Tasmania - Port Arthur and Tasman National Park

Good morning/afternoon/evening/night, wherever you are,

On Sunday morning we left the hostel at 8am (finally we could sleep a bit longer) to head first to Richmond, a historic town which is 200 years old! Again, Australia is a fairly young settlement… We saw the oldest bridge of Australia and grabbed a coffee and some lunch for later.

Then we drove straight to Port Arthur through the Eaglehawk Neck at the Visitor Information Center where we were given our tickets, site information and our convict card. Each card represents one convict whose story you will explore in Port Arthur. I was Thomas Walker, a 17-year old sea boy convicted for stealing a handkerchief and some money. With some other crew members I made an escape but got caught and died before I got sentenced to go back to Port Arthur.

At 11:30am we joined the Introductory Tour. The tour guide showed and explained very enthusiastically how life has been back in the 19^th century for convicts, soldiers and their families.

After the tour we wandered around amongst the remaining buildings and ruins to get a feel for ourselves how the convict story developed in Port Arthur. I went into the Separate Prison, through the ruins of the welfare area, past the penitentiary, through the church and the government gardens in one hour. I was very quick.

At 1pm we got onboard the Marina for a little cruise in the harbour. We learned more about the Isle of the Dead and the Point Puer Boys’ Prison, the first juvenile prison in the world.

After 20 minutes we returned to the port and I explored some more buildings before we got picked up by Renate at 2pm.

We drove to the Tasman National Park to walk along and over some limestone cliffs and stacks. The same structure as can be found on the Great Ocean Road. It is still allowed to walk over the Tasman Arch and along the way you have some fantastic views of the coastline and you walk past the Devil’s Kitchen and the Waterfall Bay.

At 4pm we stopped for a little break before we headed back to Hobart. Here we dropped off some people at the airport and had to say Goodbye to some more tour guests who have become friends during this 6-day-trip. I had a very good time on this tour but I am glad at the same time that the tour is over. It has been some tiring days with getting up early, a lot of walking and even hiking in beautiful landscapes and taking in all these new impressions and excitement about every single animal that we saw along the way. I would recommend the tour to you but be sure that you are fit enough and a nature-lover. Then it will be great fun.

Yours convict-site-visiting Stefanie