAHAN
Strahan: may well be one of the worlds best kept secrets. Located on the remote West Coast of Tasmania, the tiny town of Strahan is the harbour port where Gordon River cruises depart to explore the World Heritage wilderness area and rainforest and attracts more than 180,000 visitors per year.
The Abt: Wilderness Railway departs Strahan and steams up the rack and pinion track through the steep rainforests of the King River Gorge to the copper mining town of Queenstown.
Cray boats: and trawlers still ply out of Strahan, the only safe port on the whole west coast. Fish farms breed monster Atlantic Salmon and Sea Run Trout for delivery to restaurant tables, worldwide.
Huon Pine: Strahan is also the hub of the historic Huon Pine industry, one of the world's most precious and prized timbers. Its oil, resins and extremely tight grain are what give Huon Pine it's immunity to rot and insect attack - these unique qualities were recognised and were highly sought after from the earliest convict settlement times, making Huon Pine the world's most prized boat building timber.
Early hydro work in the region uncovered a large Huon Pine log that had been buried two metres below the surface of the ground and was subsequently carbon dated at over 2,000 years old.  The fascinating part was that when the outside two centimetres of the log had been turned off the rest of the wood was found to be in as good a condition as the day when the tree originally fell - Huon Pine's lasting qualities are therefore truly remarkable!