Known for spectacular scenery, unspoilt landscape, and emphasis on good food, Tasmania has been on our must-see list for Australia since our arrival. In the recent past, I am not sure I could have told you the difference between Tasmania and Tanzania, but like so many other things Australian, that all changed about two years ago. Frequently referred to as "Tassie," this beautiful island state is separated from the southern tip of the mainland by the Bass Strait. It has a population of approximately half-a-million, and close to 40% of its landmass is preserved in the form of national parks, reserves, and World Heritage sights.
We flew into Hobart, the capital city, on the morning of the 27th of December, and even before we landed, we were admiring the coastline. Ross collected the (tiny) rental car while the three younger children and I waited for the luggage, and we were soon traveling south toward Port Arthur, the top tourist destination in Tassie. I took quite a few pictures from the moving car, including the first one below.
The first recorded European sighting of Tasmania was by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1642. He named it Van Dieman's Land after the supporter of his expedition, and so it was called until it was officially renamed in 1856. We happened upon this sign while searching for a place to buy coffee. To our dismay, the majority of cafes were still closed for the Christmas holiday period, but we, along with everyone else traveling the road to Port Arthur, eventually found the one that was open.
Tasmania is also known for its Devils, of course, all of whom are unfortunately in danger due to facial tumors that have been spreading throughout the island since the late 1990s. Other threats to their survival include the red fox and the automobile, and in fact, we saw numerous lifeless devils by the side of the road during our four days in Tasmania.
We did not attempt to find any in the wild, mostly because exhaustion set in every afternoon around 4pm, prime wildlife viewing time, and also because the Tasmanian devil is the only extant carnivorous marsupial, and can be rather vicious when feeding. We had no desire to come into any kind of contact with its fierce jaws. While it does hunt prey, it also feeds on carrion, making it a less attractive animal in my way of thinking than the other marsupials we have admired. Not nearly so cute as the eucalyptus-munching koala, for example.
In spite of our post-Christmas fatigue, we managed to see quite a few things en route. I have discovered that making sure each child has a camera to use increases their enthusiasm for sight-seeing. Thankfully James received one for Christmas, and spent his time happily clicking away. Never mind that most of his several hundred photos were of the backseat of the car. He was happy, and so were we to have him thus occupied.
Left and below: Pirate's Bay.
By late afternoon, we finally made it to Port Arthur. Due to my almost total lack of planning for this trip, which I believe I have mentioned before once or twice, we had little idea what was in store for us. We had envisioned a few crumbling buildings spread throughout a village, but instead came upon a theme park that requires several hours of in order to explore it properly. We bought tickets anyway, and were grateful when the guide suggested that we start off with a cruise of the harbor to learn more about the place.
The kids were all given identity cards, and were soon caught up in discovering the "criminal" they were meant to investigate. Of the 13,000 convicts sent to the camp at Port Arthur during its 47 year history, quite a few of them were children aged from eleven to seventeen, some transported for what we would consider rather minor acts of theft.
Port Arthur is one of the best-preserved of all the convict sites in Australia. It is notorious for its harsh conditions, but we learned that it was not as severe as some of the other penal camps in Australia. In any case, 2,000 convicts died while living here, the majority through work accidents and lung illnesses. They were buried on the Isle of the Dead, below:
The beautiful, serene setting of Port Arthur belies the suffering and inhuman tyranny that we read about as we walked the grounds. We happened to visit on a warm, sunny day, and so it was hard to imagine the cold, wet conditions endured most of the time by the convicts, but we did try, and we all left somewhat sobered by the afternoon's history lesson.
Love the close up picture of the waves crashing on the rocks.
The trip to the prison sounds like a very interesting time! I loved visiting the Melbourne jail and learning the history there, it sounds like it was fascinating to pretend to be a part of the history at this site.
Smart idea to make sure the kids have cameras Itsure does give them a different perspective on what they are seeing. Also helps them to LOOK a bit more.
Posted by: Suzanne | 01/09/2012 at 05:26 AM