Piners and Miners

Explore the world of Piners and Miners with an intimate guided day tour for up to eight guests from Strahan Village. Take your seat aboard the Land Rover Defender Hi-Rail (a four-wheel drive converted into a rail car) as you leave Strahan Village on the West Coast Wilderness Railway track to Lynchford, near Queenstown. Enjoy a delicious breakfast hamper while you take in the natural beauty of the rainforest through the vehicle's glassed in roof.

From Lynchford, the Hi-Rail retracts its rail wheels and your comfortably appointed vehicle then transforms into a 4WD for the spectacular drive to the Bird River Track, taking in views of Frenchmans Cap and Lake Burbury from the Mt Jukes Road then descending to follow Kelly Basin and Bird River Roads to the start of the abandoned Bird River railway.

Walk through the superb Tasmanian rainforest bordering the quiet reaches of the Bird River down to Kelly Basin, on the shores of Macquarie Harbour, site of the old copper mining port of Pillinger.

Enjoy picnic lunch featuring Tasmania’s finest food and wine, with seafood plucked from Macquarie Harbour’s icy depths, then take in one of the many activities including heritage walks, nature study, photography and wildlife observations including bird watching before returning to Strahan by the luxury cruise boat, Second Nature.


Duration: Full day

Cost: $365 per person (no concessions)

Please note: All guests participating in the Piners and Miners experience must have hiking boots or boots with adequate ankle support due to undulating terrain covered in the walk. Those without appropriate footwear will continue on the experience at their own risk. This experience is not recommended for children under 10 years of age.

This experience requires a minimum of 2 guests to operate on any given day and can only take a maximum of eight guests. Availability is subject to weather conditions. Please phone Customer Contact Centre on 1800 420 155 for more information.

View Piners & Miners Photo Gallery

View Piners & Miners Video (Quicktime)

Mike Bingham, Travel Editor, The Sunday Tasmanian, had the following to say about his experience aboard Piners and Miners:

“If there is a better one-day introduction to wilderness anywhere in the world’s hot spots I would be amazed. “This is Tasmania delivering its best – a unique vehicle and environment, accessibility, convict and industrial heritage, value, food and wine, quality accommodation and touring, history and heritage, and skilled local guides and other staff.”

Australian Traveller Magazine, 100 Things to do You've Never Heard Of, had this to say about the Piners and Miners experience:

“The most unique and diversified tour of the State” “a real one-of-a-kind in the world: a historic trip into a truly untouched region of the Tasmanian World Heritage Area”

To view the Piners and Miners brochure, please click the image below: