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PORT ARTHUR: DISCOVERING TASMANIA’S CONVICT HERITAGE 617
2 Port Arthur: Discovering Tasmania’s Convict Heritage ¡
102km (63 miles) SE of Hobart
Port Arthur, on the Tasman Peninsula, is one of Australia’s prettiest harbors and
houses the extensive remains of Tasmania’s largest penal colony—essentially Australia’s
version of Devil’s Island. It’s the state’s number-one tourist destination,
and you really should plan to spend at least a whole day in this incredibly picturesque,
yet haunting, place.
From 1830 to 1877, Port Arthur was one of the harshest institutions of its type
anywhere in the world. It was built to house the settlement’s most notorious prisoners,
often prisoners who had escaped into the bush from lesser institutions.
Nearly 13,000 convicts found their way here, and nearly 2,000 died while incarcerated.
Port Arthur is connected to the rest of Tasmania by a strip of land called
Eaglehawk Neck. Guards and dogs kept watch over this narrow path, while the
authorities circulated rumors that the waters around the peninsula were sharkinfested.
Only a few convicts ever managed to escape, and most of those either
perished in the bush or were tracked down and hanged. Look out for the blowhole
and other coastal formations, including Tasman’s Arch, Devil’s Kitchen, and
the Tessellated Pavement, as you pass through Eaglehawk Neck.
ESSENTIALS
GETTING THERE Port Arthur is a 1 1 ⁄2-hour drive from Hobart via the Lyell
and Arthur highways. Tasmanian Tours & Travel Tigerline (& 1300/653 633
or 03/6272 6611; www.tigerline.com.au) runs trips from Hobart to the former
penal settlement on Tuesday, Wednesday (in summer only), Thursday, Friday, and
Sunday. Tours cost A$60 (US$39) for adults and A$38 (US$25) for children 4 to
16; free for children under 4. Another option also takes in Bushmills Pioneer Settlement,
a sawmill with old buildings, which features a narrow-gauge steam railway.
It’s near Port Arthur. This tour costs A$70 (US$45) for adults and A$60
(US$39) for children 4 to 16. Tours depart from 199 Collins St. at 9am and return
around 5:30pm. Both trips include a guided tour of the Port Arthur site.
EXPLORING THE SITE
The Port Arthur Historic Site (& 03/6251 2310; www.portarthur.org.au)
is large and scattered, with some thirty 19th-century buildings. (Most of the
main ones were damaged during bushfires in 1877, shortly after the property
ceased to be a penal institution.) You can tour the remains of the church, guard
tower, model prison, and several other buildings. It’s best to tour the area with
a guide, who can describe what the buildings were originally used for. Don’t miss
the fascinating museum in the old lunatic asylum, which has a scale model of
the prison complex, as well as leg irons and chains.
The site is open daily from 9am to 5pm; admission is A$22 (US$14) for adults,
A$10 (US$6.50) for children 4 to 12, and A$48 (US$31) for a family. The admission
price is good for 2 consecutive days and includes a walking tour and a boat
cruise around the harbor, which leaves eight times daily in summer. There is also
a separate cruise to the Isle of the Dead off the coast of Port Arthur twice a day;
some 1,769 convicts and 180 free settlers were buried here, mostly in mass graves
with no headstones. The cruise costs an extra A$5 (US$3.25) per person.
A new visitor center opened in January 1999. The main feature is a fabulous
Interpretive Gallery, which takes visitors through the process of sentencing in England
to transportation to Van Dieman’s Land. The gallery contains a courtroom, a