Port Arthur, Tasmania
View from Harbour
Guard House
 
Ruins of the Penitentiary
Convict Church
Inside the Chapel
Tickets
View over Port Arthur Historic Site
Tasman Penninsula Coastline
Roseview Youth Hostel

Port Arthur's Youth Hostel was very nice, all of the rooms in dorms, with laundry and kitchen facilities and a view overlooking the Port Arthur Historic Site.

This brought me to my next stop of Port Arthur. The most famous and brutal of all penal settlements from the age, this prison complex was built on the Tasman peninsula, some 60 miles away from Hobart. The Tasman peninsula was the perfect place for a prison, itself only being attached to the mainland by the 1 km wide stretch of land known as Eaglehawk Neck. The authorities discouraged escape attempts by setting up a line of Dogs on Eaglehawk Neck and circulating the rumor that the areas of water around t were the domain of sharks. The worst of repeat offenders were sent to Port Arthur, and housed in a prison known as the model prison. In this prison, the inmates were kept in separate 6x6 cells and not allowed to speak at all. They were also forced to wear face coverings as a way to keep them obedient. This experiment did not work, as it ended up driving most of he prisoners insane rather that reforming them. The punishment for speaking was to be sent to the punishment cell, a 4x4 cell which allowed no light in. It struck me a incredibly inhumane, but that was the age they lived in. The complex also had living quarters for the guards and their families as well as houses for the prison administrator, doctor and priest. The impressive ruins of the Anglican church is probably Tasmania's most recognized landmark. There were many other building there, and one guide told me that many of the prisoners who stayed in line lived better lives in Port Arthur lived better lives than they had in England, which also speaks volumes for the time. Port Arthur's web site is www.portarthur.org.au.