We're not in Michigan anymore!: Tasmania Vacation-Day 1

We had a VERY long day on our first day of vacation! Lets just say that having to have all Christmas things ready before leaving (as we would arrive home on Christmas day) and having a 6:15am flight doesn’t make for much sleep the night before! We packed most things up the night before and put our kids to bed in their clothes for the next day. I think Brian and I managed to get about 3 hours sleep before throwing everything else in the car and grabbing our half-sleeping children out of bed. We made it to the airport with smiles on our faces.

Here’s Hallie on our flight to Tasmania

Since we landed in Hobart around 8am, we had our day planned and packed! After we managed to squeeze 2 large suitcases, 3 car seats, a stroller, a pack and play, about 7 carry-on bags and 5 people into our car, we drove 2 hours south-east to Port Arthur and headed straight for the Historic Convict Site.

The visitor center was really cool. They had this great interactive experience called the Lottery of Life. They gave you a special playing card that you could use to locate your convict, see what they were sent to Port Arthur for and follow them through their time there in the various rooms showing what life was like for them.

“Port Arthur was described as a machine for grinding rogues into honest men. It was a bold experiment in the punishment and reform of criminals.” It was crazy to see some of the reasons people (& children as young as 8 or 9) were sent there. Kyla enjoyed being “sentenced” in the court room.

My girls in the chain gang

Heading outside to take a look around

The Penitentiary: capable of housing over 480 convicts in dormitory accommodation and separate apartments and contained a mess room, library, Catholic chapel, workshops and ablutions complex

We went on a guided walking tour to learn more about the site. The girls enjoyed sitting in the grass, picking wild flowers.

The Separate Prison: Cruciform-shaped, each of the four wings comprised a central corridor flanked by rows of solitary confinement cells. Separated by thick sandstone walls, it was hoped that the convicts would benefit from contemplative silence and separation.

There was definitely no silence in this room!

Inside the Separate Prison’s Chapel. Even here they would be confined to their individual space, with doors and side panels separating them.

We went on the harbour cruise to see the grounds by boat

The Dockyard: Between 1834 and 1848, this was the busiest and most productive ship yard in Tasmania. Here, convict laborers crafted hundreds of whaleboats, ship’s’ buoys, brigantines and barques for private and government customers. .

It was a little windy out there!

Cruising around Point Puer Boy’s Prison: Three thousand boys, some as young as nine years old, were sentenced here. It was the first reformatory built exclusively for juvenile male convicts in the British Empire and was renowned for its regime of stern discipline and harsh punishment.

The Isle of the Dead Cemetery: Between 1833 and 1877, around one thousand burials took place here.

Checking out the Penitentiary

They were rehearsing for a play…it was actually quite comical watching them rehearse.

The Guard Tower

Poor Hallie. She just has to take her naps when she can get them. We planned so well around naptime with our first couple kids! Smile

Heading up to the Commandant’s House and touring the inside…picture of the sitting room

The Hospital: It included wards, a kitchen, baking room, laundry and morgue and was staffed by a doctor and a number of untrained convict orderlies

Trentham Cottage: It’s amazing to me that regular people (read: non-convicts) just lived with their families on the same settlement as the convicts.

Convict Church: It could accommodate over one thousand souls at its services. The church was never consecrated, due to its use by prisoners of different denominations, but was representative of the authorities’ goal to reform the convict population through religion.

The Government Gardens: A stunning formal garden where the ladies and officers who resided at Port Arthur were shielded from view of the convicts behind the garden’s fences and plantings.