Gordon Splits facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Gordon Splits |
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 Location in Tasmania
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| Location | South West Tasmania |
| Coordinates | 42°44′24″S 145°51′00″E / 42.74000°S 145.85000°E |
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
| Official name | Tasmanian Wilderness |
| Location | Oceania |
| Criteria | iii, iv, vi, vii, viii, ix, x |
| Inscription | 1982 (6th Session) |
The Gordon Splits are amazing gorges found in the Gordon River in South West Tasmania, Australia. These deep, narrow river sections were once very hard to get through. They are located in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, which is part of the Tasmanian Wilderness, a special World Heritage Area. The Gordon Splits also played a big part in efforts to protect the wild nature of South West Tasmania.
Exploring the Gordon Splits
For a long time, people thought the Gordon River might disappear underground in some places. But in 1928, three piners (people who cut pine trees) named J. Hadmar Sticht, G.W. Harrison, and Charles Abel successfully traveled through the Splits.
A newspaper called The Mercury reported this exciting journey on April 12, 1928. The article was titled "The Gordon River - Exploration of the Splits - Showplace of Tasmania - Sprent Falls alone worth the trip." This showed how important and beautiful this area was.
Early Explorers and Photographers
It is very difficult to reach the Gordon Splits. Only a few people are known to have successfully traveled through them. These include Olegas Truchanas, Les Southwell, and Peter Dombrovskis.
- Olegas Truchanas made his first trip in 1954. He completed a full journey through the Splits in 1958. Sadly, many of his amazing photographs were lost in the 1967 Tasmanian fires.
- In the 1970s, Les Southwell and others found a new way to travel through the Splits. They used inflatable water mattresses to float, which made the journey easier than using fixed boats.
Photographs taken by Truchanas, Southwell, and Dombrovskis clearly show how steep and narrow the Splits are. More recent aerial photos, like those by Joe Shemesh in the Huon Pine book, also capture this dramatic landscape.
What Makes the Splits Special?
The Gordon Splits are a unique geological wonder. About 600 million years ago, the powerful waters of the Gordon River carved a deep slot through tough quartzite rock. The river flows across the landscape instead of following its natural curves. This creates a rare and spectacular sight.
From high above, the Splits look like giant rocky pincers. They squeeze the wide Gordon River into narrow sections of deep water, each about 100 meters long.
If you are on the river bank below, the rocks look like parts of a giant, unfinished puzzle. These huge, rugged pieces of sparkling quartzite are frozen just a few meters apart. They never quite connect. In the first Split, the rock walls rise straight up for about 100 meters before meeting the gentler mountainside.
