Hells Gates (Tasmania)
- Hells Gates is also the name of a gorge on the Davey River in the south west region of Tasmania.
Hells Gates is the name of the mouth of Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast of Tasmania.[1]
It is a notoriously shallow and dangerous channel entrance to the harbour. The actual channel is between Cape Sorell, Tasmania on the west and Entrance Island on the east (the main length of the harbour runs southeast of Hells Gates). There is a wider area of water between Entrance Island and Macquarie Head, but it is too shallow to get a boat over.
Name origins
The name of the channel relates to the original convicts' claim that it was their point of 'entrance to Hell', their Hell being the Macquarie Harbour Penal Station on Sarah Island and the outlying surrounds of the harbour.[2]
Breakwater and channel
Between 1900 and 1902 the Macquarie Harbour Entrance Works involved the building of a breakwater and the channel was dredged. Parts of the breakwater can still be seen despite the passage of time. The Strahan Marine Board was involved with the monitoring of the mouth until its absorption into the Hobart Marine Board.
See also
Notes
- ^ Geoscience Australia (http://www.ga.gov.au/place-name/ ) has three other locations in Tasmania using the same name - the Macquarie harbour entrance is the only official usage:
- Hells Gates Unofficial Lat -42 22 Long 146 50
- Hells Gates Unofficial Lat -42 12 Long 145 28
- Hells Gates Unofficial Lat -41 37 Long 145 3
- ^ Maxwell-Stewart, Hamish (2008) Closing Hell's Gates, the death of a convict station Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin ISBN 978-1-74175-149-9. - the title alone, and chapter two voyage through the gates of hell, similarly Collins, Paul (2002). Hell's Gates: the terrible journey of Alexander Pearce, Van Dieman's land cannibal. South Yarra: Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 1-74064-083-7. and * Pink, Kerry. (1984) Through Hells Gates ( A History of Strahan and Macquarie Harbour). Strahan, 1984. ISBN 0-646-36665-3
References
- Blainey, Geoffrey (2000). The Peaks of Lyell (6th ed. ed.). Hobart: St. David's Park Publishing. ISBN 0-7246-2265-9.
- Kok, Arjan. A Pictorial History of Strahan. Hobart, No Date. No ISBN.
- Loney, J. K. (1982) Wrecks at Hell’s Gates Portarlington, Vic. Marine History Publications, ISBN 0909191212
- Whitham, Charles (2003). Western Tasmania - A land of riches and beauty (Reprint 2003 ed.). Queenstown: Municipality of Queenstown.
- 2003 edition - Queenstown: Municipality of Queenstown.
- 1949 edition - Hobart: Davies Brothers. OCLC 48825404; ASIN B000FMPZ80
- 1924 edition - Queenstown: Mount Lyell Tourist Association. OCLC 35070001; ASIN B0008BM4XC
External links