Port Arthur

We left the van and drove down to Port Arthur, taking the scenic route along White Beach and down to Remarkable Cave.  Mars and the older kids walked down the stairs and went in. Supposedly the view out of the cave to the sea gives a silhouette of the shape of Tasmania.

 With a bit of imagination you can see the outline!

The view from above the cave

We made our way onto Port Arthur.  While we waited for the tour we had a look through the Church there, built in 1836/37.  It was destroyed by fire but gradually rebuilt.

At 11:00 we took a walking tour which gave us all plenty to think about!  The kids weren't too impressed at their 'jobs' if they had lived back then! Karli was horrified at the thought of having to clean chamber pots (after we explained what they were!) and general cleaning.

The guide had numerous stories to tell which kept the kids interested, including the different escape attempts, different punishments (which were horrific) and different prisoner types who came.  For Chad, the idea of young boys being sent to Port Arthur was quite an 'eye opener'!

Later in the day we took a short boat trip across the harbour to the Isle of the Dead - where there are many graves of both convicts and non-convicts.  We were given the life stories of a number of the head stones.  There are only a select few convicts given a tombstone - usually because of their (lifesaving) good deeds towards the officers and/or their families. 

We enjoyed a full day in Port Arthur, also spending some time at the Pool of Remembrance.  While we try to 'shelter' our kids from the evil in this world, it's quite a terrible story to have to explain to the kids why the Pool of Remembrance is there. 

After a late lunch at the BBQs we made our way to Eaglehawk Neck to see the statue of the Guard dog representing the Dogline.  The 12 dogs were chained at regular intervals to alert the guards of any convicts trying to escape.  Eaglehawk Neck is a very narrow bit of land so the dogs were a great deterrent to escape attempts!

After a walk along the beach we headed back to our camp for the night.

Dunalley Hotel