16-592: Zeehan-Strahan Road (also known as the Strahan to Zeehan road ) is a road that links Strahan with Zeehan in Western Tasmania . It runs parallel to Ocean Beach for a distance and crosses the Henty River at the beach's northern end, before turning inland. In the 1920s, the main means of transport between the main centres of the west coast was by the available railways. Between Zeehan and Strahan,
32-405: Is 38.6 °C (101.5 °F) on 14 February 1982, with the lowest recorded being −3.0 °C (26.6 °F) on 30 June 1983. Snow down to sea-level is fairly rare, but falls frequently in the low hills just a few kilometres inland of Strahan. Strahan-Zeehan Railway The Strahan–Zeehan Railway , also known as the "Government Railway", was a railway from Strahan to Zeehan on
48-410: Is Australia's longest running play. Strahan was a stopping place on the former Strahan to Zeehan railway . It was also known as Strahan Wharf. The railway was government owned, and ran past the wharf at Strahan, and continued southwards around the harbour before running north on its way to Zeehan . Strahan was connected with the former Mount Lyell railway line at a terminus at Regatta Point which
64-443: Is a small town and former port on the west coast of Tasmania . It is now a significant locality for tourism in the region. Strahan Harbour and Risby Cove form part of the north-east end of Long Bay on the northern end of Macquarie Harbour. At the 2021 census , Strahan had a population of 634. Originally developed as a port of access for the mining settlements in the area, the town was known as Long Bay or Regatta Point. In 1881,
80-437: Is also the terminus of the currently operating, West Coast Wilderness Railway . An extinct species of Banksia , fossils of which were found in sediment at nearby Regatta Point , was named Banksia strahanensis after the town. Strahan has an oceanic climate ( Cfb ) with cool damp summers and cool to cold, very rainy winters. Lying on Tasmania's West Coast, Strahan is frequently buffeted by low pressure systems from
96-787: Is an access point to the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park , which was declared part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area in 1982. For several years Strahan became the focus of a conservation campaign opposed to the proposed Franklin-below-Gordon Dam. It is the home of the Round Earth Theatre Company , which conducts explanatory tours of Sarah Island and also has produced a daily enactment/play about Sarah Island, The Ship That Never Was , which has exceeded 5000 performances and
112-637: Is the location of the only all weather commercial airport in Western Tasmania, Strahan Airport . Also located at the airport is the Automatic Weather Station, an important western Tasmania weather observation point. Strahan is the base for boat trips to Sarah Island , the notorious penal settlement that garnered the reputation as the harshest penal settlement in the Australian colonies, and the lower Gordon River. Strahan
128-468: The Southern Ocean , causing heavy rain and gusty winds. Strahan receives 15.7 days, on average, of clear weather annually. Temperatures vary little between summer and winter, with minimums below 3 °C (37 °F) having been recorded in every month. Hot weather is rare, with an average of only one day reaching 35 °C (95 °F) or above every three years. The highest recorded temperature
144-420: The Strahan to Queenstown road it was possible to travel between Zeehan and Strahan in the 1940s. Following the demise of the railways in the 1960s, and the use of the new Zeehan Highway between Queenstown and Zeehan, some decades later the formation of the earlier railway was in part utilised for the new Zeehan to Strahan road. Strahan, Tasmania Strahan ( / ˈ s t r ɔː n / STRAWN )
160-491: The lines between Burnie was the same all the way to Queenstown. Flooding and fire affected the most important link, the Henty Bridge, at stages in the line's history. 1920 was one year where the break in the line is recorded. The line was heavily reliant upon the mining industry and its fortunes, and traffic reduced drastically at times of mining down-turns. Following its closure, parts became tracks and eventually
176-617: The only form of track was via Ocean Beach, otherwise the main mode was by the Strahan-Zeehan Railway . The feasibility of road connections was considered in terms of being able to allow for heavy haulage of ore and timber. The importance of the construction of roads in the West Coast was recognised in the 1920s but materialised in the 1960s or later. Following the early rough stages of the Zeehan Highway and
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#1732787541641192-423: The photograph, as the line followed the shore from Regatta Point around the bay before passing northward in what is considered to be West Strahan today. The line ran parallel to Ocean Beach before heading towards Zeehan. It was a critical link, due to the difficulties of shipping negotiating the entrance to Macquarie Harbour and was essential during the 1912 North Mount Lyell disaster . The track gauge of
208-400: The settlement was renamed, after the colony’s new Governor, Sir George Cumine Strahan . The town was officially proclaimed in 1892. Strahan was a vital location for the timber industry that existed around Macquarie Harbour . For a substantial part of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century it also was port for regular shipping of passengers and cargo. The Strahan Marine Board
224-551: The west coast conditions and Hell's Gates . It is the nearest inhabited locality to Cape Sorell and is literally the 'gateway' to the south-west wilderness - as boats, planes and helicopters utilise Strahan as their base when travelling into the region. The Huon Pine industry utilised stands around the harbour and up the tributary rivers - including King River , the Franklin River and the Gordon River . Strahan
240-684: The west coast of Tasmania . It linked two private railways: the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company railway line (now known as the West Coast Wilderness Railway ) between Queenstown and Regatta Point , and the Emu Bay Railway between Zeehan and Burnie . Early photographs of the Strahan wharf and buildings adjacent taken from the north usually have the railway tracks in the lower section of
256-503: Was an important authority dealing with the issues of the port and Macquarie Harbour, up until the end of the twentieth century when it was absorbed into the Hobart Marine Board. Macquarie Harbour Post Office opened on 16 May 1878, was renamed Strahan in 1881 and closed in 1891. East Strahan Post Office opened in 1891 and was renamed Strahan in 1893. Historically Strahan has been a port to a small fishing fleet that braves
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