Betten On Bike: DAY 14 - 4 MARCH 2015 -STRAHAN WEST COAST WILDERNESS RAILWAY

Day 14 – 4^th March 2015 Strahan – West Coast Wilderness Railway

Today we had booked the West Coast Wilderness Railway trip, which was not until 2pm so we had some free time.

I was keen to go out for breakfast and thought we would walk across the road to Molly’s Café and store. I discovered it yesterday afternoon – I had had a bit of a senior moment because I had left my hairbrush on the window ledge in the bathroom at our cabin in Roseberry so I thought I’d try my luck at Molly’s – I was really happy to see a box with flat and round hairbrushes and thought that maybe others before me may have done the same. I explained to the lady behind the counter what had happened and said I hadn’t been able to brush my hair all day. She told me that her hair had taken all day to look like it did now too! We both laughed.

Anyway Molly’s is definitely a nice friendly place which makes great coffee and we ordered omlettes ($7 each) and we could choose the fillings ourselves - so bacon, cheese, tomato & mushrooms and it came served with some slices of tomato & multigrain toast and they're very good. I spoke to Sophie (it’s a family business and she is one of Peter, the owner’s daughters) about re-charging my mobile Telstra Wifi device because they had the store had a Telstra flag displayed. No problems at all – her dad said the easiest way was for him to transfer $30 credit to my number – He said I’m always doing that for my daughters so I just gave him $30 cash and it was organized.

Steve & Gill arrived at our cabin at 9.30am as arranged because we wanted to do the Howarts Falls walk which began just pass the Strahan township but the weather was pretty awful – gusty winds & driving rain so instead we walked to the township and had a look at the shops –lots of beautiful timber crafted goods and then coffee.

After a quick sandwich in our cabin we drive up to the look-out and then on to Regatta Point where the heritage 119 year old heritage steam train would take us through the remote wild landscape half way to Queenstown.

After a big delay we were told that there were serious issues with the steam engine and the old red diesel engine would be pulling the carriages today.

We were told this railway took 2 and a half years to build with construction commencing in 1894. This was indeed an engineering feat as it winds its way through seemingly impenetrable terrain – sheer tall rugged rocks faces have been tunnelled all by hand tools to create an opening for the railway line to run through. The track starts by skirting the edges of Macquarie Bay and then follows King River and then snakes inland. As you proceed up river the water begins to change to a bright orange – pollution from the mining of iron ore at Queenstown which seems irreversible. The guide explained that the mining occurred in the 1920s during the depression and it kept the economy alive although now to see the scars of the mining on this river is quite shocking.

The railway was officially closed on 10/8/1963 but the community fought for 39 years to have it rebuilt and reopened which finally happened in 2002. The guide spoke of the toughness of the West Coasters to continue the fight to regain their railway. Their motto is ‘ we find a way, or we make a way’ - strong words from a determined community.

We didn’t arrive back at Regatta Point until around 6.30pm. We decided a casual meal of fish & chips would be a good idea and it was – so we returned to Molly’s and had snapper, chips & salad – fresh & tasty.