February 12, 2023
Today’s visit, Port Arthur on the island of Tasmania as the Aussies say Tassie. Port Arthur was established in 1830 as a prison for repeat offenders from all Australian Colonies. By 1840 more than 2000 convicts an soldiers lived here. The penal settlement closed in 1877. Today, there still are the remains of the old prison. on a sad note, this was also the site of Australians worst massacre. On Sunday April 28 1996 a Gunman opened fire and killed 35 and wounded 19 others. A memorial garden has been created to remember the victims.
We went over to shore in one of the first tenders. This gave us time to explore the remains of the old prison before our excursion tour. A great deal of the prison buildings were still intact. Lots of history here.
Today, we went on a tour to meet up with Kangaroos and Tasmania Devils .We were able to feed the Roo’s, but I wouldn’t feed the Devil’s, they looked to scary with their big teeth. After this visit we also stopped at a small chocolate factory. Lots of yummy chocolates and icecream here. The highlight of today was seeing the animals from close by. By the time we made it back to the pier the wind had picked up considerably, and it made for a wobble ride back on the life boats to the ship. We left the Port Arthur Bay around 5 and arrived in the next stop Hobart around 8:30 that same night. Around 9:30 we watched a colourful fireworks display over the bay. We followed this up by listening to a local music group who were performing on the ship.
Cheers
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