Maria Island: Darlington

After our Fossil Cliffs hike, we headed to Darlington, the penal settlement that was established when the first convicts arrived at Maria Island in 1825.

The convicts here were re-offenders who were sentenced to hard labor. In 1832, the settlement was closed because there were frequent escape attempts. The convicts were moved — mostly to Port Arthur.

Then, in 1842, more convicts were sent here … this time to build a Probation Station that was based on a model of reform and rehabilitation. The focus was on agriculture, industry, and training. But isolation, maintenance difficulties, and issues with behavior management led to the closure of Darlington just eight years later.

Amidst the white-washed buildings from the Probation Era, we found buildings from the Bernacchi Era … including the Coffee Palace, which also served as a boarding house. Diego Bernacchi was an Italian entrepreneur who leased Maria Island in 1884 to establish agriculture and viticulture, changing the name of Darlington to San Diego. He also built facilities to produce cement, but the Depression of 1890 put paid to that plan.

By 1:30p, we were done with our wanderings around Darlington. The temp had risen. We did not have time to hike another trail … nor the energy to take on a multi-hour hike. Sitting in the shade on the porch of the Coffee Palace, we placed a call to the ferry company’s Triabunna Office and switched from the 4:30p boat to 2:30p.

Thus bringing our sightseeing to a close, we returned to our VRBO rental. A load of laundry is now drying on the rack. Mui has topped off the Corolla’s fuel tank. The bottle of wine we opened yesterday has been polished off. Ready to get back on the road tomorrow.Read more