Day 8 – Port Arthur Historical Site

A slow start, as we don’t need to be over to Port Arthur till about 10:30, well that was the plan, until one of the ratbag kids from the next van, knocks on the door at 7:30 to see if they can play with Caitlin.  Grrr

We get a load of washing on, and do a bit of housekeeping.

On the road just after 10, it’s only about 10mins to the historical site, after a bit of concern seeing quite a few cars in the overflow carpark, we find plenty of space in the main carpark.

Tickets validated and we’re ready for the Introductory tour bang on time.

There are heaps of people amassed, so we’re relieved when they break the group up into three smaller groups, that and we seemed to have scored with the better tour guide as well.

We get the general overview, then more details on the penitentiary, the hospital and some other aspects of the site.  We thought the morning might have been cold, but in the sun it’s damn warm.

We then take our own time looking in more detail at some of the ruins around the core site, they’re doing some restoration work on the separation, or silent prison, so we almost missed it.  On the positive they’ve made the cells and the exercise yards more like they would have been, but they must be doing some work on the chapel here and that was one part of the place we really remembered, so it was a bit of a bummer for it to be closed.

Not too long and it’s time we make our way over to the boat for our 12:20 boat trip around the harbour.  On the way Liam and I walk past the memorial gardens and I briefly give him the story of what happened here in ’96.   It’s always been unusual for me, as I was in the UK at the time, and we didn’t have a tellie or anything so I didn’t really hear much in real time and only read bits and pieces at the time.

The boat ride is OK, we’re both sure the boat is much larger than the oversized tinnie we had last time.

After the cruise, we take a loop around the commandant’s residence, the hospital ruin, and some of the old building of the settlers and officers.

While the place is great, I’m not feeling it in the way I hoped.  The foot isn’t helping.  That and maybe trying to look at the place though the kid’s eyes.

Finally, we think it’s time to leave and head back to the van park for a rest, dinner and get ready for our Ghost Tour later tonight.

The van park is starting to get a lot fuller, Justine overheard yesterday them saying they were fully booked out over the long weekend.

Dinner, and just after 7 we head back for the Ghost Tour.  Our guide is Nikki, at the start three people are given lanterns to help the group see the tracks, Caitlin is one of those selected.   We stop at the Government Cottage, the old church, the surgeon’s residence and are told some good stories mixed in with the history of the place and more specifically some of the people who lived (and died) here.

Finally, we’re in the central hall of the separation prison, after a bit of exploring, all but one light is off, and Nikki is telling the story of a guide who was on lockup duty at the end of a night of tours.  As this guide was heading towards the exit, she could hear foot steps getting closer and louder, Nikki is making the sound effects with her boots on the stone floor, as the story continues, these footsteps and the guide are getting closer to each other, BANG, she smacks her boots on the wooden door she has been slowly backing up to.  Everyone, and I mean everyone jumped.  Caitlin was sitting right in front of me and she jumped.  Everyone knew what was coming, but we all fell for it anyway.

One last stop outside the penitentiary, and back to the visitor centre.  She thanks us for coming and then reminds us how much tourism means to the economy in this part of tassie and how much that has been impacted over the last 2 years.

Back to the van, and we try to calm two very excited kids down ready for bed. It was great to see how much they enjoyed tonight tour.