Day 5 - Port Arthur

Last night's sleep was terrible. The wind was so strong and it felt like the car was going to be blew away. We were up by 6.30am. Eaglehawk neck was still sleeping. We couldn't find any cafes open. After 3 days in Tassie, we finally had the chance to cook our own food.

The top chef is making boiled eggs

Busking for breakfast money

Toasted bread was so crispy

Fruits made their way to the plates, waiting for brekkie to join

Black swans next to us

After finishing our breakfast, it was only 8am. We decided to drive to Port Arthur. We drove and drove, didn't really know where we were going and then we arrived at the Port Arthur Historical Site.

The signage in the entrance

It was 8.45am when we arrived, a few groups of people already lined up outside the door. The visitor centre has been redeveloped recently and just reopened since January this year.

Pass to Port Arthur historic site

The Port Arthur Historic Site is one of Australia’s most important heritage sites and tourist destinations. Located on the scenic Tasman Peninsula in the south east of Tasmania, it was originally designed as a small timber station in 1830.

After the American War of Independence Britain could no longer send her convicts to America, so after 1788 they were transported to the Australian colonies. These men and women were convicted of crimes that seem trivial today, mostly stealing small articles or livestock, but they had been convicted at least once before and Britain’s policy was to treat such re-offenders harshly.

图片发自App

图片发自App

Tour guide

The site was about 100 hectares, consists of hospital, school, church, officer's house, watch station etc.

The guard tower

Landscape model

It was fascinating to see how these brick buildings can still hold after over 150 years. The place was absolutely beautiful! There were vegetables gardens where they used to grow their own veges and fruits.

Maybe it's because it was a nice day, I felt those prisoners were lucky to be locked in a such beautiful place. The prison provided them the facilities to learn to be a carpenter, smith, gardener etc. As the prisoners were being shipped to a continent that was far away from Britain, most of them felt home sick.

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After an hour and half, we walked to the ferry. This was also part of the tour.

Ferry

图片发自App

图片发自App

图片发自App

After the ferry, we went to the Port Arthur Gallery, located inside the visitors building. The draw system for discover the key people was very interesting.

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Convict migration map

Key people and their fate

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All of these only costed us $39/person. Inside the visitors centre, there was also a cafe supplying a wide range of food with very reasonable prices. It was a great place to visit.

We left Port Arthur after the historic site visit, headed to Hobart. After some rest in the hotel, we came out to hunt for dinner.

Blue Eye was the restaurant we settled in.