Friday, 6 April                                   Port Arthur    -     Richmond    -    Hobart

Robyn writes:  We woke this morning at seven, just before Steve, our B&B host, arrived to make sure we got our breakfast. It had rained quite a lot during the night but was starting to look as if it was thinking of clearing, so we crossed our fingers, dressed warmly, and planned our day accordingly. My plan was to head back to Port Arthur for the morning while Lex had decided to do a cruise to Tasman Island. After breakfast, we packed up again (getting good at it), said farewell to Steve and Lex dropped me off at the front entrance to Port Arthur just before 9. I was the first one in the door and set out to explore once more to my heart’s content.

First up I had a look at the memorial to the many victims of the 1996 Port Arthur shooting. It’s rather heartrending but good that they have razed the coffee shop where so many died to the ground and put a peaceful garden in its place. They carefully avoid mentioning Martin Bryant’s name anywhere, which is a good thing. No dark fame in having his name repeated.

I joined the first walking tour of the day and even though by this stage I knew a fair bit, I still learned more of the history and about the buildings. Then I had a good wander around and got to go into all of the buildings. Fortunately, once again I was NOT haunted (for which I was once again grateful) though I do admit in the said-to-be extremely haunted old vicarage, I balked on going into one particularly dark room on my own! One of my favourite parts was the old orchard, full of heritage apple and pear trees. There was a sign telling us to help ourselves, so I did. The apples were tiny and a bit spotty but were the crispest and tastiest I’ve ever had! I finally had time to visit the museum also and see the many displays and artefacts they’ve dug up over the years. All in all, it was a glorious history-filled morning (my favourite kind!)

 This window into the ruins of the corridor at the asylum was really clever - if you look carefully you can see the sketch of what it looked like.

 The gardens are lovely - they have been rebuilt after researching photos and records to make them as authentic as possible.

 View from the most haunted room in the old vicarage. No ghosts I could see!

Lex called me just before one o’clock.

Lex writes:

I took the Tasman Island Cruise. It left from next door to our B&B (yes two doors up from the Port Arthur turnoff). After a 15-minute bus ride to a bay at Eaglehawke Neck (which is now a suburb), we jumped onto a purpose made boat for the trip. There were enough tourists to almost fill two such boats – it’s a popular tour.

The sights we saw can best be described by photos.

Cape Hauy, the lanterns and the candlestick. Just another bunch of rocks - not!

A one thousand feet high dolerite cliff

 

There were hundreds of seals on Tasman Island

 

The "landing" for the Tasman Island lighthouse keeper. Behind the platform is a cableway to haul people up the slope, at 40 degrees.

 

 

Sea stack and bottle green water

 

 

 

They are shown below, except for the dolphins and the sea birds. The dolphins swam alongside our boat in the roughest water of the trip, jumping out of the water right beside the boat as if they were in a swimming pool. The sea birds included two types of Albatross. One has a wingspan of 2.5 metres! And the other has a wingspan of 3 metres. They flew beside and over the boat without flapping their wings – truly remarkable creatures. I took no photos because the sea was too rough, the boat was travelling at speed, and there was a real risk that the camera would get soaked in salt water if I took it out for a photo. Of course, there was not a great prospect of getting clear pictures anyway.

All of us tourists wore three quarter length macs. They were waterproof and largely wind proof. However, they were not designed for warmth. I had a total of 5 layers on, and was just warm enough when the boat was travelling at speed. The temperature was somewhere around 15 degrees all day – it gets colder later in the year.

We were on the water for three hours, and arrived at our drop-off point (at Port Arthur) at about 12:30. After a welcome, short walk up a road, we all arrived back at the cruise company office, where we had boarded the bus. Then it was time to call Robyn.

 

Back to Robyn:-

He came straight away to pick me up and we headed first to Eaglehawk Neck, the very narrow site where they had soldiers and dogs stationed at all times to spot any would-be convict escapees. The warden’s house there was very old and interesting – incredibly low doorways which show you how we’ve collectively grown over the last few centuries. Lex walked down to see the ‘dog line’ but my legs rebelled at the thought of any more walking!

Then we decided to come into Hobart via the historic town of Richmond, a bit to the north. We had a very late lunch there at 3 o’clock in a little café there, then had a most enjoyable wander around the town. I went down to look at the historic Richmond Gaol, but sadly we didn’t have time for a proper visit. There are some wonderful little shops along the way and Lex bought himself a souvenir – a set of Huon pine, sassafras and myrtle coasters in a lovely wood shop. Then we of course walked down to see the old Richmond bridge – the oldest in Australia. Finally, we realised that we really had to get going to make it into Hobart on time for checkin at our accommodation.

We had a rather worrying half hour drive with Tasmanian drivers displaying their usual tendencies (drive at 60km/hr on the open road, brake the whole time as you go around a corner, etc etc) then hit peak hour traffic in Hobart but made it with a full five minutes to spare! Trevor, our host, was on hand to welcome us to our lovely little studio flat in Battery Point. Parking out the back is included, which was very important in choosing where to stay. We’re on street level in an old Victorian building and look out at a book shop across the road. Perfect view! The flat has a bedroom/sitting room and adjoining bathroom and quite a decent size kitchen. It has a heater which is being used this evening!

Tonight[RC1] , we’ve walked along Hampden Road where there are lots of lovely eateries to be found, and settled on ‘South on Hampden’, where we’ve had a delicious meal. After tea we followed our young waiter’s instructions on how to get to the local Coles to get milk and various groceries to see us through the next day or so. We’re here for three nights so it’s nice to be settled for a few days!

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 [RC1]