Port Arthur Historic Site-Part 2

From the Penitentiary we made our way towards the dock for the harbour cruise, which is included as part of the admission to the site. Lindsay went off to get some lunch so Millie and I paid a visit to what is now a memorial garden and ruins of the old cafe where the last atrocities against human life occured on the site in April 1996. It was a very peaceful and reflective place of rememberance.
After we had a little lunch, we got to the docks in time for our 1pm cruise on the harbour, where we got a passing look at Point Puer, the prison for boys 9-18 years of age and the Isle of the Dead where over 1100 people, convicts and free people are buried. It had an interesting commentary about the Historic Site.
Once finished, we checked out the dry dock, slipway and lime kiln parts of the site, which was fairly isolated from the colony proper. We also already knew a little of what went on there from a little of the tour at Macquarie Harbour and Sarah Island. It was also interesting that where I walked to last night was almost to this point.
Having checked out the Convict and Working parts of the site, we then moved up the hill through the Governors gardens to the Carnarvon Township which is the town tied to the Historic site. This is where the families of those who worked at the penal colony lived, and we looked through the remnants of the Governors Cottage, the old church, the new church, the parsonage and post office and the houses that belonged to a number of the families of the staff at the gaol.
We finished off our tour with the Separate Prison and the Asylum, the former of which appears to be not unlike a lot of the Gaols of today, individual cells, workout yard, high fences. This was based a lot on the idea of psychological punishment as a greater deterrent than physical punishment.
The asylum had various different lives, from a facility for the mentally disturbed, schoolhouse and dance hall and now a museum of artefacts found throughout the historic site.
We had all done a lot of walking around the historic site, especially for Millie, so she had done very well.Read more