Advertisement
Published: November 1st 2014
Edit Blog Post
WILD TASMANIA...Port Arthur Penal Colony. In 1996 Australia's psyche was shattered. The issue of guns...right to arms...brought into sharp focus by the massacre at Port Arthur...Tasmania's No. 1 Tourist Site.
The ABC summarised it thus:
"On Sunday 28 April 1996, the historic site of the Port Arthur penal colony in south-eastern Tasmania attracted hundreds of visitors. At lunchtime the Broad Arrow Cafe was full. 28 year old Martin Bryant from Hobart entered the cafe, ordered and ate a big lunch, then pulled a semi-automatic rifle out of his bag and started shooting indiscriminately at tourists and staff. Within 15 seconds, 17 shots had been fired, 12 were dead and 10 injured. By the time Bryant had finished his rampage, he had killed 35 people using a range of semi-automatic weapons in and around Port Arthur. The newly-elected Howard government sat for the first time the following week. By May 10, all state and territory ministers had agreed to heavily restrict the ownership and use of self-loading rifles, self-loading and pump-action shotguns. A gun buy-back scheme was initiated, funded by a temporary increase in the Medicare levy. Some 643,000 firearms were handed in at a cost of $350 million."
In 1996 Australia's psyche was shattered...and fortunately we had a government with the guts to say "ENOUGH"...did something about it...banned our gun culture.
How ironic it happened at Port Arthur...the site of Australia's most notorious prison of convict days?
Time we checked it out.
Our verdict "SENSATIONAL".
And there was no mention of Martin Bryant...no mention at all.
******
Left the "Ghost of Jo Trouble" at Freycinet and continued south into the first and only wet weather of our trip at Triabunna...the port for trips to Bruny Island.
The worst and most expensive fish & chips at Orford...lady in my seat insisting on telling Denise her life story as her bus was not expected for two hours...me returning to the table every 10 minutes to adjust the table number sign...saying "Enough" when she started the life story of her relatives. And worse still were the fish & chips!
Through Dalmeny wiped out by bushfires the year before...singed trees bristling with new growth.
Down Eagle Neck Peninsula...the geological marvel the Trescillated Pavement...entering Port Arthur Tourist Park...last spot...lent DVDs...3 nights please.
Sometimes with a mobile home you need a
powered site.
We had not had a decent shower for 8 days...hadn't washed clothes for 10...and didn't have Tony to charge my camera batteries with his Inverter.
And after all...you can meet the most interesting people in caravan park laundries...well this place we did.
This spot is "location, location"...very spacious bushland grounds...minutes walk to Stewart Beach...walkable to the Heritage Site...but why bother when you can drive.
******
There are 3 levels of open parking...nice spot for us with mobile homes...into Reception with crowds bustling.
Quickly you realize why this is Tasmania's No. 1 Tourist site...it is super organised.
Bought two Two Day Gold Passes...$100 each but cannot recommend enough. It included guided tours, morning or afternoon teas & lunches, luxury cruises to The Isle of the Dead (convict graveyard) and Pt Puer (the juvenile prison island), playing cards (I was King of Clubs & Den was Ace of Hearts) plus a Ghost tour for $20.
The playing cards represented a convict whose history you could trace in an interactive display.
I'm not one for guided tours as a rule but these were a must. Denise had been here before
without spending the bucks for a guided tour and was shocked how without a guide you missed out big time.
The guides were storytellers...weaving the stories of the souls and characters of this last resort prison established in 1833 for the worst of the worst...as the ghosts of ages past danced in the breeze amongst us.
Telling of a time when if you had attained the age of 9 years you could be hung...of a time when poverty and stealing to satisfy hunger could radically change your life.
Most if not all inmates had been transported from English prisons...often for petty crime.
Only repeat offenders were sent to Port Arthur...those that had re-offended after arrival in Australia.
They were part of an innovative idea in prisons...attempted rehabilitation...the concept that with discipline and guidance the inmates could become better citizens.
It was even a pioneer in Mental Health...ask the ghosts in the Lunatic Asylum how well that worked!
The collection of preserved buildings and convict ruins...the spacious manicured grounds...the gardens...the harbour...the Penitentiary...the Churches...the cottages...the Lunatic Asylum...the vibe of the place...blew us away.
Relax & Enjoy,
Dancing Dave
Advertisement
Tot: 0.1s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 17; qc: 30; dbt: 0.069s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Ake Och Emma
Ake Dahllof and Emma Holmbro
I think I have to go back to Australia one day
I was in Australia for 3 months 20 years ago and your and other blogs make me want to go back. I realise there were many places I didn't see but that were well worth going to. Port Arthur being one of those. /Ake