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| Port Arthur Dormitories dating back to the late 1800's. Parts of the building have burnt down and never been rebuilt. |
| Glenn's Journal 12-18-02 Tasmania This morning we were all going into Port Arthur as Marcel and Eveline had not arrived into town until too late in the day to see the historic site. Port Arthur is a well known penitentiary on a peninsula with (back in those days) only one way on and off and that was by boat. Adults (anyone over 8 years old) and children were sent here for just about any crime. There are many stories to be told about the convicts and the people who worked here at Port Arthur. We spent most of the day on walking or boat tours around the town including boating by the Island of the Dead, seeing the asylum, and the detention cells. We also walked through the gardens and some of the original homes on the property. The information center also has stories about many different convicts that resided here and what the records say about their behavior, who tried to escape, who was punished, and who was a model prisoner. If you have a full day and are interested in history it is well worth the visit. We departed from the historic site around 2:00 pm. We also wanted to check out Tasmans Arch and the Devil's Kitchen before we left the area. We did not have enough time to hike to Waterfalls Bay today but maybe next time. On our way out we stopped along another beach to enjoy lunch and the view before taking out to Hobart. We still had not called our relatives about meeting them or our friends that we met in Brugge and we needed to check e-mail as well. We arrived into Hobart around 3:45 pm where Erin navigated us to a car park near a pedestrian shopping area. We quickly located an internet cafe where we spent the first hour checking e-mail and repsonding to a few e-mails as well. Our friend Stefanie (in California) along with help from my mom are researching data for our trip to wed in Fiji in March. Erin and I are being joined by my parents, her mom, Stefanie and Tim (friends from L.A.), and hopefully Jim and Sue (friends from Seattle) and we are trying to coordinate with all. After the internet we located a phone booth where we made a call to my relatives in Hobart, Liz and Steve. Liz invited us to stay for a few days and provided us directions on how to find their place in Tinderbox. We also called Jeremy (friends we met in Brugge) and let him know that we had made it to town and hoped to see them while we were here. Tonight we were heading to Liz and Steve's place. Erin and I did some shopping (all window shopping) as the stores were all closing by 5:30 pm (Can you imagine that in the U.S.?). On our way to Tinderbox we stopped into a bottle shop and gas station before finding our way. We arrived at their house around 6:45 pm where we met Liz and Sarah (17 years old starting year 12 and hoping to attend Uni in Sydney. She also plays soccer and field hockey). Steve would be home later as he had to work up north today and was driving back tonight. Nick (15 years old starting year 10 and plays rugby and golfs) would be home later after work (summer job). We chatted for a while until Liz had to run out to pick up Nick. Upon his return Nick prepared steaks and potatoes on the grill while Liz prepared salads. We enjoyed a wonderful meal while getting to know each other. Steve arrived around 9:00 pm where we spent the rest of the evening sharing stories and just getting to know each other some more. The hospitality was, again, much appreciated and overwhelming. We crashed around 11:30 pm tonight. Tomorrow we would go for a long drive into the mountains and catch a day hike and a waterfall before returning home. |