Funnily enough I’d live there

I am always going to remember where I was on April 28, 1996. I was in Melbourne on a dirty weekend and we got back to the hotel room in the afternoon, turned on the TV and saw the news. The shooting stunned the nation and was one of those events that unites a nation. Unfortunately it has forever after conjured up completely the wrong images when I hear the name Port Arthur.

Before that day i was only vaguely aware of the place but watching the news that night I wondered if I would ever be able to visit it. Today I did. At the site itself the shooting is not pushed on you in any overt way and the name of the perpetrator is not mentioned anyway. it may be felt that to give him a name is to give him some measure of fame and they would rather remember the victims. I’ll honour that thought and only say that I sat quietly on the edge of a commemorative pond next to the gutted remains of a cafe where so many lost their lives.

But on with the story.

I had an early start because Bambi told me that it was a 90 minute drive. It turned out to be a bit longer but that was mostly because of the scenery and not wanting to miss any of it. It was also warm this morning. When the radio came on the first thing I heard was a DJ proudly announcing that Hobart was, at the precise moment, the second warmest state capital in the country. It was a good looking morning too, with blue sky and a mild temperature.

The drive was nice. Countryside and sheep everywhere. It wasn’t long before I noticed that instead of the stock standard kangaroo signs you see everywhere there were signs with Tasmanian devils on them. Cool, right? That’s what I thought until I then started noticing all the little furry remains on the side of the road. Hard to tell if they truly were devils but it is pretty sad if they were.

Bambi got me to the visitors centre  and I got my credit card out as I walked in. I had already looked the place up online and I knew how much it was going to cost me but it was still a bit of a wrench having to pay $30 for the cheapest entry ticket. It was valid for two days entry but I knew I was going to be a single day visitor.

Clutching my ticket I entered the site.

The visitors centre is really well done. There is a good display that sets up the site and it’s history and you are given a card when you enter that you match up to a particular convict. this gives you a greater sense of involvement as you follow the story of your convict.

The cheap ticket still entitled me to a guided walking tour and, although it was a basic one, it was interesting and a quick introduction to the layout of the site and where I would go next. Once we were disbanded and let go on our own ways I started wandering. The site is much bigger and much sparser than than I imagined it to be. Not only has it been a source of souvenirs for over a century worth of tourists but it has suffered through a couple of devastating bush fires as well. Most of the original timber buildings have long gone and the stones ones are in a state of decay.

Work is going on to restore what there is but the open spaces, green grass and gardens make it a little difficult to really get a sense of what it must have been like in it’s heyday. A number of buildings have been reconstructed and they are interesting to look in as they present a view of what the officers houses would have been like.

Another building undergoing reconstruction is the Separate Prison, Port Arthurs version of solitary confinement. You are able to walk through and sense what it must have been like to have been one of the convicts confined there. Upon entry you were given a number, your only source of identification from then on, and a hooded uniform that made you completely anonymous. Even the guards wore hoods so that there was no sense of contact with any other human beings.

I wandered through the remains of the hospital, the penitentiary and the church. the Commandants House was interesting because it managed to survive, having continued life as a hotel among other things. Inside the rooms are furnished with period pieces and I walked through thinking that I could actually be quite comfortable living there.

I finished the day by taking the cruise out into the harbour getting a closer look at the Isle of the Dead, the island cemetery that is now the resting place of over 1000 souls, both convict and free. Had I paid for a more expensive entrance ticket I would have been able to take a walking tour of the island, which would have been interesting.

It was a good day and there is no lack  of history but if you would like to find out some of the more interesting stories you’ll just have to buy my book. 🙂