Arthur River and the Edge of the World

What is so special about the Arthur River? It is the only river in Tasmania that has never been dammed, it has no patches of cleared land for farms, the land beside it has never been logged, there is a 2km exclusion zone along the banks so it will never be logged, there are no houses beside it (except at the mouth, where you will find the township of Arthur River) - it is pristine.

It is just the way it was when white settlers came along and convinced the local indigenous people (the last bastions of Tasmanian aboriginal people) to move to Flinders Island to avoid being slaughtered. Ugh, the more I hear about the history of Indigenous people in Australia the more sick and sorry I feel.  But back to the river, which is pristine only because it was too difficult to log, too rocky to farm and they couldn't find a spot to put a dam!

We went for a fabulous cruise up the river with Lesley and Greg and their red boat, which was purpose built to take tours up the river 40 years ago.

We journeyed up the river, looking at the cool temperate rainforest, enjoying the informative commentary and pausing to feed the local sea eagles. 

We stopped for lunch at Turk's Landing, named after the builder of the boat,  and enjoyed a barbeque lunch and a stroll through the rainforest.  Each winter the river floods,  and the landing shelters are tied down to try to keep them standing through the raging water. Interestingly, the tree ferns stay put, although they are sometimes knocked over by trees and regrow from where they end up. 

Ben really enjoyed a lesson in how to steer the boat, and it was a proper lesson, not just a photo opportunity.

It was a fabulous day and I would highly recommend it.

Back on dry land we drove over to the other side of the river to 'The edge of the world' which is where the river meets the sea, and you can see all the logs that are washed down the river during winter.

It is a wild and turbulent bit of coast line.