Hobart to Port Arthur

The next stage of our journey took us across to the Tasman Peninsula and our accommodation at Taranna in one of Mason's Cottages. These are quite new, well-fitted out and very comfortable. Taranna is an Aboriginal word meaning 'kangaroo' suggesting that these animals were rather more numerous in past times than now. On the way onto the peninsula, we came to Dunalley where the calm water and lovely reflections were too tempting to be ignored.

While wandering around, looking for photo angles, we came across a monument and information board where we learned that Abel Tasman's 1642 expedition had made their first landing nearby and planted a flag claiming this new land in the name of the Netherlands head-of-state, Prince Frederick Hendrik. However, the Dutch did not follow up and the island was settled by British settlers, soldiers and convicts. Dunalley was originally know as East Bay Neck but was later renamed in honour of Henry Prittle, 3rd Baron Dunalley.

A little further on, at Eaglehawk Neck we pulled off again, this time to walk down to the tessellated pavement, one of the best-known of this type of geological formation. It is made of siltstone which, over time, was subjected to local stresses which caused fractures throughout the rock causing the tile-like appearance. Closer to the sea, the edges of these tiles are worn away leaving a loaf shape but further away from the water, the salt wears away the stone between the joints, causing pan-like tiles to be formed (at Eaglehawk Neck, we only found the loaf-shaped tiles). Eaglehawk is another name for the wedge-tailed eagle, which was evidently a more common sight in the past than now, and this neck of land joining the Tasman Peninsula to the mainland of Tasmania was named after this majestic bird.

After a coffee break we headed down to Port Arthur where we booked a cruise and a tour. Port Arthur was established as a penal settlement in 1830 by Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur, after whom the settlement was named. Until it ceased operating as a prison in 1877, some 12,500 convicts were transported, mainly from Britain, to serve prison sentences here.

The cruise took us out to the Isle of the Dead and Point Puer. The Isle of Dead was the last resting place for about 1,100 military and civil officials, their wives and children and some convicts while Point Puer was the first boys' reformatory in the British Empire (Puer is a Latin word meaning 'boy'). This cruise did not allow for landing on the islands so we have no photos of whatever can be found on them.

View from Ferry Dock to buildings across Mason Bay

'Our' ferry coming in to the Ferry Dock

Isle of the Dead

Back on terra firma, we joined a very strict Kiwi lady who provided an entertaining tour which ended at the Separate Prison. This prison was intended to reform convicts through isolation and contemplation - in other words, solitary confinement. Not surprisingly, many convicts were driven into insanity and ended their days in the asylum (now the Museum). The model for this prison came from Pennsylvania in the USA and was used as a model for Pentonville Prison in England - one wonders at the mentality of some people!

Doors leading to the Separate Prison yard

The Museum (formerly the asylum)

View across the site to the Penitentiary (main prison)

After the tour, we wandered over to some old buildings, including two churches, one just a shell, to the west of the settlement and then down through the Government Gardens on the north side on our way out and back to Taranna.

The Junior Medical Officer's House

First sight of the Church

The front of the shell of the Church

Arches inside the shell of the Church

We had hoped to take sunset photos down by the water but the elements did not combine so we just enjoyed a pleasant walk among the trees and along the waterside.

As a rule, we do not go to zoos on principle but the Tasmanian Devil Unzoo sounded worth a visit, if for no other reason than to see a Tassie Devil alive in Tasmania! We arrived in time for one of the feeding times for one of the devils and heard all about the horrible disease which is seriously affecting the population just about all through the state. The devils were in enclosures, as in a zoo, but there was plenty of room for them to escape from our attention when not being tempted out with food. Elsewhere in the grounds, we found plenty of kangaroos, wallabies and pademelons which were free to come and go - usually some food was provided to tempt them in from the bush. Some birds were 'on show' usually as they had been injured and were recuperating but others made use of the wooded environment and flew in for food. The people who fed the animals and talked to us about them were enthusiastic and well-informed. Overall, it was a most enjoyable experience and one we would recommend to other visitors.

Tasmanian Devil living up to its name

Pademelon

Couple of Cape Barren geese

Forester kangaroo with an itch!

Pademelon with joey in her pouch

Tawny frogmouth

Green rosella

Two Devils

After a quick trip back up the road to the Heritage Chocolate Factory where we tasted and bought some of the best chocolate we have had, before or since. We also watched some of the chocolates being formed, an interesting process.

Since Port Arthur has so much to offer, a repeat trip there was next on the agenda. Our travelling partner, Tilly, treated us to lunch at Gabriel's on the Bay - a really lovely place with great views and super food. We have mainly self-catered so this was a very pleasant change. Fully replete, we now returned to Port Arthur and walked through to the old Dock Slipway with a very clever metal creation which enabled us to imagine what it may have been like (complete with some of the sounds that are found in docks). On the way back to the main area, we spotted a snake on the path and we think it was a tiger snake but are not 100% sure. Whatever it was, we allowed it to quietly disappear!

Tilly and Steve at Gabriel's

Tilly and our lunches at Gabriel's

View over Stewart's Bay from our lunch table

Dockyard sculpture

Dockyard sculpture

Tiger snake?

Just near the, rather spooky, Memorial Garden created in memory of those who died or were injured in the 1996 massacre, we found a buggy and hitched a ride up to the Commandant's House. We were then able to make our way through or past other buildings or ruins of other buildings on our way to the remains of the Penitentiary. In here, three volunteers played out an amusing but very interesting tableau involving the Commandant, a prisoner (who played the fool very well!) and another official whose title I did not get but I think was the Comptroller-General We then had a good walk through the Government Gardens, which were superb, before taking our leave of Port Arthur.

The Commandant's House

Judith and Tilly behind bars in the Penitentiary

Part of the Penitentiary with ruins of the Hospital behind

White-faced heron hunting near Mason Bay

View of some of the buildings and ruins in the area of the Penitentiary

View into the Wisteria Walk

View through the middle of the Government Gardens

Tilly and Steve in the Government Gardens

Tasmanian native hen with chicks

We drove past Taranna back to Eaglehawk Neck where we found the metal sculpture of a dog, marking the notorious 'Dog Line' that escaping convicts had to get through - amazingly, some desperate men were successful! To deter escapees during the convict era a cutting was excavated through the sand dunes on Eaglehawk Neck using convict labour. A line of six to nine large, vicious dogs were then housed in kennels, made from old barrels, across the 32 metre wide gap from Pirates Bay to Eaglehawk Bay; close enough to touch each other but not close enough to fight each other.

Oil lamps were fixed on posts at around chest height along the dog line and cockle shells were scattered on the ground to reflect the light. Later another two or three dogs were chained to wooden platforms in the shallow waters of Eaglehawk Bay. A bronze sculpture of a dog with its barrel-kennel and oil lamp is now a feature on the Neck. The dogs were apparently a rather motley but ferocious collection of animals. Desperate measures for desperate men! A convict named Martin Cash escaped twice and after the second 'success' was sent to Norfolk Island, one of very few to get past the dog line. Apart from the monument, there is a fresh cutting through the dunes to mark where the 'dog line' ran.