Having breakfast and Ian reads in the paper that Hobart had 80km winds last night. Glad we left there. My phone now indicates that I have a new message. It is from the caravan park saying we have a severe weather warning, 110km winds are on the way! Looking out the van it is a beautiful morning no wind whatsoever. I had done the washing last night so we decided to take the risk and hang it out. Next we set off for Port Arthur Historic Site. In we go and with your ticket you get a playing card that you then match to a convict and see what happened to him. My convict was a shoe maker. Unfortunately he decided to make shoes (and sell or trade) without the knowledge of the guards. He ended up on the chain gang chopping down trees. Ian's convict made nails, very well by all accounts, and often exceeded the 200 required each day and would be rewarded with extra rations. There was the history of numerous convicts and we read a few of them and about their lives before it was time to join the introductory tour. This ran for 40 minutes and the guide pointed out the different buildings and gave a short history of them. She also mentioned the severe weather warning and the wind seemed to be picking up. Included in the entry ticket was a harbour cruise and after the talk it was time to make our way to the wharf for our cruise (you get a nominated time to do it). The cruise went for 20 minutes and went past the dockyard where the prisoners made boats, Point Puer Boys Prison - an island where boys from 9 years to 17 years old were kept separate from the adult prisoners and the Isle of the Dead where around 1100 were buried. There was a person to tell you about these places but unfortunately I couldn't hear him properly. It was now past lunchtime and there were dark clouds forming so we got a pass out and returned to the van to get the washing in and have lunch. Checked the weather update and the severe weather warning had been cancelled. Back to the Port Arthur Historic Site. As the rain is holding off we decided to do some of the outside buildings. The Site covers 100 acres and is much larger than I had expected and I can really only list the buildings we went into which doesn't really tell you much so I won't. We spent 5 hours there and only covered 2/3rds of it. Luckily your tickets lets you back in the next day so we are returning tomorrow. The buildings or I should say the remains of them are wonderful to look at and Port Arthur Historic Site is a must do but allow heaps of time. The Penitentiary is the largest building there and dominates the view. It started life as the flour mill but as it couldn't supply enough flour was converted to a four storey penitentiary which had 136 cells for the prisoners in solitary confinement. The cells were about 6ft x 4ft and you were not allowed to talk. The top floor was for better behaved prisoners and housed 480 prisoners in a dormitory of bunk beds. There is currently an area at the back of it that is fenced off and archeologists are currently excavating it, you could view them working. Our last stop today was the memorial for the people killed in 1996. The 20 year anniversary was not long ago and the wreaths placed by Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten were still there. In the introductory tour you are asked not to ask staff about it as some of them were there or knew people involved but you can ask for a pamphlet from the desk where you came in if you felt the need. As it was now getting dark we returned to the van for the evening. There appears to be more people here tonight but we still have no-one around us.
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