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Bruny Island Again
Bay of Fires
Sydney Hobart Race
Port Arthur
Lake Pedder
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Mount Field
Recherché Bay
Tahune Reserve
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We visited Port Arthur the last weekend in October. The ruins and
restorations of the mid-nineteenth century convict settlement there are
set against the backdrop of Carnarvon Bay and Mason Cove. Port
Arthur was used as a penal colony from 1830 to 1877 for convicts who
committed additional crimes after being transported to Tasmania. A
bush fire destroyed most of the structures in 1897 with the exception of
the church which was accidentally set on fire in 1884. The gardens
which were added in 1846 have been restored using data from pollen
samples gathered there. Today, the area has a serenity that I am
sure never existed in earlier times. We strolled around the
grounds and enjoyed the gardens, the restored buildings and ruins under
warm sunshine and drank cappuccino on our tour of the harbour. I
am sure even the officers and guards never had a day like ours.
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The main area of buildings overlooks the oval. The largest
building was constructed as a flour mill which was never
successful as wheat didn't grow well in the area, was difficult
to ship to Hobart and the water wheel never worked properly.
Convicts were used in lieu of the water wheel at some stages, a
particularly popular exercise regimen among the inmates. |
The floor mill was converted to a prison block in 1857. The
"prisoners of bad character" were ensconced on the lower floors
and a library and dining hall were above them. The library
contained over 13,000 books! When bush fires swept through
the area in 1897, this building burned for two days.
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The Government Gardens were installed in 1846 and
offered an area to escape into an ordered, peaceful and
beautiful world free from the "evil air" that the convicts
gave off. The ruins in the background are the Government
House where important visitors stayed. The flowers thrive
in this climate. The foxgloves shown here were six feet
tall and the lupine,
four feet!
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The
hospital was built in 1847 and destroyed in the 1897 bush fire.
It was constructed high on the hill to allow the breezes to
cleanse it of "unhealthy vapors". |
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The road around the west and north sides of the Tasman Peninsula
overlooks Norfolk Bay as it turns east and we
had to stop and take a photo of the
beauty of this place. Views like this one greeted us time and
time again on our
way down to and around the Tasman Peninsula.
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We stayed overnight at Cascades, a convict outstation of Port
Arthur which was established in 1841. Most of the other
outstations have long since disappeared and this one might well
have except the same family has owned this acreage since the
early 20th century and in 1981 converted the restorable old
structures into bed and breakfast lodgings. We had two
rooms, a sitting room with a fireplace and a bedroom. All
the furnishings were antiques and the floors, woodwork and doors
were beautifully reconstructed in period style. We
had a fire in the fireplace on Saturday night while we enjoyed a
glass of port! |
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