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Port Arthur is one
of most tangible relics
of the convict system
in Australia and it is
a piece of the nation’s
history which is not
to be missed if you have
reached as far as Hobart.
One-day tours from Hobart
are available from
a variety of companies,
or, if you wish to
make your own way, TassieLink
operates a bus from
Hobart to here every
weekday afternoon. In
addition, there are services
on Monday, Wednesday
and Friday mornings in
summer.
Along the route, a
point of great interest
is Eaglehawk Neck, which
really is worth stopping
for. If you go to Port
Arthur with a tour, you
will usually have the
opportunity to look at
the scenery here. In
convict times, this is
where soldiers and dogs
guarded the Tasman Peninsula
to ensure that escape
from Port Arthur was
almost impossible. At
this point the isthmus
is only one hundred metres
across. A chain was run
across and dogs tied
to the chain. Then, since
the only possible escape
route was via the sea,
a rumour was circulated
that the waters were
infested with sharks.
Even so, in 1843 the
bushranger Martin Cash
and two of his friends
did manage to escape
from here.
Now, though,
the point of interest
is not the dogs, but
the natural scenery.
There are four natural
wonders here within
the space of a few hundred
metres. They are labelled
the Tasman Arch, a
natural bridge across
which one can walk; the
Devil’s
Kitchen, where the
waves rush in through
a narrow gap producing
a cauldron of churning
water at the foot of
a deep enclosed chasm;
the Blowhole; and the
Tessellated Pavement,
caused by wave action.
The scale of these
natural phenomena is
most impressive. There
are also walks, and the
Officers’ Quarters
from the convict days
remain, now used as
a small museum. There
is accommodation available
here, including a backpackers
hostel.
Port Arthur
itself is near the
southern tip of the Tasman
Peninsula. Named after
Lieutenant-Governor Arthur,
it began life in 1830
as a timber station.
In 1833 it became a secondary
punishment male prison
settlement.
Port Arthur
had become almost self-sufficient
by the 1840s, but when
transportation lost
favour, and new young
convicts ceased to arrive
in the 1850s and 1860s,
that self-sufficiency
was gradually lost. In
1877 the prison was closed.
Thereafter buildings
such as the church
and penitentiary were
destroyed by fire and
by vandalism, and other
constructions suffered
from those seeking building
materials. The settlement
was renamed Carnarvon,
but in 1927 it reverted
to Port Arthur. In 1979,
the state and federal
governments decided to
spend $9 million on restoration
and development work,
since when it has won
many awards.
Entry is
now through the Visitor
Centre, newly constructed
in 1999 at a cost of
a further $4.5 million,
although access can also
be gained at some other
points around the forty-hectare
enclosed site.
Passing through the
Visitor Centre, one finds
oneself in the role of
a nineteenth-century
criminal, being sentenced
to transportation and
then entering the ship
and emerging in Port
Arthur. One is given
a prisoner identity
card, relating to the
circumstances of an actual
past prisoner, and invited
to trace his history
and discover what became
of him. Within the grounds
are approximately thirty
buildings, some restored
and some just ruins,
some prison buildings
and some the homes
of those operating the
prison, or just ordinary
civilians residing in
the area. There is also
the separate prison,
for those who not only
were transported convicts
who had committed further
offences in Australia,
but had then re-offended
in Port Arthur. Their
punishment was a life
of silence and solitary
confinement. Even in
church, where they
were allowed to sing
and pray audibly, in
the hope of some propitious
result, they were segregated
from their fellow prisoners
in individual stalls.
There
is a beautifully
built church, and a hospital,
where, in fact, patients
were well tended. There
is an avenue of trees
forming a memorial
for those lost in the
Great War. There is a
Post Office and a Policeman’s
Residence reminding
us that this was a living
community after its
convict days, and even
during them.
The admission
ticket is valid for
two days and includes
a harbour cruise, except
during July and August.
The cruise lasts for
twenty minutes and shows
the shipbuilding industry
here, the former boys’ prison
at the aptly named
Point Puer and, from
a distance, the Isle
of the Dead, the cemetery
for this prison community.
A detailed tour of
the Isle of the Dead
is offered for an additional
charge.
In recent years,
Port Arthur made
history again, as most
visitors know. On 28th
April 1996, a man with
a semi-automatic rifle
opened fire in the
cafeteria, and later
elsewhere, killing
35 people and wounding
a further eighteen. A
mentally impaired 28-year-old
from Hobart, who for
months protested his
innocence, was eventually
tried for the murders
and convicted. The
35 innocent victims are
remembered in a Memorial
Garden near the Visitor
Centre.
There is, of
course, plenty of accommodation
in the vicinity of
Port Arthur, since it
is a tourist spot rapidly
gaining in popularity.
Options include a youth
hostel in a beautiful
former guest house
built in 1890 and just
outside the back entrance
to the Port Arthur enclosure,
but this is an option
which is frequently
rather crowded. There
is also a Caravan Park
offering a bunkroom for
backpackers.
There are
other sights to see
in the vicinity of Port
Arthur. These include
Remarkable Cave, five
kilometres south, and
various other convict
sites. Of the latter
the most interesting
is the Coal Mines,
in the north-west of
the peninsula. Coal was
discovered here in 1833
and, although it was
relatively low-grade
coal, it gave Tasmania
a degree of independence
from New South Wales,
from where all supplies
had previously been
imported. A contingent
of the most refractory
prisoners was sent to
work these mines, in
very harsh conditions,
and another prisoner,
one Joseph Lacey, convicted
for robbery, appointed
as overseer, since he
had experience of mining.
He proved so capable
in this position that
he eventually became
the lessee of another
colliery following
his release. There are
also the remains of convict ‘probation
stations’ (outstations)
at Nubeena, Premaydena,
Saltwater River, Koonya
and Taranna.
Click here for a Port
Arthur map
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