13th Light - Coles Bay to Port Arthur
It was decided last night during our second bottle of wine that as todays weather forecast was no more favourable, we would strike camp earlier than normal to get a jump start on the 300km stretch we had planned to Port Arthur. What a stroke of genius. The day was abysmal and by 8:30am we had already broken the back of this long leg of travel. Looping back around Great Oyster Bay, we briefly stopped at Swansea to pay homage to this trips generous sponsor - Devil’s Corner Wines - where the symmetrical rows of recently harvested vines contoured the shallow valley leading down to the aforementioned bay. Once again, we were thankful the cellar door was closed at such an hour and moved on accordingly.
Devil’s Corner winery
Not far on, and only a stones throw from the highway, we pulled into Spikey Beach. As beautiful as it was, the only thing spikey about it were the clumps of blackberry bushes blocking the path to the headland. However, literally across the road stood the convict built Spikey Bridge from which the beach adopts it name.
Erected in 1843 as a means of joining Little Swanport to the Swansea district, this short bridge consists of locally hewn fieldstones laid without mortar or cement. The stones adorning the parapet are positioned vertically giving the bridge its appropriate name. Thought to be constructed this way to stop cattle from falling, there are many more fanciful explanations as to why this bridge is so unique.
Spikey Beach, Tasmanaia
Passing through Pontypool, Triabunna and the simply picturesque hamlet of Orford, we surprisingly reached Sorell, the location of our first nights stay, earlier than originally anticipated. It was here Anthony veered left onto the Tasman Peninsula. We soon crossed the neck at Eaglehawk and arrived at Port Arthur right on midday.
The Port Arthur Historic Site is possibly as iconic to Australian tourism as Uluru or The Great Barrier Reef. Starting life as a small timber station in 1830, the settlement quickly grew in importance and the next decade saw a penal station hacked from the bush. Many manufactories such as ship building, shoemaking, smithing, and brick making were quickly established and served the state well with their outputs. During the 1840’s, there was a consolidation of the industrial and penal nature of the settlement as the convict population reached over 1,100.
The Penitentiary, Port Arthur
We strolled the site at a leisurely pace choosing to follow the guide book rather than a tour, with our only plan to cover the area in a clockwise direction. Beginning with the most prominent building, the penitentiary, we were off to a slow start as the place was just amazing! Built as a flour mill and granary in 1845, the venture failed so the building was converted to house over 600 convicts in 1854. While gutted and a virtual shell of its former self, the restoration is magnificent with much of the original craftsmanship visible in the stonework.
Zig-zagging up the hill, we explored the guards tower and Commandants quarters. Behind these stood the semaphore station, an ingenious messaging system introduced by Commandant Charles O’Hara Booth in 1833. By 1836 messages to and from Hobart were received within 15 minutes via a chain of semaphores around the Forestier and Tasman Peninsulas. This remained the main form of communication until the arrival of the electric telegraph in the 1860s.
Historically, two of the more interesting buildings were the Seperate Prison and Asylum.
Constructed in 1849, the Separate Prison signaled a shift from physical to psychological punishment. Corporal punishment was thought to only harden criminals, so rewards and disincentives were introduced to control the prisoners. A "Silent System" was also implemented by hooding inmates and making them stay silent throughout the building. This seemed to work initially, however over time many prisoners developed mental illness from the lack of light and sound, so the Asylum was built in 1868 to tend to these, and other mentally ill prisoners. Port Arthur was seen as a model for many of the penal reform movements, despite the housing conditions, punishment, and slave labour work.
Transportation ceased in1853 resulting in fewer arrivals, but as one of the few secondary punishment stations operating in the colonies, Port Arthur still received a large proportion of colonially sentenced men as well as the old transportees still within the system. But by the mid 1870’s the settlement began to dwindle. Those remaining convicts were too aged, infirm or insane to be of any use and the settlement slowly lost its life with the last convict being shipped out in 1877.
There are many buildings scattered throughout the site including the law courts, hospital, government farm and civil officers row. All were in various states of disrepair, however information placards, and ones own imagination, accurately painted the picture of 19th century colonial life, albeit in a penal colony.
After the prison closed, much of the property was either sold off or severely damaged by bush fires in 1895 and 1897. The town was soon reborn as Carnarvon in an effort of distancing the region from its dark past, however haunting tales of Port Arthur prisoners and circulating ghost stories brought popularity to the remaining prison ruins. By 1927 tourism boomed and the area once again reverted to the name Port Arthur. By the 1970s the National Parks and Wildlife Service were managing the site until 1987 when The Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority was created to preserve and maintain the area.
As we progressed around the marvellously preserved site, so too did the day. By the time we arrived at the church, the sun was shinning once more with the dark clouds making way for bright blue skies. Completed in 1837 and a lasting tribute to its convict builders, the Church stands on high ground overlooking the settlement and once accommodated 1,100 souls at its services. Never consecrated due to use by prisoners of different denominations, it was representative of the authorities’ goal to reform the convict population through religion and was sadly destroyed by fire in 1884. Now only the beautiful stonework frame remains which poetically reflected the afternoon sunshine to end our day.
We allowed 5 hours to tour Port Aurthur and comfortably did it in 4. As with many highlights of our trip, a full day, or even a weekend could be spent here easily such is the deep history and wealth of stories to learn.
Port Arthur is of course also known for the horrific events of April 1996, and now among the convict ruins stands a respectful monument to those fallen on the day. The Broad Arrow café remains a shell and adjoins a reflective pool offering peace and tranquility for those wishing to pay their respects. It is disgraceful that such a blight on Australian history would occur in such a uniquely special and placid historical site.
Our final digs were at the NRMA holiday park, widely regarded as the best caravan park in Tasmania. On the shores of Stewarts Bay, this sprawling reserve nestled among tall bushland would leave us only a short drive back to the airport in the morning. We purposefully booked an ensuite site tonight fully intending to stink up their facilities and not those of Anthony.
We dined constructively on pantry leftovers combining ingredients normally reversed for breakfast and lunch into our dinner. As we’d discovered last year, this actually makes for quite a good meal and is like having a sleep over and raiding mums larder. It should also be noted we are pretty good at purchasing and rationing our alcohol along these journeys, however tonight we found ourselves uncharacteristically a little overstocked.
Fear not gentle reader, nothing went to waste other than perhaps ourselves.
Port Arthur, Tasmania