Port Arthur

Today we took the highway out of Hobart heading north to Port Arthur. Despite what you might think Hobart traffic can be quite bad and there was a lovely traffic jam of cars heading into the City, luckily we were heading in the other direction.

We are trying to take more scenic roads where time allows so we took the coastal road past some amazing scenery with smooth water and big trees. At the entrance to the Port Arthur peninsula there are some interesting rock formations called the Tessellated Pavement, a blow hole, Tasman Arch, and The Devils Kitchen. See some photos below.

After that it was on to Port Arthur itself.

Port Arthur is really well set up and a great place to spend a day. The buildings are amazing and the history fascinating. We had a 20 min boat cruise followed by a 40 min walking tour of the main points. The buildings have been well restored where possible and where not what’s left has been well preserved.

Essentially Port Arthur was a very unpleasant place to be for everyone, prisoner as gaoler alike. Very remote and inhospitable with tough conditions.

Its more recent history has been tastefully recognised as well.

After hanging out at Port Arthur for most of the day we headed back to Sorrell and then North to our accommodation for the next couple of nights, Hamptons on the Bay just near Swansea.

Tomorrow we are visiting Freycinet National Park.Read more