Gordon Splits

Gordon Splits
Gorges
Country	Australia
State	Tasmania
Region	South West
Location	South West Tasmania
- coordinates	42°44′24″S 145°51′00″E / 42.74000°S 145.85000°E / -42.74000; 145.85000Coordinates: 42°44′24″S 145°51′00″E / 42.74000°S 145.85000°E / -42.74000; 145.85000
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Name	Tasmanian Wilderness
Year	1982 (#6)
Number	181
Region	Oceania
Criteria	Mixed
National park	Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers NP
Location of the Gordon Splits in Tasmania

The Gordon Splits is a notable section of gorges of the Gordon River, located in South West Tasmania, Australia. The once impassable gorges are situated on the lower Gordon River in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. The splits has also been an important location of focus within the larger environmental campaign for wilderness preservation in South West Tasmania.

The earlier works of Charles Whitham and others suggested that the river went underground at some point. It was not until in 1928 that three piners (J.Hadmar Sticht, G.W. Harrison and Charles Abel) were described as having passed through them in March of that year.

It was reported in the Mercury newspaper of 12 April 1928 under the title The Gordon River - Exploration of the Splits - Showplace of Tasmania - Sprent Falls alone worth the trip.

The section of river is very difficult to access and apart from Olegas Truchanas, Les Southwell and Peter Dombrovskis - few others are known to have successfully traversed the section in the time of European presence in Tasmania. Following the initial journey by Truchanas in 1954 and the complete journey in 1958 through the splits, the photographs taken by Truchanas were destroyed in the 1967 Tasmanian fires. Southwell and others in the 1970s tended to free float on an inflatable water mattress through the splits to alleviate some of the issues arising from using fixed structure boats travelling through.

Photographs by Truchanas, Les Southwell, and Dombrovskis show the steep narrow nature of the splits dramatically in their photographs. More recent aerial photographs can be found like Joe Shemesh's in the Huon Pine book of Kerr and McDermott.

Geraldine Brooks wrote a piece in the National Times of 24–30 May 1981 which Peter Thompson quoted in his Power in Tasmania as an evocative overview of the splits and their context.