At the start of day 6, our original tour family was down to just 8. We set out in the morning for the Port Arthur Historic Site. Port Arthur was a penal colony from 1833-1853. It was reserved for the worst of the criminals. Cons that had reoffended after their transportation to Australia were sent to the prison. It was often referred to as “Hell on Earth.” At the time, Port Arthur was one of only 3 prisons in the world to use solitary confinement as a means of punishment. These prisoners were held in “The Separate Prison.” They were confined to their dark cells for 23 hrs a day, forced to remain silent at all times, given minimal bread and water and made to wear masks anytime they were removed from their cells. So many men went mad in The Separate Prison that an asylum had to be built on the grounds to house the mentally unstable prisoners.

We took a short ferry tour of the bay and saw the Isle of the Dead where they buried anyone who died at Port Arthur. Convicts were buried together in large unmarked graves, while non-convicts were buried in lone graves with headstones. Because of this, they are unsure how many bodies are buried on the small island, but they estimate it’s between 1,000 and 1,700.

After Port Arthur, we made stops at Pirates Bay, Maingon Bay, Tasmans arch and Devil’s Kitchen.

 

At Maingon Bay we walked down to Remarkable Cave. When I reached the cave, I was disappointed to see a viewing platform that stopped about 8-10 ft above the sand below. I didn’t see any signs prohibiting you from jumping down and it looked easy enough to climb my way back up, so down I went. Afterall, what’s the point of a cave if you can’t go into it??

The remarkable part was walking out the other side of the cave onto deserted white sand beaches with crystal blue waters. The lesson here: Don’t stop moving forward just because the path ends.

From Devil’s Kitchen, we headed back to Hobart and met up later with a few of the people left from our tour for drinks at Salamanca Market.

Day 7, and our original group was down to 6 now. We got up early and drove to the summit of Mt. Wellington. Towering over Hobart at about 4,000 feet, the mountain provides spectacular views of the city.

On the drive there though, we passed a house that 2 days later I would go find because of what I saw in the window.

Not the spectacular city views I was expecting when I got up in the morning.

We took an hour and 20 minute hike along the Organ Pipes Track down the mountain to The Springs. After the walk, we were headed to the harbor to take the ferry over to the Museum of New and Old Art (MONA), but first the driver swung us over to see the Cascade Brewery, which is the oldest brewery in Australia.

On the ferry ride over to MONA, I rode on a sheep. That’s not even remotely close to the weirdness that would follow. I’ll let the few pictures I took of “the art” do the talking.

That’s “The Lonesome Cowboy” and his “love lasso.” I laughed uncontrollably in a musuem for 5 minutes straight. Also, 77 women thought it would be empowering to have vagina molds made and entered as art under the name “Cunts……and other other conversations.” Good call on that one ladies.

Day 8…..It’s the last day of the tour and I got about 3 hours of sleep last night. It was Bruny Island day though and I had been waiting the whole tour for my oysters. We took the ferry over to the island and headed to Cape Bruny and the Bruny Island Lighthouse.

I took exactly one picture of the lighthouse on my other camera, because I’m from Cape Cod and it’s a lighthouse. I’ve seen a few of those in my life, haha.

After the lighthouse, we made at a quick stop at a little honey shop for a tasting of the local honey. From there we went on a search for the White Bennetts Wallaby. They are albino wallabies that can only be found on Bruny Island and there are only about 200 of them. We were lucky enough to spot a couple.

We stopped for lunch at Adventure Bay and then at a small fudge shop for a fudge tasting. Where are my oysters????? I was getting impatient. Finally we got to the good stuff. We went to the Bruny Island Beer Company for a cheese tasting and I also sampled a flight of beers.

Last stop on the agenda…..The Bruny Island Oyster Company!!!! Our group of 11 was given a dozen oysters so everyone could sample one. I wasn’t playing that game and I went and ordered a dozen for myself. They were absolutely delicious!!! It took all day, but I was finally a happy, fat kid.

We went back to Hobart and Marcel, Mika, Annika and I met up in Salamanca for drinks with Natalie. The night before finally caught up with me and the night ended relatively early.

Sadly, this was the end of my Tassy tour and I flew back to Melbourne yesterday. Those 8 days were without a doubt the best part of my trip so far and I’m sad to see it end, but excited to continue on my adventure. I met some great people that I hope to keep in touch with.

I leave in the morning for a 3 day tour of The Great Ocean Road and Grampians National Park on my way to Adelaide.

I hope you’re enjoying following along as much as I’m enjoying writing about my adventures kickin’ it with kangaroos.