Isle of the Dead

Port Arthur

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November 11th 2012
Saying farewell to Hobart (and wishing we could stay an extra day or so), we drove the rental car to Port Arthur, one of the original penal colonies in Tasmania (or, in Van Deeman’s Land as it was called at the time). Now, when I say “penal colony,” bleak, Dickinsonian images may come to mind. But no. The Port Arthur penal colony sits on a beautiful clear bay surrounded by forested hills. On ... read more

Oceania » Australia » Tasmania » Port Arthur

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Aboriginal settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James COOK took possession in the name... ... read more