It's Day 3 of our Tasman Trip and today I'll share with you pictures and my day at Port Arthur. To start off, I'd like to comment on how beautiful Port Arthur is, as with the whole of Tasmania. But I must say, Port Arthur certainly creeped me out. I'm not saying not to go. I still think it's worth a visit and I highly recommend it. It's one of the most well-kept historical sites I've ever been to and it's filled with so much history and a must-see while in Tasmania. But read on and you'll know why I'm a little bit spooked out and worried about returning.(Sadly!) Port Arthur is a small town and former convict settlement on the Tasman Peninsula. Everyone whom I've spoken to while planning our trip, said to go to Port Arthur. And so Darren and I went. I was actually super excited and couldn't wait to go.We arrived early in the morning, and had a quick breakfast at the cafeteria before heading downstairs, to this fun 'convict-fact' area. (Not sure what it's called) But we were basically each given a card. Each card represented an ex-convict. And on each card, there was a different drawing. We had to match our card's drawing to pictures in a room. From there, we will then be able to read and find out more about the crime and lives of our respective convicts. I thought that was fun. I even got to try on ankle chains. Did you know, convicts had to wear them all day and all night? Even when they're sleeping?! Imagine having a bad dream and jerking in your sleep. Ouch, that would be painful wouldn't it!
Moving on, armed with our Bronze passes, (You can get either a Bronze, Silver or Gold pass. Find out more about the passes here.) We took the cruise first and was told stories and information about Port Arthur itself and also the Isle of the Dead and Point Puer. We didn't end up going down to the two though as our passes only included touring the main Port Arthur site. Post- harbour cruise, Darren and I went on our own and explored the whole of Port Arthur's main site. There were over 30 historic buildings, ruins, gardens and museum houses. We started off at the gardens, to to the Church and slowly made our way towards the famous Separate Prison, Asylum and Penitentiary. I found out later while on land, about the recent 1996 massacre. Staff who work there don't talk about it as it's still pretty fresh in their minds. I only found out about the events (which fell on the same day as my birthday. Creepy!) after googling it. I think it's really sad and just horrible that tourists, children, staff and visitors had to die that way. On holiday...There's apparently a memorial place within Port Arthur's main site, but we must have missed it by accident. I think we did walk by though, but it was probably covered by bushes so we didn't see it at all. I won't comment much about the shooting so I'll just move on to share the following few pictures Darren and I took while exploring the main grounds.
I didn't take lots of photos throughout my entire stay at Port Arthur as I felt I wanted to just respect the place and all of it's past events. I didn't take any photos while in houses. Preferred snapping my pictures outside, in the vast open space. You see, I wasn't prepared to take photos of rooms and find weird white flashes later on. If you get what I mean. I'm content enough with my ghost cookies. No need for anything else 'fancier'.
There were indeed moments where I felt something unexplainably creepy engulf me. There were some rooms in particular I just felt uneasy being in. Like a sort of heavy, can't breathe right type of feeling? But I'm not sure if that's just me, or something else. I do not want to know. But I vividly remembering entering one of the houses. Upon stepping in, I exclaimed 'OOOH! SMELLS NICE IN HERE!' It did! Bam! Big, loud, over-powering Lavendar, old floral sort of scent. Not sure how best to describe it. Let's just describe it as a sort of old-school sort of granny smell. But guess what, Darren said he didn't really smell much of it and that it's only an ok-smell. It certainly was a strong distinct smell. At least for me it was.Shortly after, a guy emerged from one of the rooms and introduced himself. He was basically there taking care of the house and he told us does the nightly ghost tours too. He mentioned how Ghosts do exists and that they're very much 'alive' and real on Port Arthur. He told us how he's personally experienced a couple of incidents himself. And even mentioned how one can smell Ghosts, hear them, see them, feel them. He even said 'Some days when I come in here (the house) early in the morning, and it's like 'woah! what's that strong smell!!'
Ok. Let's not get all creeped out. I'm not going to go on. But I am crossing my fingers and hoping the Lavender's just some room spray and that Darren's nose was just blocked at that time.
Apart from that creepy house, the Separate Prison was also really sad for me. I couldn't imagine the amount of stress and mental torture the convicts had to go through. There was this one cell in particular. I can't remember what it's called now but it was all dark and there weren't any windows. Prisoners were kept in there for 30 days! It was more of a mental torture than anything else really. I went into it and ducked out within 2 seconds! I am such a chicken. Can't help it after being spooked earlier on!
Thinking back on our trip to Port Arthur, as much as I really find it such a beautiful place, I can't help but associate and feel a tinge of sadness. There's just a strange eeriness to it, I can't quite put a finger to it. I do not want to create any sort of debate here on my blog. I just mean good after all, but well, if given the chance to go back to Port Arthur, I would think twice. Darren loved it and said he'd bring his parents there on a visit when they come, but I think there just was something not right there for me, personally. I don't want to know what it is, but well, I'm just happy to have these pictures for keeps. I would still recommend everyone to go there though! It's a magnificent place. Port Arthur's famous for their nightly Ghost tours. Tourists have been known to spot ghosts and spirits. The thrill-seeker in me had half my mind interested in going for it. It's really good and fun I heard. But THANK GOD I didn't. If visiting the place in bright daylight had already creeped me out, imagine what a night tour would do to me!
Anyway, we left Port Arthur at about 4pm and headed straight to Hobart. By the time we arrived, it was kind of late so shops were mostly closed. We ended up walking around having dinner on Elizabeth Street. There were so many good options to choose from. Indian food, chinese, thai, italian, Turkish, but we went with our favourite - Fish and chips! Of course. You gotta eat as much seafood as you can while in Tassie. Hah! We randomly picked our dinner place and ate at Fish349. Prices were a little steep for our fish and chips liking, but the seafood was yummy. Oh so sweet! Darren ordered the Gumbo and I got Fish and chips and we shared it between us. Yummy-Yummo! Post dinner, we took a slow stroll along Elizabeth St. and went to stock up on shower supplies, (Budget accommodation, so no goodies provided!) as well as snacks from the supermarket, where we found GIANT vegetables! Hahaha. That aside, we came across a cute bookshop/cinema. There were lots of nice bits in there, apart from books. Things like cool stationary, maps, posters, stickers. I'd recommend going if you're in the area!
Alrighty, that sums up our third day in Tasmania. Partly creepy partly beautiful day. Once again, thank you for reading till the end. I'm sorry if I've left out places to go to. The purpose of my entire Tassie Guide is just so I can share my adventures with family, friends and everyone else reading. I'm pretty sure I've missed out so many other great places. But well, there's only so much one can squeeze in 6 days! Hopefully by sharing where I've gone, you'll get a tiny bit of an idea of how beautiful and welcoming Tasmania is and it might make you want to visit! For those of you living in Tasmania, I'd love it if you could share your to-dos too. Reading blogs and what others wrote while they visited Tassie helped me plan my trip. I'm pretty sure others would love to know more too if you've got good recommendations and stories to share. Thank you!
Okie dokie, enough adventuring for the week. I'll be back next week, Monday to share lots of Hobart excitement with you all. I LOVE HOBART! So lots to share! See you next week. Have a terrific weekend! (:
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