On The Convict Trail June 16, 2006
We were up early this morning so that we could catch the sunrise from the Cape Tourville Lighthouse. The lighthouse sits on a promontory about 200 feet above the surf which was pounding its granite walls. Some of the granite here has a distinct red color which is vivid in the early morning light. We stayed for about 45 minutes and then the wind, cold and the call of the open road started us moving.
We left FNP and headed south in the direction of Port Arthur. Along the way we stopped to admire and photograph the stunning vistas and to get a publish worthy picture of all things, a sheep or sheep(s). Holly had become taken by the little woolly buggers and wanted a picture with some scenery attached. Another example of what you think would be an easy chore turns out to be a Herculean task. I now believe that sheep are just slightly less accommodating than butterflies when it comes to having their picture made. She was able to get a few shots but as we haven’t reviewed them yet on the big screen she is not sure if at least one is satisfactory. If so we’ll plug it in when we overcome our technical difficulties.
As the kilometers rolled by we continued to be astounded by the scenery. Stops were made at the Tasman Monument where Able Tasman first stepped ashore in what is now the village of Dunalley.
A natural phenomenon called the Tessellated Pavement is an usual rock formation caused by the sea depositing salt water on layer of hardened compressed silt. As the water evaporates the salt that is left behind causes the silt to crack in a cobblestone like pattern. The pattern ran along the shore for about half a kilometer.
The next oddity was a blow hole. Here the sea has eroded a tunnel through the cliff and a somewhat circular section of the roof collapses leaving a pool about 50 yards inland. As the surf hits the cliff face, water is forced through the tunnel and spouts upward in the pool. Very cool effect.
The Tasman Arch was similar except the tunnel that was eroded into the cliff face was about 75 feet high and had formed an arch. Again, very impressive.
The neat thing about this kind of touring is that you can pull off and look at any of these things that may tickle your fancy. As you can tell our fancies were continually delighted as we saw all of this and more.
We have seen signs for “The Convict Trail” several times since leaving Hobart yesterday. We’re not sure if this a road that was built by convicts or a figure of speech referring to the early population of the area by convicts but in any case we decided to make the last tour stop for today Port Arthur. Port Arthur was a working maritime village when someone in merry old England decided that with a little cheap labor a successful commercial venture could be managed from here, and so a prison was born. It was established as a penal colony in 1830 and operated until 1877. An impressive array of buildings on a site that would be the envy of a modern day resort gives you a first impression that maybe prison life here wasn’t so bad. To further promote that thought, we were told that this was designed to be one of the more progressive penal institutions of its day. This was put into perspective for us when we were told that meant no more than a hundred lashes at a time and chain gangs were usually no more than 20-25 people chained together. To put it mildly Victorian England did not molly coddle her criminals. There was also a boy’s prison here with the average prisoner being between 14 and 17 years old. The youngest on record was 9. The last few years the institution was in operation it became a pauper’s depot and a “Lunatic Asylum”. (Note; this is somewhat of a personal travel milestone for us because it is the furthest point south that we will travel on the Davis East West Expedition. In Port Arthur we were at S 43ﾟ08 .735’ latitude.)
With the Port Arthur tour finished we headed back to Hobart where we are now back in the Lodge on Elizabeth. We’ve just finished a delicious dinner of instant noodles (Holly) and a peanut butter sandwich (me). Once we were installed in our room neither of us felt like getting back out as it has rained on and off all day and has been windy and cold. Not a bad meal, but we are looking forward to some local sea food tomorrow, which we have designated as Hobart day. We will stay in town and see the local sites.
We left FNP and headed south in the direction of Port Arthur. Along the way we stopped to admire and photograph the stunning vistas and to get a publish worthy picture of all things, a sheep or sheep(s). Holly had become taken by the little woolly buggers and wanted a picture with some scenery attached. Another example of what you think would be an easy chore turns out to be a Herculean task. I now believe that sheep are just slightly less accommodating than butterflies when it comes to having their picture made. She was able to get a few shots but as we haven’t reviewed them yet on the big screen she is not sure if at least one is satisfactory. If so we’ll plug it in when we overcome our technical difficulties.
As the kilometers rolled by we continued to be astounded by the scenery. Stops were made at the Tasman Monument where Able Tasman first stepped ashore in what is now the village of Dunalley.
A natural phenomenon called the Tessellated Pavement is an usual rock formation caused by the sea depositing salt water on layer of hardened compressed silt. As the water evaporates the salt that is left behind causes the silt to crack in a cobblestone like pattern. The pattern ran along the shore for about half a kilometer.
The next oddity was a blow hole. Here the sea has eroded a tunnel through the cliff and a somewhat circular section of the roof collapses leaving a pool about 50 yards inland. As the surf hits the cliff face, water is forced through the tunnel and spouts upward in the pool. Very cool effect.
The Tasman Arch was similar except the tunnel that was eroded into the cliff face was about 75 feet high and had formed an arch. Again, very impressive.
The neat thing about this kind of touring is that you can pull off and look at any of these things that may tickle your fancy. As you can tell our fancies were continually delighted as we saw all of this and more.
We have seen signs for “The Convict Trail” several times since leaving Hobart yesterday. We’re not sure if this a road that was built by convicts or a figure of speech referring to the early population of the area by convicts but in any case we decided to make the last tour stop for today Port Arthur. Port Arthur was a working maritime village when someone in merry old England decided that with a little cheap labor a successful commercial venture could be managed from here, and so a prison was born. It was established as a penal colony in 1830 and operated until 1877. An impressive array of buildings on a site that would be the envy of a modern day resort gives you a first impression that maybe prison life here wasn’t so bad. To further promote that thought, we were told that this was designed to be one of the more progressive penal institutions of its day. This was put into perspective for us when we were told that meant no more than a hundred lashes at a time and chain gangs were usually no more than 20-25 people chained together. To put it mildly Victorian England did not molly coddle her criminals. There was also a boy’s prison here with the average prisoner being between 14 and 17 years old. The youngest on record was 9. The last few years the institution was in operation it became a pauper’s depot and a “Lunatic Asylum”. (Note; this is somewhat of a personal travel milestone for us because it is the furthest point south that we will travel on the Davis East West Expedition. In Port Arthur we were at S 43ﾟ08 .735’ latitude.)
With the Port Arthur tour finished we headed back to Hobart where we are now back in the Lodge on Elizabeth. We’ve just finished a delicious dinner of instant noodles (Holly) and a peanut butter sandwich (me). Once we were installed in our room neither of us felt like getting back out as it has rained on and off all day and has been windy and cold. Not a bad meal, but we are looking forward to some local sea food tomorrow, which we have designated as Hobart day. We will stay in town and see the local sites.
posted by Gary and Holly Davis @ 4:20 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home