Had a great night’s sleep in cold Hobart -- I love heated mattress pads (my first ones were in New Zealand). Clydesdale Manor is one of the best hotels I have stayed at here. Heated mattress pad, heated bathroom floor, great breakfast (but who eats scrambled eggs on toast? They were good though.), and wonderfully helpful hosts -- Wayne and Lynne.
Got my plan for the day -- off to Port Arthur 95 kms from Hobart. It was a dreary day, rainy and cold out. I stopped in Dunalley, at the Waterfront Cafe and Gallery for a hot chocolate. It was on a beautiful bay and had a monument to Abel Tasman beside it.
Tesselated Pavement, anyone heard of that before? You must be a Tassie. It is a natural feature that looks like pavement -- rectangle tiles together perfectly. Very cool and located in Pirate’s Bay off road to Port Arthur.
The tasmanian devil is not just a cartoon character. It is also an endangered species in Australia. This meat eating marsupial only lives for approximately 5 years in the wild and 10 in captivity. I went to their conservation center on the Tasman Peninsula. A couple from Victoria and I walked in the rain to the 12:15 feeding zone. The center’s caretaker/manager came out and feed wallaby parts to two brother devils. I didn’t watch them eat. He explained about a cancer that is a disease that is their greatest threat.
Finally made it to Port Arthur historic site. Grabbed a cheese and tomato toasty and brought it on the guided tour with me. A nice couple from Melbourne were on this tour with me. Tom, our tour guide, was very versed in the area and had lots of jokes. It was getting colder and the wind started blowing and drizzling rain a little. He pointed out all the highlights and gave us the history of the place. It looked eerie in the daylight.
Ran through most of the buildings (as I had a boat tour too), in the preacher’s house it was empty and spooky (the colors were dark), took pics in the church, and other buildings were mostly ruins except a few. Reminded me of Glastonbury ruins. In the Doctor’s house, a young tour guide, Mark, was vacuuming and stopped and gave me a personal tour. Saw the broad arrow mark (that it was a government made item). They had an experimental prison -- sensory deprivation - no talking or interaction with anyone (how awful). That prison was very dreary and had the worst vibes to it.
The museum was wonderfully set up. Got in leg irons and thankfully I got to get out of them :). Learned that the US got shipped as many as Australia. Learn something new everyday.
The museum was wonderfully set up. Got in leg irons and thankfully I got to get out of them :). Learned that the US got shipped as many as Australia. Learn something new everyday.
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Took the boat around the Isle of the Dead (where they buried everyone) and Point Puer (where they put the young boys). Could see the mouth of the Ocean and the bay -- next stop Antarctica.
Didn’t know they had a tragedy here a few years ago -- someone went crazy and shot up the place and killed a few people. They had a beautiful memorial fountain and garden set up.
It had gotten very cold and windy. I ate dinner in Felons (the Visitor Center’s restaurant). Surprisingly, the chicken pasta and grilled vegetables were excellent, not cafeteria food at all.
Waited for the 6:30 Ghost Tour -- Mark (from Dr.’s house), was our guide. He gave out 4 lanterns and carried a torch himself (halfway through I remembered my “flashlight” on my iphone). It was dark out and when the clouds moved you could see the most beautiful sky -- almost the whole milky way.
He took us through the most haunted buildings -- the church, the Preacher’s house, the hospital’s basement, and the experimental prison. It started raining in parts and there were puddles everywhere.
Got back at 8:00 to visitor’s center. Hit the road immediately, a French woman from the tour was also going back to Hobart and she followed me at the 60 kms an hour I was traveling to almost Hobart. I felt better having someone behind me who would stop if something happened. Luckily, I only saw two animals on the side of the road and they didn’t run out in the road and I made it back to lovely welcoming Clydesdale Manor in an accident free state.
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