Tasmania Trip Day Two

Another early start, we were showered, breakfasted and on the road by 7.30am. We wanted to see the blow hole, Tasman arch and Devils Kitchen before arriving early at Port Arthur. We were thinking we might book into the cruise for 10am and spend the afternoon at Port Arthur.
It was a wise move. We were able to park easily and the early morning sea views were stunning. This is the blow hole. It was low tide and a calm day so it wasn't blowing. Would love to see it in wild weather! This is the Tasman Arch. Very hard to capture the scale of it with a photo. Suffice to say it gave me vertigo!

This is the Devils Kitchen, very deep I couldn't get it all in shot. We arrived at Port Arthur by 9am and as it was raining decided, regretfully that we would need to leave the boat trip for another time.
This meant we had the whole day at Port Arthur and it took that long and it still felt like we rushed through some things. I think at least two days would be required to see it all.

However we don’t mind leaving things for another trip!!
We also were ahead of the crowds at Port Arthur due to our early start. We did a walking tour first up which gave us an overview and then joined a harbour cruise to pass the Isle of the Dead and the boys prison.
We headed to the bistro for an early lunch, as it was raining, and also to beat the crowds, then started the audio tour, which was excellent. It took about three hours all up for the audio tour and we walked over the whole site. It is a fascinating place and well worth the visit. Even K ISA who probably set out to do the day for my sake, being more of a futurist than an historian, enjoyed the day

We came across this accident on the way to Port Arthur. A truck had overturned, trying to pick up a load of stones.

Lots of lovely old english trees at Port Arthur. Some of the houses on the site. They were open to inspect and restored. A view across the guard tower and barracks ruins. A bushfire swept through the site in 1895 destroying the buildings. As the settlement had closed by then, they were not rebuilt. Only a fraction of the many buildings originally here remain. A harbour cruise was included and was very interesting. This is looking back from the boat. Looking across the ruins from the guard tower. KISA behind bars at last! This was in the hospital ruins. The ruins of the penitentary. It looks so peaceful these days, but it wasn't in its day. The thing around my neck was the player for the audio tour. It was very good value and we recommend it. This is the remains of the church. It was quite an impressive building considering it was only in use for about 40 years. KISA stands at the church entrance listening to his audio tour. There were lovely gardens around for the people "of quality" to stroll around in. On our way out we met this little robin, who kindly stayed in one place enough for me to take his photo.