After we stocked up on hard liquor, we hit the road again to reach our next destination - Port Arthur. For those of you that are not as learned as myself in the subject of Tasmanian history –
Port Arthur is a small town and former convict settlement on the Tasman Peninsula. Port Arthur is one of Australia's most significant heritage areas and is officially Tasmania's top tourist attraction. (Umm..seriously?) Known for its harsh conditions, dark history and stark beauty, it is located approximately 60 km south east of Hobart. In 1996 it was the scene of the worst mass murder event in post-colonial Australian history.
Thank you Wikapedia.
Anyhow, upon arrival, the ticket counter attempted to sell us on the “Gold Tour”; which was a FIVE DAY guided experience. We took one look at the littering of dilapidated buildings sporadically placed across the lawn (aka the ‘historic site’) and opted for the afternoon self guided tour for twenty bucks. Although I could imagine some of the buildings being pretty impressive at some point - most of them only had remnants of the original structure remaining. They did have a few ‘model’ homes set up that were intended to replicate the décor of its actual owners; including one with a rocking chair and a fake cat curled up on its cushion. John Paul had the bright idea for me to step over the rope barricade and sit in the chair with the cat on my lap so that he could take a picture. Unfortunately the cat was super glued to the cushion….but that wasn’t the worst of it. When I stepped over the rope into the restricted area, it set off an alarm that caused a siren to start screaming from the building. We quickly aborted the mission and exited the building immediately.
Port Arthur is a small town and former convict settlement on the Tasman Peninsula. Port Arthur is one of Australia's most significant heritage areas and is officially Tasmania's top tourist attraction. (Umm..seriously?) Known for its harsh conditions, dark history and stark beauty, it is located approximately 60 km south east of Hobart. In 1996 it was the scene of the worst mass murder event in post-colonial Australian history.
Thank you Wikapedia.
Anyhow, upon arrival, the ticket counter attempted to sell us on the “Gold Tour”; which was a FIVE DAY guided experience. We took one look at the littering of dilapidated buildings sporadically placed across the lawn (aka the ‘historic site’) and opted for the afternoon self guided tour for twenty bucks. Although I could imagine some of the buildings being pretty impressive at some point - most of them only had remnants of the original structure remaining. They did have a few ‘model’ homes set up that were intended to replicate the décor of its actual owners; including one with a rocking chair and a fake cat curled up on its cushion. John Paul had the bright idea for me to step over the rope barricade and sit in the chair with the cat on my lap so that he could take a picture. Unfortunately the cat was super glued to the cushion….but that wasn’t the worst of it. When I stepped over the rope into the restricted area, it set off an alarm that caused a siren to start screaming from the building. We quickly aborted the mission and exited the building immediately.
We decided that it would probably be in our best intrests to hide out inside of the museum after the cat and rocking chair debacle. The museum itself was mildly interesting - but we found it to be very entertaining to pose with all of the life size cut-outs of the convicts.
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