This full-day signature experience on Tasmania's West Coast combines a cruise on Lady Jane Franklin II with a sea kayak trip to experience the true character of a wilderness river. The cruise boat departs Strahan at 8.30am for the voyage across Macquarie Harbour, passing through Hells Gates, the narrow entrance to the harbour, then gliding into the Gordon River, alongside ancient rainforest mirrored in the water.

After a morning tea and a safety briefing, the safe, stable and comfortable double sea kayaks are lowered into the Gordon River at Heritage Landing, the furthest point that cruise boats can reach. With a minimum of two and a maximum of eight people, the paddle upstream is a quiet and intimate experience - pristine forest air to breathe, ripples fanning away from the bow, the swirl of a platypus ahead. only bush birds and the splash of the paddle beaks the silence of the wilderness.

It's an easy hour and a half's paddling to the lunch spot, where the guides serve a riverbank picnic lunch of fresh Tasmanian produce.

Then it's a lazy drift and paddle back downstream, hearing stories of the river, keeping an eye out for a sea eagle or azure kingfisher, before arriving at Heritage Landing to meet the afternoon sailing of Lady Jane Franklin II. During the return voyage a delicious buffet dinner is served and there's a stop at Sarah Island, where an interpretive guide leads a fascinating discovery walk around the ruins of the convict colony. The cruise boat arrives back in Strahan at 8.00pm.