Travel > Travel Guides > Tasmania > Port Arthur

Port Arthur

- by Bettina James

Things to do > Tasmania > Port Arthur > Salamanca Place > Wineglass Bay & Freycinet Peninsula > Barilla Bay Oyster > Tasmanian Devil Park > Tahune Air Walk > Tahune Eagle Glide > Hastings Caves and Thermal Springs > Sea Kayaking

Port Arthur is located approximately one and a half hours south east of Hobart, the capital city of Tasmania. It was originally set up as a penal colony in 1830; during the 1840, the population of convicts reached over eleven hundred, and to feed convicts, guards and staff and their families a huge flour mill and granary was established. This mill and granary later became a penitentiary, as convict populations swelled.

The site is spectacular, overlooking Mason Cover and surrounded by the natural beauty of the Australian bush. The natural sandstone buildings contrast the vibrant blue skies and the rolling lawns to create some stunning backdrops to your photographs. The first thing I thought when I got to the lawn outside the penitentiary was that it would not have been that bad being a prisoner here. The weather is great, the view is amazing and there’s a vast amount of space to relax and soak in the surrounding nature. But I guess the shackles, guards and other prisoners would have damped the mood a little.

When you travel to historical sites and see the small details of every day life, you find yourself transport there. To see and feel the penitentiary, the size of the cells, the damp frigid air, and echoing corridors, it creates an eerie but fascinating disturbance. It is easy to imagine these places full of faceless prisoners, the uniformed guards and the officials’ families. It is odd to think that you would move your family to a foreign land, to live 5 minutes walk from thousands of prisoners. From what the guides said, this was not a particularly lucrative post for a guard, but was this the equivalent of an offshore post or serving a term five year term in Afghanistan for the Army?

The visitor centre is the first place you will encounter when you get to Port Arthur. This is where you’ll buy your tickets for the various tours. Getting your tickets in the visitors centre to Point Puer and the Isle of the Dead is cheaper here, as the harbour cruise (MV Marana) tickets attract additional fees. The visitor centre also has a museum downstairs, which has many interactive displays, from experiencing the weight of shackles, to profiles of typical prisoners with video and audio. It gives you a good idea of the life in Port Arthur, during the mid 1800’s. Also in the visitor centre, there is a café, which serves local fare and is licensed. This is one of the best visitor centre cafes, as the food is fresh and prices are not grossly inflated. In the evening there is an a la carte restaurant which serves fresh local cuisine. There is also another café in the Asylum, which also houses a second museum.

Part of the site entry price is a 25 minute harbour cruise which takes you past the Dockyards, Isle of the Dead and Point Puer. The cruise ship has a guide which highlights the significance of each site and offers tickets to the separate tours of Point Puer and Isle of the Dead.

Port Arthur B&B's and Motels

There are a few B&B’s and motels before you get to Port Arthur, so if you are planning to spend more than one day here, it’s best to base yourself from one of these places. Most accommodation along the main road into Port Arthur is affordable, comfortable and clean.

Port Arthur Tours

There are seven guided tours you can take, encompass the various experiences of the inhabitants of Port Arthur. The spectrum of the colony hierarchy are told by the guides, from the Commandant, Surgeon, Magistrate, Officers all the way down to the prisoners and those committed to the asylum.

Historical walking tour – a guide will take you to the larger and more popular historical sites. The guides are experienced and have the gamut bazaar and fascinating stories about life in the colony. Tour sizes vary, but are generally under 20.

Isle of the Dead is located in the harbour adjacent to the Port Arthur Historic Site, to get there, you’ll need to get on the catamaran, this is where many of the convicts and ex-convict paupers are buried. Some of the headstones are elaborate, and were all cut by the convict stone masons. The tour is 30 minutes and gives fascinating and insightful stories on the people who lived and died at Port Arthur.

Point Puer was the boys prison from 1834 to 1849 and housed three thousand boys aged from 9 to 18 in this period. The guided walking tour takes you to the sites where food was prepared and where they slept and played. It was the first prison for juvenile boys in the British Empire and was known to be very strict.

The Garden Tour - the gardens of Port Arthur are lush. The grass seems to be greener and the sky more blue, but this may be the romance of vacation. Between November and February there are special guided tours featuring the early 20th century flower and vegetable gardens at Trentham Cottage. You can even take a piece of it home, the Port Arthur Heritage Seed Nursery offers seeds collected from 19th century plant varieties grown at the Site. Seeds are available from November to January.

Archaeological tours are run in the summer months (Jan and Feb) and allow visitors to get their hands dirty, helping the staff dig out new sites. This Public Archaeology Program is not only popular with the adults, but is also great for kids.

Audio tour - you can listen to the stories and sounds of Port Arthur with 25 different tracks which includes history, music, and readings from journals and books of the day.

Ghost tour– this lantern lit walk around Port Arthur in the dark is not for the faint hearted. The guides are experienced raconteurs and have no trouble scaring the seasoned horror movie enthusiast. Visit the Ghost Tour site for more info. Tours vary in size, but are generally 20 or more.

During summer, there are additional tours so visit the website and check for special events.

Port Arthur Massacre

The Port Arthur site is also known for the massacre in April 1996, when a lone gunman killed 35 people. This even will never be forgotten and there is a plaque in the memorial garden. As many of the guides and employees have lost close friends, they ask that you pick up a pamphlet from the Memorial Garden instead of directly asking the guides.