Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Up very early to get ready for our day trip to Port Arthur. We arrived at the Botanical Gardens before 8 a.m. to meet the coach and driver. It's a beautiful day - 60 degrees and sunny with few if any clouds in the sky. Most of our hosts have a "free" day: there are only a few who plan on this long ride. I suppose it's like us when we take people into New Orleans - some of us have done it so much we'd rather not. I'm one of the ones who's afraid I'll miss something if I don't go along. At any rate, our coach and driver arrive and we say our goodbyes to Alf and loaded up. The driver is a jolly fellow, probably in his mid 40's with gray hair and twinkling blue eyes. He is very knowledgeable about the area and gives us quite a bit of information on the long drive to Port Arthur. Some of it is hard to hear as some of our ambassadors would rather talk among themselves than listen - one of my many pet peeves! The scenery is spectacular as the road winds along thru the hills with the water of the Tasmin Sea in view most of the time. It's a view pristine and unspoiled - just spectacular. There's no easy way to get from Hobart to Port Arthur on the ground but the drive is worth the time as you'll not find more spectacular roads to traverse. And the water is a beautiful blue with white sandy beaches interspersed here and there. Not a soul in sight and not even very many dwellings. I think we only went thru a couple of small towns. I guess there's just not that many people on this island.
Port Arthur was a penal colony for British subjects as the jails (gaols) became overcrowded in London in the early 1800's. They sent soldiers to guard the prisoners. They brought their families along. They had whole regiments here from the foot soldiers on up to the upper brass and commandants. They used the prisoners for quarry and timber laborers. Harsh conditions prevailed and many died - both prisoners and guards. Convicts as young as 7 or 8 were sent here if no guardians could be found to take them in. Crimes ranged from pickpocketing and stealing to adultery and murder. Eventually some prison reformers convinced the officials to start another colony on a neighboring island for juveniles only - hence the beginning of the juvenile detention center. The juveniles worked during the day and did schooling in the evening so this became the first mandatory school system in the world. Our guide during this part of the tour was named Tim. He was a retired school teacher who works here now giving informative speeches and answering questions about the history of the place. We stood in a large grassy field with a full view of most of the buildings while he told us a little about the main ones before setting us off on our own to explore.
When we arrived and before getting off the bus, we were each given an admission ticket and a playing card. Mine was the Jack of Spades. The idea was as you entered the museum, you found your card on a little door. When you opened the door, there was a drawing and short story of a prisoner sent here to Port Arthur. You searched out "your" prisoner and followed his career thru-out the museum. A very interesting concept. "My" prisoner happened to be Young Jack, a 13 year old boy caught stealing a gentleman's handkerchief in London. Since no guardian could be found for him, he was sent to Port Arthur to serve out his sentence. I was able to follow him for a few years as he was housed in with the adult prisoners and was some sort of cook's helper. But over time, they lost track of him and I don't know if he survived to adulthood. The museum chronicled the lives of 52 different prisoners - some old, some young, some worse than others, some who made it thru and became productive citizens, some who died trying. Our host, Maggie, said she was a direct descendant of one of these prisoners, seven generations back.
We toured the museums, church and commandant's garden before meeting with the group for lunch. We had a variety of sandwiches, fruit and tea. Michael, our driver, joined us at our table and was very entertaining in his telling of his life. "Never marry someone many years your junior" (I think he was getting over a bad divorce). "May your chooks all grow into emus and kick down your dunny door." (Chooks are chickens and dunny is the loo.) "Never get too friendly with the tourists" (He had just had a bad experience with a large Chinese woman who wanted to take him home with her - she literally picked him up off the ground when he refused her advances.) He was so entertaining I gave him a Baton Rouge pencil and a voodoo doll to ward off evil tourists.
We resumed our tour on a ferry ride to the Isle of the Dead where 1400 convicts, guards, and soldiers are buried. It's little more than perhaps an acre of land where they dumped these bodies. But given the times and the diseases, I don't suppose they had much choice.
Then on to Prier Island which was the juvenile detention center. There's not much left there but ruins and some good prison reform ideas. The boat headed on back to the mainland where the view of the prison was just spectacular. Those poor souls didn't have a clue what was in store for them.
We got back on the bus at 2:30 and left for our scenic ride back stopping at the Tasmin Bridge, Devil's Kitchen , Tasmin Arch , Doo Town, and the Tessellated Pavement. Click on the links for some interesting information and spectacular pictures. I also took a lot of pictures and hope I can link them up to this blog eventually.
We arrived back safe and sound at 5 and headed to Ken and Helen's where Bob and Gayle Duncan prepared gumbo for us. They live very far from Hobart out in the country in a lovely outlying area and a have a beautiful home with some gorgeous views and two small cabins for paying guests. Sort of like a B & B but not really. The guests just rent the cabins and are responsible for their own food, linens and such. We met their neighbors Graham and Rosa - a most delightful couple. I thought I recognized him as an actor or such as he was very personable and had a lot of great stories. Ken wasn't feeling very well - some sort of flu with a fever and cough - so he made himself scarce but alluded to the fact that Graham was pretty well off financially but was sort of a hippie. I don't really think he had a job so I don't know where his money comes from - maybe family money. I think they have some sheep but that certainly wouldn't pay for their lavish lifestyle and the home they live in.
At any rate, we had hor'deurves - fresh stuffed mushrooms and blackened chicken legs. Then Bob's gumbo (with the $25 a pound okra), salad, bread and butter plus Maggie brought my favorite - Pavlova for dessert. It was a great meal and even better company. But it was a long, long day and a long ride home. We saw another echidna on the way home along with some other forms of wildlife - deer, possum and small things that ran faster than I could determine what they were. I told you we were WAY out in the country. Helen and Graham both claimed to have kangaroos that ate their gardens but I never did see one of them in the wild. We were both tired and slept pretty well except for Wil's moaning - he's developed a sore throat and can't breathe when laying down. Maybe Alf will have some more magic medicine for him. He's given him something called Guana Cream - a topical cream to allieve arthritis pain. Wil put it on his knees and he says the pain goes away for the whole day. Alf went out and bought him two large tubes to take home with him while we were gone today. It's good stuff and not available in the USA!