Sunday 22-12-2013 (Strahan)

Hello, Gabby here.
Today was… interesting. We woke early and drove to the Strahan Port to board the massive Eagle which would be our mini-cruise ship for most of the day. Standing up the front of the boat, heading towards Hell’s Gate (a narrow gap in the rocks leading out to the sea) and feeling the vicious wind in our faces, I couldn’t think of a better way to spend time on a boat. The captain spoke for a while about the conditions of the area, and how the favourable South East wind meant we could go a little way out to sea, which resulted in awesome waves. Apparently some waves can reach up to twenty metres! Soon the wind became a little too chilly, and we headed back inside for an hour or so. The ship then arrived at Sarah Island, where we exited the boat and went for a guided tour of the old convict settlement on the island. The island itself was only 12 and a half acres in size, only a touch bigger than our property at home! We learnt about the 7 puzzles of the island which were very interesting (I can’t remember them all, sorry, but one was focused on how the amount of lashes given to the convicts reduced by some 90% overnight, and another focused on how warm and comfortable the convicts dorms were considering they were convicts). Unfortunately, just before we reboarded the boat, the raindrops began to fall. We were hurried back into the ship for a delicious buffet lunch (mm, salmon…). After travelling up the Gordon River for about an hour, we went for a short walk on the banks (lo and behold, the rain began again). The long trip back to the port was very boring; there was so much rain and fog that was visibility was reduced by a lot.

Once we returned to the port, Dad, Maddy and I went for a short walk to a lovely little waterfall. Returning to the bus, we drove to the Strahan Visitor Centre where the play ‘The Ship That Never Was’ was shown. It was an amazing play, especially considering the cast consisted of two actors (and various members of the audience, heh heh). The story tells of the last boat that was built at Sarah Island, the Frederick, and the story of the 10 convicts who stole the boat and sailed to Chile. Four of them were re-captured a year later, while three stole another ship and became official American citizens. Both playing very significant roles and giving Oscar-worthy performances, Maddy was cast as a cat and Dad as a drunken governor.

(From Maddy: I made an amazing cat, if I say so myself. I scratched a convict and a servant on the knee and was almost killed by a tomahawk.)

Hope everything is well at home.

To the McFaul’s: I hope you guys have had/are having a safe journey and settle in/have settled in well. Hopefully you will have a brilliant Christmas.

Wicked Vans: 0 (I agree with Maddy on this: I have lost all
hope.)


Vehicles Overtaken: 0


Fauna: Wrens, albatrosses, crows, ducks, seagulls. (Does sliced
salmon for lunch count?)