Zeehan was once a thriving mining town based on lead, silver & zinc . It started in 1882 & was mostly done by 1920. The population peaked at 10,000 in 1910 with 23 pubs & rivalled the size of Hobart & Launceston. It was one of the first cities in the world to have electric street lights. Today it is nearly a ghost town & has the cheapest real estate in Tasmania.
Trial Harbour was trialled as a port for a number of years but as you can see it has very little protection from the prevailing winds. It was soon abandoned in favour of railing to Strahan. Today it has a few holiday homes a long way from nowhere.
There are still a few old buildings around. Many have been burnt down by numerous bushfires over the years.
The West Coast Heritage Centre is based in the old School of Mines. Well worth a couple of hours.
The inside of the Gaiety Theatre. The theatre was built in 1898.
There is even a glimpse inside Freemasonary.
A few trains as well.
A small example of the huge mineral collection.
Granville Harbour is another little fishing & holiday village. Not much there.
Reece Dam on the Pieman River.
Corinna is a little village on the Pieman River. It was settled in 1881 when gold was discovered. By 1919 it was finished & from then until the 1950’s it only had one occupant, the ferryman. The Fatman ferry is the only crossing across the Pieman River & only takes two cars. It does have a pub that had an excellent lunch.
On the way back we found a waterfall on the side of the road. Cannot find a name for it. Its been raining for the last few days so it may not be permanent.
Wee Georgie Wood is a left over from the mines at Tullah. It was built in 1924 at Leeds, England. It worked the mines in North Farrell to Tullah until the mine closed in 1964. It was stored in a shed until 1982 after being rebuilt.
Lots of Dams & Lakes in the area. Here are Mackintosh, Tullubardine & Murchinson Dams.
We did the 10km trek into Montezuma Falls. The track follows an old narrow gauge railway line. It was well worth the effort.
This is what the railway looked like in front of the falls in 1899.
I had two small heart attacks today. The first when I went out on this, I didn’t have Hayden there to help me.
The second when we found this tiger snake sitting on the track. Fortunately I made enough noise running the other way that it slithered off.
Quote of the Day
“Never wound a snake; kill it.”
Harriet Tubman