The World's Most Scenic Prison

Day 26:
Our final day of touring on Tasmania started us where we’d left off the night before, Port Arthur. Instead of the ghost tour as we’d been on previously, this was a daylight trip around the site. The morning started with a guided tour around the site by a very knowledgeable guide and finished with free wandering around the site looking at the buildings and grounds. One of the things that I learned was that while Port Arthur was one of the worst prisons in the world (the goal was to grind rogues down until they were good using manual labor), it was difficult to actually be sent there.

Port Arthur was a prison for secondary and violent offenders only. When a convict arrived in Australia, they were classified. The hardcore criminals such as murders and rapists were sent directly to Port Arthur or one of the other major jails. However, most criminals were simply assigned as a kind of indentured servant to colonists living there. They typically tended house or farmed but did not wear chains and were not guarded. I’d have to say that there are worst places and ways to spend your sentence. However, if the convict tried to escape from this light duty or committed another crime, then they would be sent to Port Arthur for hard labour.

After our morning at Port Arthur we headed back towards Hobart. Along the way we stopped at Eaglehawk Neck and saw a number of rock formations including Devil’s Kitchen, Tasmans Arch, and the Tessellated Pavement.

Upon arrival in Hobart, the tour finished and we all went our separate ways. The final activity was that evening though, and it was the Taste of Tasmania. The festival is a large semi-outdoor food and wine activity focusing on products from around Tasmania. It occurs a couple of days after Christmas and is made even better by the attendance of the boat crews from the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. A night of drunken camaraderie ensued before Jill and I retired to our hotel room; we had a seriously early morning the next day.