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Wilderness Railway
The West Coast Wilderness Railway is a steam train journey through mountainous Tasmanian wilderness. Tours depart daily from Queenstown and Strahan.
The West Coast Wilderness Railway is a restoration of the original Mt Lyell Mine railway that operated here in the late 19th century
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Photo: Dan Fellow
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Galley Museum
Located in Queenstown's first brick hotel, the Imperial (1898) (corner of Driffield and Sticht Streets), the Galley Museum
was established by Eric Thomas. As the brochure explains: 'there are in excess of 800 photographs displayed in seven rooms.
All have been collected by Mr Thomas with a great amount of detail typed under each photo. The photos cover the history of
the West Coast from the establishment of Mt Bischoff at Waratah to the development of Queenstown and Strahan.
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Historic Walk
There is a brochure titled 'The Walkabout Queenstown' published by the Project Queenstown Committee. The town is now a classified historic town and it is not surprising that the brochure lists 25 locations (all within easy walking distance of each other) which take the visitor past most of the town's significant buildings.
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Photo: Dan Fellow
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Close to Queenstown
Wild Rivers Jet
Join the WILD RIVERS JET for an exhilarating 50 minute trip from Strahan to the West Coast's incredible King River.
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Photo: Dan Fellow
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Gordon River Cruises
How could any visit to Tasmania be complete without a cruise on the world-famous Gordon River? The fight to save this natural treasure in the early 1980's attracted international attention and support. It's not hard to understand why.
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Photo: Dan Fellow
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Zeehan School of Mines
The Zeehan School of Mines and Metallurgy was established in 1892 and ran courses in geology, assaying and surveying. Today it has been converted into the Zeehan Museum. It is a fascinating museum which offers the visitor an excellent overview of the history of the west coast of Tasmania from convict days through to the modern mining towns. |
Photo: Dan Fellow
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Henty Dunes
10 minutes drive north of Strahan on the Zeehan road are the Henty Dunes. A vast expanse of sand dunes extending several kilometres inland. Pine plantations have attempted to stop the migration of the dunes inland. Despite a misconception, Tasmania can get quite hot in summer.
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Photo: Dan Fellow
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King River
The King River is arguably Australia's most polluted river. Mining started in the 1880's, with the Queen River, a major tributary of the King River, being used for waste water disposal from the Mt Lyell copper mine. Between 1922 and 1995 low grade ore was concentrated on site and the tailings (ore-washing residue) dumped in the river also.
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Photo: Dan Fellow
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Nelson Falls
Along the boardwalk to Nelson Falls you will come across interpretation panels highlighting the ancient plants you see along the way, including at least seven species of fern. Among the forest trees you will discover ancient species that once dominated the Australian landmass, but are now confined to the wetter regions of Tasmania and southeast and eastern mainland Australia.
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