Port Arthur

Port Arthur was the most memorable place in Tasmania for me. The ruins, the tragic history - old and recent, the irony. It is such a beautiful place in many ways, yet such terrible things have happened there over the past two centuries.

It started out in the 1830s as a penal colony, progressive in its day. It was built by the convicts themselves, as an inescapable prison settlement and the philosophy of the gaolers was to reform the prisoners. It wasn't just about punishment, but redemption as well. For its time this was very advanced thinking with regard to prisoners.

The "Separate Prison" built in the 1840s was designed to subjugate the convicts mentally rather than physically as had been the previous practise. From today's perspective, the prison facilities and the stories of the day to day lives of the convicts seem harsh and extreme - especially considering the crimes that many were said to have committed. For something as trivial as a poor, hungry boy stealing a loaf of bread, he was sentenced to be transported to Port Arthur for years. I don't know how many ever got to go home after their sentences were carried out. Of course there would have been some serious criminals of the murdering kind there as well, but it's hard to imagine today such hard punishments being handed out for the minor offences many committed.

Originally a timber station, the convicts established the industries of ship building, timber, brick-making, blacksmithing and shoe-making.

Most of the main buildings were destroyed or damaged beyond repair during bushfires in the late 1890s while the settlement was no longer a penal colony, but a town of free settlers attempting to develop it into a sustainable community.

The recent tragic history of Port Arthur involves the terrible day on the 28th of April 1996 when Martin Bryant went on a rampage killing 35 people at the site and nearby towns. The Broad Arrow Cafe has been converted into a memorial for the victims.


The memorial at the former Broad Arrow Cafe commemorating 28th April 1996.



The Penitentiary in the right of the picture was originally built as a granary and flour mill.


Ruins of the Penitentiary.






Below are ruins of the church at Port Arthur.












































Commandant's house


The Hospital ruins











Church at the Separate Prison - note the pews are boxes so the prisoners could only see in front of them, not the other prisoners each side of them.


Inside the Separate Prison


Inside the Separate Prison


Separate Prison exercise pens - originally walled off in between each pen.


Cell door


The Asylum











The Penitentiary




A cell in The Penitentiary


A cell in The Penitentiary

Tasman Peninsula

On the drive to Port Arthur on the Tasman Peninsula, it's worth a stop to see the Tessellated Pavement at Eaglehawk Neck and the rock formations on the way.


Tessellated Pavement


Tessellated Pavement


Information sign at the Tessellated Pavement


Tasman's Arch


Tasman Peninsula

Click here to download the Parks and Wildlife Service of Tasmania's fact sheet on the area.

Hobart - Botanical Gardens & Battery Point

The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens are a tranquil oasis just outside the Hobart CBD.

There are many old specimens from the 19th century as well as Chinese and Japanese gardens. The RTBG is also home to the ABC's Gardening Australia permaculture garden.


Fernery at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens


A pond setting in the Chinese garden


Some magnificent old trunks!

Arthur's Circus - Battery Point

In the heart of the Battery Point area are a collection of 15 Georgian seafarers' cottages in Arthur's Circus. All single-storey brick houses, built from 1847-1852, and are arranged around a quaint village green and have been sympathetically restored.

The area is much the same as it was in the 1850s. Aside from the cars and some other evidence of modern life, you can imagine the area 150 years ago.