13/01/12
Well, Alanah is back in the warm climate :-) Very quiet !!

Packed up and headed to Peter Buntings place in Carlton. His place is very close to the seafront. It's a small frefab place with double glazed windows and doors, insulated floors, walls and ceilings. The doors in the lounge area are the strangest I have ever seen where if you turn the door handle one way, it's a regular door, and if you turn the handle another was it becomes a window that opens from the top !!!

I dropped off the trailer and headed down to Port Arthur. Unfettered !! The roads are a joy to ride. even the main road to Port Arthur is loaded with curves !! From Peters place to the main highway the road was full of 25 - 35km corners. I could'nt stop smiling :-) Just 10k from his place I could see that it was raining (again) ahead so on went the waterproof pants. (Thank goodness for them). Refuelled at some small place where I refuelled myself as well. It was raining so a hot coffee and a magnificent chicken pie was consumed. My fingers were getting damp so I bought a pair of (bright yellow) kitchen gloves which I put on before putting on my motorcycle gloves. That made a great difference !!

Arrived at Port Arthur. The bloke at the gateway at the top of the hill told me there was motorcycle parking by the entrance and I could leave my gear on it if I wished. It cost $25 (concession) to get in and that was the cheapest entry fee but I found out that it included the boat trip to the Island of the Dead and two days entry to the area !! Very reasonable :-)

The Hospital

Government Cottage

The Church

It was facinating to go through the displays downstairs before wandering outside. The guided tour and the displays gave an interesting insight into life at Port Arthur for the convicts and the soldiers. I then wandered around after the tour to have a closer look at the buildings. The stonework was beautifully done. I went on the boat to do the Island of the Dead tour but as we approached the island it started to bucket down

 That was it for me. My jacket and pants were on the bike !!

 

The Visiting Magistrate's House

The Penitentiary/. The good prisoners being on the top floors

The island had 1100 people buried there. The soldiers and freemen were buried on high ground and the prisoners on the low ground. The higher ranking one was, the higher up the hill on the island one was buried.

All in all it was an interesting day with a great ride back to Carlton where I stayed the night at Peter's place.