Tasmania’s penal past means there are plenty of old convict sites to explore. Called Van Diemen’s Land at the time, it was infamous as the place where they sent repeat-offenders or hardened convicts from the mainland. It was remote, harsh, unforgiving and often fatal.
Port Arthur
The most famous prison here is Port Arthur on the Tasman Peninsula, really well suited to its role as it’s on an isthmus, connected by a narrow 20m land-bridge called Eaglehawk Neck. In convict times, from about 1830, this land-bridge was guarded by a row of fierce guard-dogs, with some even on platforms in the channel. On the south-east of this peninsula is the Port Arthur Penal Colony, where convicts suffered depravation, lashes and hard labour and isolation from other prisoners. It was so bad that they built an insane asylum here to cope with the fallout of such severe conditions. Now it is quite stunning with its beautiful harbour and sandstone ruins, but a visit to the isolation cells soon leave you with a different impression.
Cameron convinced us to take the famous Ghost Tour here. “It was lantern lit, but very dark and really eerie! I was chosen to be front lantern bearer, that meant it was me who went into all the spooky prison cells and houses first! We had a great guide called Josh who made it scary but fun. Just after being told a story about an old convict ghost who liked to attach himself to the tours in the form of an old man, someone came out of the darkness behind us, who made me yell “it’s the old man!!” and made us all jump, but actually he was just a tourist taking a short cut to the café. Scary!”
Ghost Tour lantern bearers
We also went to the less visited Coal Mines, where suitably skilled convicts were also sent to make the prisons ‘pay’. Adele’s history teaching came in good here when she could explain how the Incline Plane used to transport the coal to the waiting ships (thanks to her old boss, Andrew Spooner!)
The drive from East to West is mountainous and winding, so we picked the old town of Tarraleah to break up the journey. It was built for the workers of the massive hydro-electric scheme constructed here in 1915. Our ‘hotel’ was actually a row of 15 individual 1930’s, Art-Deco cottages lived in by the Architects and Engineers of the project. They have been restored to their full art-deco glory and were absolutely gorgeous, so much so that we decided stay an extra day. A good decision because it snowed overnight, and turned the landscape into an unexpected winter wonderland – much to the boys’ delight since they were able to build a snowman!
A drive through the snowy mountains took us to the west coast town of Strahan via “The Wall in the Wilderness” where sculpture Glen Duncan has spent the past 10 years carving the most magnificent, 100 metre long depiction of Tasmania’s history (no photos allowed here unfortunately!). Strahan is one of the main access points for the Gordon River, a Wilderness World Heritage Area. A day cruise to the harbour entrance and the notorious Roaring Forties took us 
through Hells Gate, a very narrow channel that has been responsible for many a shipwreck in the past. This turned out to be a bit of rocky fun, and we thought we might lose Ben off the bow as he tried to get the ‘perfect shot’. The boys met some other travelling kids here, Cadence and Emerson, who are doing a round Australia trip with their parents, so they had a lot in common to chat about. An interesting and amusing tour of Sarah Island brought the convict history alive here. Combined with an evening ‘interactive’ play in an outdoor theatre about an escape attempt here included Cam & Ollie as convicts!
From here, it was a winding drive up to the Cradle Mountain National Park and our new favourite accommodation – the Highland Lodges, beautifully cosy log cabins with a wood- burner, nestled into the forest with some of the most stunning walks at your door. There is also an abundance of wildlife here, so Ollie was in his element (and will blog about it). The weather was intermittently wet too, but nothing a log fire and a cosy sofa can’t fix after a walk in the wilderness. They cater for all seasons at Cradle Mountain with long boardwalks beautifully poised above the wet terrain, gliding down through the Cradle Valley. Or a more traditional walk past the gorgeous Dove Lake and up to Wombat Pool, which we did, with the snow only adding to its beauty. If you love walking this is a truly magical national park.
We managed to squeeze in two more visits on the journey back to the evening ferry at Devonport, the first to see King Soloman Cave, a stunning labyrinth full of amazing stalactites and other intricate rock formations, and the town of Sheffield, famous for its murals.
Then it was back to the overnight ferry over the Bass Strait Sea to the mainland. We knew the weather had changed but were apprehensive when the ferry Captain announced that the swells would be over 7 metres, and after a night of stomach lurching, and quite frightening crashing, rocking and rolling, we all have a new respect for the power of the sea. We won’t be taking any ferries again for a while!
So Tasmania, it is Australia, but it’s just that little bit different and certainly a place to add to your list if you haven’t been before – you won’t be disappointed!
(P.S. Thanks to Roxley & Loretta and Trevor & Cathy for all your Tasmania Tips and Suggested Itineraries – brilliant)
English breakfast we drove to Cataract Gorge, in Launceston. It’s a Victorian reinvention of a natural gorge, tamed and civilised for afternoon strolls, brass bands, cream teas and, for the times, exciting rides across in a chairlift. It still has the original chairlift, which we had to do, and a bushwalk along the Gorge revealing its natural beauty too.
Tasmania is famou
s for its culinary delights, and we therefore needed to do our own research. So leaving Coles Bay we stopped at the Freycinet Oyster Farm for some freshly collected oysters, Kilpatrick style and Garlic scallops – delicious! And of course great seafood needs fine wine so another stop at Devil’s Corner Vineyard filled the brief. Poor Ben was driving, but I was happy to do the tasting for us both and we came away clinking with some award winners! But if there is also an award for best view, this vineyard would win gold since it overlooks the simply magnificent Oyster Cove. Sipping wine, eating cheese, warm sunshine and incredible views, and it was truly hard to leave
Hobart was our next destination where we arrived on the same day as the Targa Rally (a tarmac rally race of about 100 cars of all type and age) and you could see them all at the Hobart Marina – Ben & Ollie loved it, Cam & I not so much. Salamanca Craft Markets was more my style for some excellent coffee and interesting food vans, including some delicious cakes to take away.
know it can happen anywhere, but our first day in Melbourne was unfortunately tainted by a rather disturbed man, who was both verbally and physically threatening to us and others, on the tram from St Kilda. They police did eventually detain him but we were all left a bit shaken up. Saying that there were some lovely Melbournians who were kind and supportive to us too! So we shook it off and spent some time ‘doing’ the sights.
after being processed and photographed. Hopefully it has put the boys off a life of crime!
Sydney’s history with a day at The Rocks– the sight of the first settlement in New South Wales. These outdoor history lessons are a real hit with the boys, and the learning is quite tangible.
ry was also the topic of the day when I had a very civilised liquid and seafood lunch with my friend Kim in Darling Harbour, while Ben took the boys to the Sydney Maritime Museum where they climbed through an old submarine, a replica of Cook’s ship, the Endeavour, and naval ships while Kim & I did our best to catch up on our own more recent history – the last 14 years to be exact – and so much to say! Ben also had the chance for a bit of lunching himself, meeting up with some of his former GE colleagues at the Opera House restaurant – nice!
rugged as we decided to cross the mountains, and border, via the Barry Way 4WD dirt track. It was a 220km journey following the meandering Snowy River through gorgeous eucalyptus tree covered mountains and along dusty narrow cliff roads. We only saw 1 other car and so the wildlife was abundant as Kangaroos, Wallabies and even small deer darted out on the road in front of us.
boys, we booked an art class for all four of us; the boys making mosaics and Ben & I trying our hand at stained glass making. It was boiling hot in the workshop, hence the red faces in the photos, but we all had a great morning with Cheree, learnt some great new skills, an
d produced some original souvenirs. We also visited the Eumundi Makets, famous for it’s make it, bake it, grow it
, sew it ethos, which means that everything here too is original, hand-made and interesting – such a shame we can’t buy much, but it was interesting to see the amount of love and effort that the artists put into their work. But it was SO hot again we nearly melted just walking around.
gistering cars and boats here is not for the impatient. Australia loves a good form to fill in, usually accompanied by 2 more with pretty much identical questions. I am still not sure why they need to know what colour Ben’s complexion is to register a trailer?? I thought ‘bronzed but stubbly’ was a good answer – apparently not – but hey-ho, it’s all part of the ‘cultural experience’.
bacon, so to speak, when I won the meat raffle at the local social club with my Mum. For the non-Australians, this is an Aussie tradition here – meat as raffle prizes – and who wouldn’t love a nice tray of T-bone steaks to take home in the taxi? They certainly put a smile on Ben’s face, and they were delicious on the BBQ the next day too.
had a lovely family reunion in Sydney with my parents, it was fantastic to finally see them and spend the day together wandering around the harbour and then catching the ferry over to Manly. This is an iconic trip as it shows off the Sydney skyline at it’s best, the Opera House and Harbour Bridge flaunting their stuff, but it also 
weaves its way past some of the most beautiful bays in the world. I really had forgotten how gorgeous Sydney Harbour is.
As planned we also had the day at Coogee Beach, with our travelling friends the Dishmans, getting the full day at an Aussie beach experience; being dunked by rogue waves, pulling anemone spines out of unsuspecting feet, getting stung by blue-bottles, and of course finding sand in your unmentionables. Sadly, this is probably our last crossover with the Dishmans on this trip as they head off the Asia in a few weeks while we start catching up with our Aussie family and friends for a couple of months
Our next goal was to buy a car. Our friend Paul had been all over Sydney before our arrival searching out the perfect family car to transport us around Australia (hire car costs being prohibitive) and finally we found the newest member of our travelling group, a silver Ford Territory.
in Sydney – awesome fun. A lesson in ten-pin bowling and a day at the gorgeous Colo River, lazily floating in the stream, eating a sausage sizzle and trying to keep the goanna’s off our grub was a great way to end our time in Sydney. A massive thank you to the Brown family for lending us their fantastic Sydney home t
oo, what a treat to have some normal family time again, thank you, thank you!! And the other Brown family treated us to a great BBQ lunch before we headed off north.
p. I was astonished when he said that shearing a whole coat of wool only earned him a couple of dollars.
es to get our burgers (thank you for the recommendation Christophe!) but they were delicious. By Oliver
new ‘Shark’ half boat- half jet cockpit that Ollie fancied doing and what I think is called Flyboarding.
pups. We were dropped off at Appletree Bay to take a 7km ‘tramp’ to the beach at Anchorage where we met the ferry to go back to Kaiteriteri, the beach village where we were staying. On the trip we met the Melis, a lovely French family currently living on the island of New Caledonia in the pacific. The kids bonded over practising their language skills and an ice-cream – a great combination – while we chatted about living abroad and travelling (of course!). Kaiteriteri was also the spot where I impressed my family with my skill at crazy golf – winning by a huge margin – is their no end to my hidden talents?
unakaiki and The Pancake Rocks, a geological wonder of thinly layered rocks stacks (or pancakes). Sound boring? Well it was actually fascinating and like everything in New Zealand has been thoughtfully managed by the Department of Conservation to make sure it is both protected but also easily accessible to everyone. The road trip down here is incredible and is described by the Lonely Planet guidebook 
as “staggeringly beautiful…lush green forest alongside a series of bays dramatically sculpted by relentless ocean fury” which pretty much says it all!
