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Published: April 19th 2014
Saturday 8th March 2014. Tasman National Park, Port Arthur Historic Site & Dinner at Garagistes Restaurant, Tasmania, Australia
We had a good night's sleep in our quiet luxury room in the YHA. We got up early as we wanted to get the most out of our NP pass which runs out just after lunch. We had a quick coffee/tea in the room and then set off for the Tasman NP.
We were heading Fortescue Bay which is located in the park and is accessible by car as there is a camping ground there. We followed the main highway and crossed the 30m wide isthmus of Eaglehawk Neck Which is the only land that connects the Tasman Peninsula to the rest of Tasmania. It was quite a long drive along a gravel road from the Arthur Highway to the campsite. In places the condition of the road left a bit to be desired (especially as we were in a hire car). We parked (avoiding the huge tree roots and rocks in the ground) in the camp ground car park. As we walked away we saw someone take the bottom out of their vehicle by driving over the rocks that we
had so assiduously avoided. We strolled down to the beach which was beautiful and we walked along past the creek watching the holidaying families enjoying the sun, sea and surf. It was really lovely. We returned to the car and headed back to the highway.
We headed for the Port Arthur historic site, passing the Tessellated Pavement and Blowhole which we had seen on our last trip. We had not been to Port Arthur before and were determined to do it - as it is Australia's best known historical site from the convict era and is one of Australia's most significant heritage areas and an open air museum. Port Arthur is also officially Tasmania's top tourist attraction. We stopped just outside of the town and had a "healthy" burger and chips lunch.
Then we made our way into Port Arthur itself. After we parked and paid for our tickets and map we realised that Port Arthur is not an ordinary town at all. The whole of Port Arthur makes up the UNESCO World Heritage listed historic convict site. This meant that it was huge and we only had half a day to do it (we also had a
1 and a half hour drive back to Hobart for our dinner reservation at 8 pm). The 40 hectare (100 acre) site of the convict colony contains the remains of many highly recognisable ruins, including the penitentiary, the hospital, the insane asylum, and the church. Some portions of the site have been recreated but much is in the original condition.
We entered clutching our guide map, tour timetable and harbour cruise (3.00 pm) tickets. We noticed that there was a guided tour of the Commantant's House due to start in 10 minutes. We dashed over there, and even though we made it with 5 minutes to spare, the tour had already started. We joined in anyway. The Commandant was Port Arthur’s most senior official. A residence befitting this rank and position was erected on high ground on the fringe of settlement in 1833. The Commandant's House, originally built as a simple wooden cottage, had a commanding view over the rest of the settlement. It evolved over the years to become a many-roomed complex fringed by ornate gardens and pathways and separated from the rest of settlement by high masonry walls. As Tasmania’s period of convict transportation drew to a
close in the late 19th century, the building changed hands to become the Carnarvon Hotel in 1885 and then a guest house which operated until the 1930s. We got to see the guest house kitchen and the landlady's bedroom(which is supposed to be haunted) as well as some items, papers and pictures from the era when it was the Commandant's house.
After the tour finished we had a quick look at the guide book which told us that the site forms part of the Australian Convict Sites, a World Heritage property consisting of eleven remnant penal sites originally built within the British Empire during the 18th and 19th centuries on fertile Australian coastal strips. Collectively, these sites, including Port Arthur, now represent, "...the best surviving examples of large-scale convict transportation and the colonial expansion of European powers through the presence and labour of convicts." After a quick look at the tour schedule, we rushed back to the visitor centre and waited for the next guided orientation tour. We were split into 3 groups and our guide ( we were lucky and had the site's longest serving guide) explained that this site was chosen because the peninsula on which Port
Arthur is located is a naturally secure site by being surrounded by water (rumored by the administration to be shark-infested). Eaglehawk Neck which was the only connection to the mainland was fenced and guarded by soldiers, man traps and half-starved dogs.
We learned that Port Arthur was named after George Arthur, the Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land. The settlement started as a timber station in 1830, but it is best known for being a penal colony. From 1833, until 1853, it was the destination for the hardest of convicted British criminals, those who were secondary offenders having re-offended after their arrival in Australia (before this time they were sent to Sarah Island which we had already visited). Rebellious personalities from other convict stations were also sent here, a quite undesirable punishment.
In addition Port Arthur had some of the strictest security measures of the British penal system. Port Arthur was one example of the “Separate Prison Typology” (sometimes known as the Model prison), which emerged from Jeremy Bentham’s theories and his panopticon principle (circular prison with cells arranged around a central well, from which prisoners could at all times be observed). The prison was completed in 1853
but then extended in 1855. The layout of the prison was fairly symmetrical. It was a cross shape with exercise yards at each corner. The prisoner wings were each connected to the surveillance core of the Prison as wellas the Chapel, in the Centre Hall. From this surveillance hub each wing could be clearly seen, although individual cells could not.
The Separate Prison System also signaled a shift from physical punishment to psychological punishment. It was thought that the hard corporal punishment, such as whippings, used in other penal stations only served to harden criminals, and did nothing to turn them from their immoral ways. For example, food was used to reward well-behaved prisoners and withheld as punishment for troublemakers. As a reward, a prisoner could receive larger amounts of food or even luxury items such as tea, sugar and tobacco. As punishment, the prisoners would receive the bare minimum of bread and water. Under this system of punishment the "Silent System" was implemented in the building. Here prisoners were hooded and made to stay silent, this was supposed to allow time for the prisoner to reflect upon the actions which had brought him there. Many of the prisoners
in the Separate Prison developed mental illness from the lack of light and sound. This was an unintended outcome and an asylum was built right next to the Separate Prison!
Contact between visiting seamen and prisoners was barred. Ships had to check in their sails and oars upon landing to prevent any escapes. However, many attempts were made, and some were successful. Boats were seized and rowed or sailed long distances to freedom. In 1836, a tramway was established between Taranna and a jetty in Long Bay, north of Port Arthur. The sole propulsion was convicts. Port Arthur was sold as an inescapable prison, much like the later Alcatraz Island in the United States. Some prisoners were not discouraged by this, and tried to escape. Martin Cash successfully escaped along with two others. One of the most infamous incidents, simply for its bizarreness, was the escape attempt of one George "Billy" Hunt. Hunt disguised himself using a kangaroo hide and tried to flee across the Neck, but the half-starved guards on duty tried to shoot him to supplement their meagre rations. When he noticed them sighting him up, Hunt threw off his disguise and surrendered, receiving 150 lashes -
bad luck mate!
After the tour we had to rush off for our scheduled harbour cruise. We boarded and got a good position out on deck. It was a lovely afternoon and the cruise came with yet another interesting commentary. We headed out into the harbour and over to the "Boys Prison". We were told that Port Arthur was also the destination for juvenile convicts, receiving many boys, some as young as nine. The boys were separated from the main convict population and kept on Point Puer, the British Empire's second boys' prison. Like the adults, the boys were used for hard labour such as stone cutting and construction. One of the buildings constructed was one of Australia's first non-denominational churches, built in a Gothic style. Attendance of the weekly Sunday service was compulsory for the prison population. Critics of the new system noted that this and other measures seemed to have negligible impact on reformation. Next we headed over to the "Island of the Dead" which was the destination for all who died inside the prison camps. Of the 1646 graves recorded to exist there, only 180 - which are those of prison staff and military personnel, are
marked.
The prison closed in 1877 and much of the property was put up for auction. However, most of the property was not sold until 1889. By this time, the area had become increasing popular and the prison buildings were in decay. The decay was seen as something positive as the Tasmanian population wished to distance themselves from the dark image of Port Arthur. Those who bought Port Arthur property began tearing down the buildings and the destruction was furthered by the fires of 1895 and 1897 which destroyed the old prison house. In place of the Prison Port Arthur, the town of Carnarvon was born. The town was named after the British Secretary of State and the population was said to be “refined and intellectual. However, the haunting stories of Port Arthur prisoners and circulating ghost stories brought popularity to the remaining prison ruins. This was helped by the popular novels For the Term of His Natural Life (1874) by Marcus Clarke and The Broad Arrow (1859) by Caroline Leakey, which concerned themselves about convicts in Port Arthur. In 1927 tourism had grown to the point where the area's name was reverted to Port Arthur. 1916 saw the
establishment of the Scenery Preservation Board (SPB) which took the management of Port Arthur out of the hands of the locals. By the 1970s the National Parks and Wildlife Service began managing the site. Since 1987, the site has been managed by the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority, with conservation works funded by the Tasmanian Government and the admission fees paid by visitors.
The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO inscribed the Port Arthur Historic Site a onto the World Heritage Register on 31 July 2010, as part of the Australian Convict Sites World Heritage property. As an aside the site is also now also famous as being the location for one of Australia's worst recorded modern day mass murders. On 28 April 1996, the historic site was the location of a killing spree. The subsequently convicted perpetrator murdered thirty five people and wounded twenty five more before being captured by the Special Operations Group of the Tasmania Police. The killing spree led to a national ban on semi-automatic shotguns and rifles. The perpetrator, Martin Bryant, is currently serving thirty five life sentences plus 1,035 years without parole in the psychiatric wing of Risdon Prison in Hobart, Tasmania.
As we disembarked the cruise boat the commentator advised us that although the visitor centre is open until 7.00 pm the buildings and museum on the site close at 5.00 pm. This didn't leave us much time so we dashed off at break-neck speed. First we went to the Old and New Churches. The Old Church, built with convict labour, shows the important role of religion in convict reform at Port Arthur. Up to 1100 people attended COMPULSORY services here each Sunday. Much of the decorative stonework in the church was crafted by the boys from the Point Puer Boys' Prison. Close by was the Medical Officer's House. Despite the fact that it was being repaired we were able to go inside and take some snaps. The guide inside advised us of the best route around the site given our shortage of time.
Following his advise we next made for Trentham which was a cottage built during the site's time as Carnarvon Township. It was lived in by members of the Trentham family up until 1920. The house and garden have been restored. We exited through the rear door and walked through the Soldiers' Memoral Avenue which is a
row of trees planted to honour the 15 men from the Carnarvon and Oakwood districts who lost their lives serving in WW1. We then made for the museum and cafe where we grabbed a quick beer (we really needed it as opposed to just fancied one!). The museum and cafe are located in the former Asylum building.
Beer finished we dashed off to the Separate Prison next door which was designed to deliver the aforementioned new methods of punishment through isolation and contemplation. Convicts were locked up for 23 hours each day in single cells. Here they ate, slept and worked, with just 1 hour a day allowed for exercise, alone, in a high walled yard. We took some snaps of the punishment cells before heading over to the ruined hospital. In the hospital convicts were commonly treated for numerous conditions including respiratory or rheumatic ailments contracted from working outdoors an sleeping in cold cells and wet clothing. By the early 1860's convicts were housed and treated in the Pauper's Depot or the Asylum in line with new ideas that included creating a calm environment.
On our way out we dashed past the ruined penitentiary building which is
in the process of being repaired (and is soon to be open to the public). In the early days of penal settlement convicts were housed in rough timber huts. As convict numbers increased the flour mill and granary were converted into a 4 storey penitentiary, due to its failure to supply adequate flour for the settlement. The 2 lowerfloors contained 136 cells for 'prisoners of bad character'. The top floor porvided space for 480 better behaved convicts to sleep in bunks. A very large industrial area near the Penitentiary included workshops where prisoners worked and were trained in a range of skills including carpentry, shoemaking, wood turning and blacksmithing. There is no longer any evidence of this area above the surface.
We made for the exit, jumped in the car and returned to the YHA to get ready for our special dinner at Garagistes. We arrived and were taken to our seats on a bench with a number of other diners. We were presented with - our personal Special Menu 2104!!! (hopefully Will made a typo - unless we have gone forward in time - and after we ate the food we felt like we had indeed!). We were
given small portions of everything on the menu. This was special for the Head Chef's dad - so if anyone is reading this you will normally only get 5 larger portions. We were also served different drinks to complement each course, sometimes beer, sometimes a spirit and sometimes wine.
This was our menu: Garagistes Salumi (air dried cured meat cuts), followed by Autumn Snacks (posh cheese on toast), then Raw Yellowfin Tuna, Wisconsin Cucumber, Branae, Pickled Cherry, Sesame Oil, followed by Southern Calamari, Espelette Pepper & Basil, then Buckwheat & Smoked Eel Agnolotti, Venerupis Clams & Sea Blite. followed with Late Summer Tomatoes, Fried Milk Curds, Smoked Chili Oil & Pickle Kombu. The meat courses were Kurobuta pork Neck, Caramelised Bolero Apples, Confit Potato and Cape Grim Beef Short Rib (slow cooked for 36 hours), Fermented Garlic, Pickled Green Tomatoes & Nasturtium. Deserts were Wild Brambles,Blueberries, Whey Caramel,Fresh Cheese and Sourdough then Shisco Ice cream, Frozen Shortbread, and Fermented Greengage Sorbet.
Anyone who knows M would say that this menu would not suit because of the amount of fish. However M enjoyed ALL of it and polished off the lot without a problem. She described it as "exquisite"
- it really was AMAZING food. D descibed it as "an extremely enjoyable and impressive experience - a real joy and a highlight of our trip". Will came to sit with us while we ate desert (M left the frozen shortbread bits as they hurt her sensitive teeth but ate the fantastic icecream). D polished off the lot. Ashley came in just before we all left. A fantastic day all round. Will and Ash are off work for the next two days so we haven't made any plans in order to spend time with them - which will be great.
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