Creating memories.....one vacation at a time!

Convicts were transported from Great Britain to Australia in the 1800’s as a way of getting rid of “undesirables” from England.  Many of the convicts were convicted of petty crimes and they ended up in Tasmania, on the mainland of Australia and also on Norfolk Island. Port Arthur Historic Site, located on the Tasman Peninsula, one and a half hours from Hobart, began life as a small timber station in the 1830’s and then became Australia’s most significant convict site.  Today it is a mixture of intact buildings and ruins.  The site was created with convict labor and the impressive architecture, gardens and chilling prison facilities make for a full day tour from Hobart.  Here you will see how the convicts, soliders, officials and their wives and families lived and died more than 150 years ago. A trip to Port Arthur is an eerie walk back into Australian history.

The 1853 cessation of transportation resulted in fewer transportees arriving at Port Arthur. However, it was one of the few secondary punishment stations operating in the colonies that still received prisoners  that were already in the system and was the most famous penal site in Australia.

Above left:  The penitentiary.
 Left and right:  The cells.
Below:  Port Arthur has a wonderful visitor’s centre which tells the story of the penal institution and the people who lived there.   It is a history lesson on how Australia was founded.  

The Tasman Peninsula has spectacular coastal cliffs and interesting geological features carved by the wind and the sea.   There are walking tracks throughout the park, and the walks range from pleasant strolls to 2-3 day
overnight walks.  

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The roughness of the coast explains why this was a perfect location to place a prison.  Port Arthur had the ocean on one side and a small peninsula on the other called Eaglehawk Neck, which was the site of the convict “dogline”.  The dogline was made up of real dogs which guarded the entrance into Port Arthur.  Very few convicts tried to escape from Port Arthur!