This morning,we hired a car and set out for Port Arthur - a penal colony, a location almost impossible to escape from - almost all those who tried were drowned or recaptured.
Port Arthur is located 96 km south of Hobart. - at the most southerly point of the Tasman Penninsula - next stop the Antarctic.!!
Six Young Irelanders were deported to Port Arthur in the 1840s. one being William Smith O’ Brien. Having proclaimed himself a political prisoner, he was imprisoned in his own cottage.
The prison closed here in 1853 as the government regarded its maintenance as too costly. All who were guilty of minor crimes were employed on the island. Only those who had committed more serious crimes were sent to other prisons.
Travelling is not what it was!! When I visited Port Arthur some forty years ago, the site was not commercialized. Today, it is highly so as is Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the Grand Canyon which I have also revisited) The entrance fee is $39 (€25). To obviously justify this entrance fee, the fee includes a cruise on the bay, where we saw a Royal Australian Navy submarine.
and a walking tour. The tour and the cruise added little to the experience. The most enjoyable part of the experience is to walk to the various buildings oneself and reading about the function of each building.
On purchasing our entrance ticket, we were asked where we were from. The seller informed us that she had been to Ireland, had driven the Wild Atlantic Way and loved Dublin. She added that she was determined to find William Smith O’ Brien’s statue on O’ Connell Street as I was to find his cottage here ! I didn’t admit that I didn’t know where William Smith O’Brien’s statue stood in O’ Connell Street.!! How many of you, dear readers know it’s location?
We knew that we couldn’t reach Queenstown by nightfall so we decided that we would stop en route. Once night falls, one must travel at 45km per hour in the event that a roo (kangaroo) might cross your path!
The scenery on the trip to and from Hobart to Port Arthur was stunning - the road lined with beaches and acquamarine seas. No photograph could do it justice.!
En route we stopped at scenic Pirates Bay, the Tasman Arch
and the Blow Hole
which wasn’t performing today. I had visited all these sites on my previous visit.
Returning to Hobart, we drove north, then west in the direction of Queenstown/Strahan on the west coast. It was very scenic as we drove along the waters edge.
Once we turned west, we climbed into mountainous terrain.
There was very little traffic as we passed the towns of Hamilton and Ouse. As the sun was setting, we were concerned at the lack of accommodation along the route. Finally, I saw a advertisement for accommodation in Tarraleah but would any be available? It was still school Easter holidays!
As the sun was setting,
we arrived at Tarraleah (Aborigine for Forrester Kangaroo) at the edge of the National Park. Much to our relief there was a room and dinner available in the local holiday village - welcome news after a long day on the road! Our room in the old school house was beautifully presented.
The village of Tarraleah was established in the 1930s to house engineers building the hydro dam. By 1980
it had a population of 1600. The town closed in 1996. The population of the area is now 4 and the land in the area has reverted to scrub!
The area has an Irish connection - a man named Martin Cash, born in Enniscorthy, shot another man on account of a woman and as result he was transported to Botany Bay and later to Port Arthur, from where he escaped and continued his life of crime. After being given a ticket of leave, he married and gave up crime for the post of constable!!
An interesting overnight sojourn!!
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