Last summer we visited Port Arthur and bought some Ticket of Leave passes. These give you unlimited visits for a period of two years. In early July we noticed that Wanda was looking a bit neglected, so we decided it was time to get some value out of our passes.
It is a pleasant drive down the Tasman Peninsula, and it was good to see Dunalley starting to look prosperous again as the locals rebuild after the dreadful fires. I checked my new WikiCamps app for locating camping grounds and found the Port Arthur Holiday Park had pretty good reviews from fellow travellers. We had a quick look, booked in for a quiet site with greenery, and then drove to Port Arthur.
We were in time for an excellent guided tour of the superbly restored Surgeon's House:
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| The Drawing Room |
The tiled floor is actually painted canvas!
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| The Dining Room |
This room displays the history of the building.
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| The doctor's desk |
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| Nightstand in the Bedroom |
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| Bedroom |
Unfortunately the old house which had been a popular hotel wasn't open for visitors, that will have to wait for our next trip.
I thought this detail (on the house that currently displays archaeological materials) of how they attached winter shutters was interesting - basically just swivelling blocks:
After a quiet night in the caravan park, we returned to Port Arthur on Sunday morning, this time revisiting Smith O'Brien's Cottage. The stories of the political prisoners - the Irish rebels and the Levellers - are fascinating.
In particular the fact that the political demands of the Levellers are political equalities that we now take for granted.
Our second guided tour for the weekend was through the Commandant's Cottage. This house was extended and refurbished many times through the years of the penitentiary's operations. It still boasts a large kitchen and pantry which are worth seeing.
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| Housekeeper's bedroom |
This room, right at the back of the house, was claimed by one of the guides to be haunted.
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