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Strahan accommodation, restaurants, history, things to do

Strahan is located on a spectacularly beautiful harbour at the end of the world. Located 298 km west of Hobart and 41 km from Queenstown, Strahan lies on the edge of the unspoiled beauty of Macquarie Harbour.

It is the last outpost of civilisation on the West Coast of Tasmania.

Sarah Island was set up as the ultimate penal colony by the British Government after the area was first explored by James Kelly in 1815.

There was obviously a bush fire ranging at the time of his exploration as he wrote in his journal: "'The whole face of the coast was on fire, lucky circumstance for us. The smoke was so thick we could not see a hundred yards ahead of the boat. On pulling into the 'Narrows' at the small entrance island, we heard a large number of natives shouting and making a great noise as if they were hunting kangaroo".

The penal colony of Sarah Island was established in 1821 and was known as the most appallingly cruel of all the convict stations and was finally closed in 1833 with the removal of the last convicts to Port Arthur.

The township of Strahan wasn't really founded until 1877.

Prior to that the small port had been variously known as Long Bay and Regatta Point but in 1877 it became a vital port for the tin mines at Mt Heemskirk. It was named after Major George Strahan who was the Governor of Tasmania from 1881-86. The town was officially proclaimed in 1892, two years after the government had constructed a railway from the booming mining town of Zeehan.

A railway line from Queenstown was opened in 1899. During this mining boom, Strahan had a population of over 2,000 people and was the second busiest port in Tasmania.

The town continued to prosper as a major port until the 1950s and 1960s. In 1960 the rail link to Zeehan was closed down. Three years later the same fate befell the Queenstown rail link (there is still a remnant of the railway line on the shore near Regatta Point) and in 1969 Mount Lyell Co. started to send its ore by rail to Burnie. The result was that while its importance as a port declined the town became a major tourist centre.

Strahan has always been a working fishing port. Today, the town’s lobster boats and long-liners still tie up at the wharf to unload their catch, not far from Lady Jane Franklin II, the magnificent Gordon River Cruise boat.

Fresh, sweet and succulent, a West Coast lobster (Tasmanian crayfish to the locals) is a rare treat.

In quiet corners of Macquarie Harbour, the floating rings of marine farms dot the surface – Tasmanian Atlantic salmon and ocean trout thrive in the chilly waters. Strahan restaurants offer the freshest salmon and trout you’ll ever taste direct from net to plate.