Strahan, Tasmania
Strahan is a place on the west coast of Tasmania. The wettest spot in Australia is located 179 km north-west of Hobart and 20 km south-west of Queenstown, and is situated on a natural harbor, the Macquarie Harbour.
The first Europeans who stayed at this place, the Englishman James Kelly was with four friends in December 1815. Between 1822 and 1833 was on the nearby island of Sarah Iceland a penal colony, see also penal colony Macquarie Harbour. Once the location formerly " Long Bay " or " Regatta Point " was called, he finally received in 1877 by Major George Strahan, a former Governor of Tasmania, its current name.
Officially, the city was founded in 1892. 1899 Railroads were opened to Queenstown and Zeehan. During this time, Strahan had 2,000 inhabitants and the second largest port of Tasmania. Only in the 1960s, the port lost importance when the railway line was closed after Zeehan (1960 ) and the line to Queenstown ( 1963). At the beginning of the 1980s, the Tasmanian government wanted the Gordon River dam, and instructed the Hydro-Electric Commission with the construction of the Franklin Dam. After several protests from environmentalists, the plan was stopped and the Franklin - Gordon Wild Rivers National Park established.
Today Strahan is a popular resort.