Jan 18, 2013 - Port Arthur

Friday 18th, Well I think we do not have God looking down on us, we are in Port Arthur and to say it is COLD would be an understatement. We wont be having a look around Port Arthur today, to cold and wet to leave the caravan. This did however give us some comedy, we had the local tourist radio on and this is obviously run by very amateurs, the station kept dropping of air and the DJ (!) kept saying that she didn't know what was going on. She was having a request for $1 donation to the fire fund and if she could not find the song she would...

Jan 17, 2013 - Seven Mile Beach to Port Arthur

WELL, we have had an interesting time over the last few days, to start with on the 13th we left Ida Bay and headed south leaving the van at the historic railway station where we stayed. The drive was a good drive and we checked out some of the free camping spots but most of them would not take a van our size. We ended up at the end of the most southern road in Australia where there is a Ranger Station, we spoke to the rangers and complained about the cold, they told us some of the bush walkers who had been coming through had told them that...

Jan 8, 2012 - Educating ourselves about the convict past at Port Arthur

We awoke to heavy rain but by the time we had had breakfast and packed up the sun was out and it was beautiful. We drove back to Port Arthur and spent the morning at the Heritage site on the bronze pass. This included an interesting insight into how the convicts were treated in a well constructed mock up of the the different trades/jobs they had such as carpenter, blacksmith, shoemaker, cook and the heavy labour they had to do if they misbehaved as well as a guided tour of the site and boat trip round the harbour. We then drove to Hobart...

Mar 9, 2010 - Port Arthur

Drove through the middle of Tasmania to Port Arthur, famous for it's convict colony and prisons which operated between 1830-77. Had another rainy day, but still managed to enjoy exploring the former prisons, churches and cottages. It's a very well-run tourist attraction with excellent explanations of the sites and the history of the colony. While the area has spectacular, natural beauty, it gets very cold so cannot imagine the living conditions here for the convicts and staff. Apparently, it is becoming hip for Australians to have convict...

Jan 19, 2010 - Hobart-Port Arthur

Vandaag uit Hobart vertrokken en eerst gestopt om wat inkopen te doen in een shoppingcenter in New Town, een 5-tal km buiten Hobart. Daarna doorgereden naar mijn eerste bestemming Richmond. Dit is een rustig klein stadje met heel wat oude gebouwen en het ligt zo'n 30 km van Hobart in een glooiend landschap. Hier bevind zich onder andere de oudste brug van Australië, uit 1823 en ook de oudste katholieke kerk van Australië waarvan de bouw startte in 1835. Verdeer ook nog de oudste districtsgevangenis en gerechtshof in Australië uit 1825 en...

Jan 20, 2009 - Port Arthur

Tuesday January 20 Today we drove along the “Convict Trail”, a road tour that ends in Port Arthur Historic Site. This site is billed as “Australia’s premier convict site.” Though most of the buildings are in ruins the guided tour and short boat tour provides a lot of information about what the site was and how the penal colony functioned. The location through a tourist’s eyes is wonderful; great climate, lots of beautiful rocky bays and good road access. When it was a penal colony, access was only by ship and the isolation of the place was...

Dec 19, 2008 - Port Arthur

JOSH: Today I went to Port Arthur Historic Site. The convicts worked from dawn to dusk. … First we went on a tour. It wasn’t long – there was only 3 stops. The tour guide showed us some trees that were planted for memorial (WWI). There was an island called Isle of the Dead. Everywhere you walked was dead bodies. We didn’t go on the Isle of the Dead 3000 people on 1 little island. It was disgusting. We didn’t want to step foot on the island! ANG: On the way to Port Arthur we bought (and started chomping into) some lovely cherries. We also...

Jan 12, 2008 - Port Arthur day trip

We were picked up for the tour at 7.30 and headed off with about 10 people on the bus, another mix of nationalities. Our first stop was Richmond, a small town outside of Hobart. We visited Richmond Bridge, built by convicts in 1823 and still used by traffic now. We also visited St. Johns Church, built in 1836, the first Catholic Church in Australia. We continued on the Eagleneck area where you look out on Pirates Bay. We also saw some natural formations on the coastline called Tasman Arch, Devil's Kitchen, Waterfall Bay and some blowholes....

Jan 7, 2007 - Port Arthur, TAS

PORT ARTHUR - Saturday 16th December (Day 50) We set off early on an eventfull 3/4 hour journey from Coles Bay to Port Arthur on the Tasman Peninsula. As it was early in the morning Gill had to use all her driving skills to avoid the local wildlife on the roads - a difficult task. Wallabies, wombats, and God knows what else littered the highway, both as roadkill and most definietly alive! After stopping at Eaglehawk Neck, the pinch of land where vicious dogs were tied up to prevent convicts breaking out of the peninsula we headed for a...

Jan 4, 2007 - Port Arthur

Wednesday Jan 3, Once again the drive, down to Port Arthur, was longer than it should have been due to a combination of winding and poorly maintained roads. The kids weren't too worried though as it gave them the chance to watch a movie right through. We arrived at the White Beach Caravan Park around 5pm and so decided against going to the historic site at that point for a quick look around during daylight hours until the next day. We were, however booked to go onto the Ghost Tour that night at 9pm and so we had an early dinner, after which...

Dec 28, 2005 - Tas: The Friendly Beaches then on to Port Arthur

It's an early morning with the wind up, so we pack up and head a little north to check out the Friendly Beaches and have some breakfast. It's a 4wd track so there's hardly anyone around, and when we get to the beach it's absolutely beautiful. It's kind of frustrating that Tasmania is full of beautiful beaches with incredibly clear water but weather that is not that conducive to going for a swim. It's too beautiful so we go for one anyway. We're running out of time in Tasmania and I really want to get to Port Arthur so we head down to the...

Dec 28, 2002 - The Ghosts of Port Arthur

We arrived at our little hotel just a few minutes walk to the old prison and grounds where the most harden of harden, of the criminals or "crims" were housed when Australia was the dumping grounds for England's prison population. The owner or the hotel gave us flashlights (torches) to use that evening and tickets to go on the "Ghost tour" around 9 PM. I suppose that is when the spirits come out..... We settled into our room and then off we went to the old prison area. We toured the remains of the cells and the commander's home. He lived...