There’s a new convict in Port Arthur today

Back to Hobart last night where we had another quiet night at the cinema before our final day on the trip visiting Port Arthur.

Port Arthur is on the Tasman peninsula (accessible by road) to the east of Hobart where some of the first English convicts were brought when they settled in Australia. At Port Arthur they were attempting to teach the convicts skills to get them back into society once they had served their sentence. The museum is done in a fantastic way in that you are given a playing card with a number and this relates to a particular convict who you then follow through the museum to see what his journey would have looked like. Some of the crimes were as little as stealing a loaf of bread which is crazy to think of in these days as the deserving punishment being exiled from England to the other side of the world!!

There’s also some great props to play around with across the facilities 

 

During our tour around the premises we were lucky enough to get a fantastic tour guide who told us the stories from back in the day. I was horrified to hear that there were some prisoners who were banished to single cells for 23 hours a day, this meant they were not allowed to talk to anyone or their face be seen by anyone and they were striped of their names as identification. 30 days after the introduction of the pitch black rooms, they then padded these cells and added a mental asylum… It is assumed that this was needed due to prisoners being banished in the dark and alone for so long that they began to go crazy. This divided opinions in our group as yes these people had committed crimes and therefore deserved to be punished but when you associate these punishments with the minuscule crimes we heard about earlier through the museum it is very difficult to see a deserving match.

Even the church was so secluded that you weren’t allowed to make eye contact with other convicts.  

   

Being here today has reminded me of my passion to fight for human rights, it’s been almost 8 months since I’ve been involved in any volunteering projects and I’m glad to see that my passion of mine hasn’t gone away… I might have to start looking into what masters degrees are out there in this field… 

There were some beautiful gardens amongst the grounds but unfortunately these were only for a select few to enjoy back in the day, which was mostly linked to the upper class who were working at Port Arthur. 

 

On the way back from Port Arthur we stopped off at Eaglehawk Neck which connects the Tasman Pennisular to the mainland for some beautiful seaviews 

   

We had a chilled evening back in our double beds at the hotel before flying and treated ourselves to some dominoes and an early night. 

Hannah managed to wake herself up from snoring so loudly that she thought someone else was in the room… I must say I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much at someone!!!

I am excited to be getting back to Melbourne tomorrow and having my own bed, clean clothes, a wardrobe and all the other little things you begin to miss whilst travelling for over 3 months. It has been a phenomenal experience and one I will carry with me for the rest of my life. It’s safe to say the travel bug has bitten me hard and I’m already looking at booking my next holiday!!