A few weeks back I told you that one of the main reasons why we were going back to Tasmania was to use our Ticket of Leave cards at the Port Arthur Historic Site. So when we planned our trip we decided that this time we would spend a couple of days down there, and on one, go to the site. We left it for the end of the trip and headed there on a day of variable weather.
We had sun, we had rain, even hail. It was cold and then it was warm. Still, you can’t let bad weather dampen a trip when you are traveling.
The historic site is open nearly every day from 10am. A ticket to just get in costs $39, but with that you get a free walking tour and can go out on the boat around the bay. My mum came with us to Tasmania and she had never been there before. We didn’t want to do the tours because we did them all last time, but we convinced mum to do it. She loves convict history, so I thought she would love it. She was reluctant, but I pushed her to go and I think she was really happy she did. She came back telling us all the things she had been told.
It was good that we really got to look around this time and ended up spending all day there.
The site is spread out and there are wonderful avenues of trees and gardens all over the place. While it tells a brutal story of our convict past, it is a really nice place now.
It is a shame that it was left to go to ruins. If only we knew then, what we know now. Still there was a long time when Australia tried very hard to forget that white settlement started as a convict society. It was embarrassing, but that has changed now and more of us are interested in that past. We want to know where we come from.
This building is what is left of the hospital. A lot of the buildings were just left and let to fall down, or were pulled down. Bushfires have also done their fair share of damage. There are not a lot of complete buildings there anymore, but it does give you an idea of what the place was like.
We took cover in the Parsonage house while it rained and hailed. It continued for quite a while. We had wondered if it would ever stop.
This is part of the memorial gardens to help remember the 35 people who were killed in a mass shooting there in 1996. It is nice that they have put the gardens there so we never forget. It was Australia’s last massive shooting and gun laws changed because of it. We all feel so much safer here now.
I took my normal camera with me to the site, as well as the infrared and for nearly every colour image I took some IR. In the end I loved the IR a lot more, and I took a lot more. I will do a post on those photos as well, perhaps without all the history and information about the place.
I have a gallery of images for you now. They are the colour ones. It was so green there, which was in contrast to some other areas further north that we saw.
I hope you are having a good weekend, daylight savings starts this weekend, so I’m told. I guess that means some time needed to adjust to waking up early.
Love the images. One of the most magnificent structures in the city of Kingston, NY was torn down to facilitate a hamburger drive through. Backs are turned on history for all sorts of reasons – changing tastes, limited budgets, ignorance, lack of interest.
Thank you Jonathan, I hate hearing about things like that that happen, it is horrible. For a burger joint, I can’t believe it.
Even though these were the dark days in the history of Australia, it should not be ignored. To suppress history is to suppress part of one’s identity. Great photos as always, Leanne!
I agree Peter, and I think that is part of the reason for the restoration here, well what they can, we need to remember it. Thank you Peter.
An insightful collection of photos of a sombre place, past and present.
Yes, so very true Chris, thank you.
Wonderful photos. It looks and sounds to be a fascinating place and very atmospheric.
It is a really interesting place Laura, I’m so glad I got to really look around this time. Thank you.
a wonderful job capturing what looks like a shifting place of tone and ambiance.
Thank you, it was an interesting place to photograph.