Tassie day 3

We had a huge day today. We travelled 46kms.

After a rather leisurely start we visited the West Coast Heritage Centre at Zeehan.  We visited here 30 years ago and it has expanded somewhat since then.

Back then I took a photo of Mick on a little rail car.  It is still there and I have taken another pic today. It will be interesting to compare.  The hair colour has changed somewhat.

The main thing I remembered from year museum was a huge cross section of a Huon pine tree that was ancient.  At the different rings it has written on it what was happening in human history at that time.  I was sad to see that it was looking very sorry, weathered and broken.

The  centre featured a lot of mining related history, as that is the main thing in this part of the world, but I found some other items to be interesting.

This is a soft drink bottling machine.

The weird cylinder is the machine that makes blue print plans.

A local man made the above machine.  It is a wire mattress making machine.  It was recently restored by local apprentices.

There was a mini bed showing what it can do.

I dare say this will be the only lighthouse I find inside a building.  It is the lens from the Bonnet Island lighthouse.

The Gaiety Theatre is now a part of the complex.  They had silent movies running.

In the entry foyer they had old posters looking a treat.

There was a gallery showcasing some of the pioneer women of the area with a nice collection of old clothes.

Outside there were some more interesting items.  I think this boat would need a little work before setting sail.

This unusual train was used up until the 80s to transport miners down a mine.

What mining museum would be complete without one of these reaching into the sky.

 

Here is the Gaiety Theatre from the outside.

The three above buildings are all a part of the centre.  Well worth visiting.

By now it was lunch time, so time to make the big trip to Strahan.

We are set up in a very busy caravan park, in a nice protected little corner.  There is not a bed or camp site vacant in Strahan tonight.  Thank goodness we booked before we left home.

We had a lazy afternoon.  I did a little stitching before we went for a walk into town.  It is pretty along the waterfront on the way in.

The things you see in the park.

In town we had a general wander around. There was an old saw on display, milling Huon pine.  It was fascinating to watch.  Just a tad slower than today's mills, but definitely an improvement on the pit saws that they replaced.

And that is it for today.  

We had a very social dinner tonight at the cafe at the front of the caravan park, chatting to fellow Ulyssians, travellers we had previously met along the way and others that came along.  A nice way to finish off the day.