Port Arthur, part one

During our stay on the Tasman Peninsula we visited Port Arthur, a must-see for Australian history.  It was fascinating. We went through the exhibition which teaches you about the lives of some of the convicts.  We were each given a playing card which matched up to a convict’s name.  You could read about their crimes and the work they did at the prison.  The exhibits gave a look at various tools and such.  It was very well done.  Unfortunately it was not well lit, I suppose for atmosphere, so I didn’t take many pictures.  The kids did try on the leg irons, which of course I needed a picture of! Then we headed outside for the group tour. The tour was quite interesting, but the kids were bored with all that talking and we had a toddler to chase.  I think they said that this tree was one the British brought with them to remind them of home.  That means it would have been planted in the mid to late 1800s.  It was huge. Here’s TurboBug under it for some perspective.  At one point during the tour we were able to keep him occupied collecting acorns in his hat.  It worked for awhile.  🙂 This is the penitentiary.  The original building was damaged from a bushfire but they have done much work to preserve and restore it. A harbour cruise is included in admission, so we headed over for our turn to see the view from the boat. I don’t remember the names of these islands.  You could do tours of them but we opted not to, it was pricey and the day was going to be long enough for the kids.  One island had a cemetary, and the other was for kids.  They wanted to separate the kids from the influence of the adult convicts.  There were kids, prisoners, as young as nine on this island. Antarctica straight ahead!!! I think this is the one with the cemetary.  The Isle of the Dead?  While we were on the boat we ran into a couple we’d camped next to a few nights before and they snapped this pic of all of us. Back at the visitor centre we found this beautiful seat that the kids couldn’t resist lying on. I found this cute picture of TurboBug on my camera, the kids had been taking pictures of this other.  I have no idea why his shoe is hanging there, but at least it wouldn’t get lost like that! Also this one in the lift.  Such a LadyBug expression on her face. I have many more pictures from Port Arthur, so I’ll break it up into more than one post.