Port Arthur. As much as I tried, the only thing that kept creeping into my head when I saw the words Port Arthur on the map of Tassie, was that haunting image of Martin Bryant, with those piercing blue eyes (remember the controversy those unnaturally blue eyes caused across the country for the national newspaper that supposedly digitally enhanced the image of the murderer and printed it?). I couldn't stop thinking about the tragedy that took place at the tourist site over ten years ago, where 35 people lost their lives because of one mentally unstable man.
I admit I wasn't sure that I wanted to make the hour journey past Hobart to the Port Arthur peninsula. Did I really want to visit a place where such a terrible thing had happened? But tourist books and fellow travellers kept telling us that a visit to the site was a must on any trip to Tasmania, so Luke and I decided to pay our entry fee (which wasn't cheap, mind you - $25 per adult but this included a walking tour with a guide who told you all about the area, a trip on a ferry and entry back into the park the following day, if one day's worth of history wasn't enough) and we made our way down the coast.
After walking the grounds of Port Arthur, to my surprise, there wasn't a mention about the fairly recent Port Arthur tragedy from our tour guide (we later read that the staff prefer not to talk about this incident as it's still too raw, instead there's a lovely memorial garden for reflection), but we did learn a lot about another evil past that Australia has harbored. Convicts, brutal punishment, slave labour- it all went on for years at Port Arthur, back in the 1800's as part of England's plan to eradicate the scum of their society and send them miles across the sea to Van Demon's Land. Sad but interesting stuff and Port Arthur explains our not-so-pretty past in a way that won't make you feel like you're back in a boring year eight History class.
Even though there is a quiet sadness to the area, a visit to Port Arthur is well worth the drive - what remains of the original English settlement is hauntingly beautiful, the gardens are amazing and the history of the place is surprising. Check it out.
Yours in the great outdoors,
Odette
I admit I wasn't sure that I wanted to make the hour journey past Hobart to the Port Arthur peninsula. Did I really want to visit a place where such a terrible thing had happened? But tourist books and fellow travellers kept telling us that a visit to the site was a must on any trip to Tasmania, so Luke and I decided to pay our entry fee (which wasn't cheap, mind you - $25 per adult but this included a walking tour with a guide who told you all about the area, a trip on a ferry and entry back into the park the following day, if one day's worth of history wasn't enough) and we made our way down the coast.
After walking the grounds of Port Arthur, to my surprise, there wasn't a mention about the fairly recent Port Arthur tragedy from our tour guide (we later read that the staff prefer not to talk about this incident as it's still too raw, instead there's a lovely memorial garden for reflection), but we did learn a lot about another evil past that Australia has harbored. Convicts, brutal punishment, slave labour- it all went on for years at Port Arthur, back in the 1800's as part of England's plan to eradicate the scum of their society and send them miles across the sea to Van Demon's Land. Sad but interesting stuff and Port Arthur explains our not-so-pretty past in a way that won't make you feel like you're back in a boring year eight History class.
Even though there is a quiet sadness to the area, a visit to Port Arthur is well worth the drive - what remains of the original English settlement is hauntingly beautiful, the gardens are amazing and the history of the place is surprising. Check it out.
Yours in the great outdoors,
Odette
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