Port Arthur

The anniversary of Noah's death always falls in the school holidays between term 3 and term 4.  This year it is 9 years since he passed away which is hard to believe, especially because we've almost had as many years without him, as what we had with him.  

I often find that the lead up to anniversaries can be harder than the actual day, so I've always tried to do something fun with the boys during this week or on the day of his anniversary.  The boys even ask me now if we are going to do something special on his anniversary.  

I decided to go to Hobart for a few nights this time as we would be able to catch up with Jalen, and there's always lots of different things to do down there.  We hadn't been to Port Arthur since 2013 and the boys could hardly remember it, so I thought it would be good to go back there. Jay didn't come as he was too busy with Uni and the other two weren't overly keen to go, but I promised them that they would enjoy it, and would find it really interesting especially since they've learnt about it at school. I'd also kept my eyes on the weather forecast and knew that it would be a beautiful spring day (after a day of pouring rain). 

We got there early and I was surprised that it was really busy, as I wasn't sure how it would because of Covid. When you pay and get your entry ticket, each person is also given a playing card.  On the card is a picture of one of the convicts which were sent to Port Arthur.  You then have to find the draw which correlates with your card and inside is information about that convict.  It also tells you what part of Port Arthur they spent time at, and you can find a sign about them as you walk around.

Our entry ticket had our time for our guided tour and cruise on it, so we went to look at the church and cottages near it while we waited for our tour time. The church is always my favourite part. 

The walking tour doesn't really go around the whole area, but you just move closer to different parts as the guide gives information about it.  I always like doing the tour as you learn so much more, than you would just walking around yourself. 

It's such a beautiful place, so it's hard to imagine its history as a convict site and what went on there. 

We enjoyed the cruise and the commentary from one of the tour guides on there.  He commented that they were all so happy to have crowds back at Port Arthur, and that even just a week ago they would only have a couple of people on the cruise.  As we were leaving the cruise he reminded us that our tickets mean we can come back any time within the next two years, and to make the most of it as it's probably going to be the only time in history where Tasmanians are the only ones visiting.  Usually it is full of international tourists as well as tourists from the mainland. 

After the walking tour and cruise we headed to the penitentiary. 

The boys couldn't resist going up to the pulpit in the separate prison. The boys loved visiting the site and found it very interesting,  as I knew they would.  

There's so much to see and we could've spent a lot longer there, but we'd had enough after four hours.

On the drive back to Hobart we stopped at the Tasman Arch and Tesselated Pavement. 

The coastline is so beautiful.

We had such a lovely day and were so lucky with the weather. 

We haven't been able to travel because of Covid this year, and as much as I love traveling to the mainland I've actually loved just slowing down this year and seeing parts of Tasmania. We live in such a beautiful part of the world and it's been nice to be able to appreciate it more than usual this year.