Port Arthur

Port Arthur penitentiary
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Port Arthur is Tasmania's most popular tourist destination, and it's not difficult to see why.  The site is located on a beautiful harbor, and contains striking remains of the island's largest penal colony.

When visiting, you instinctively sense the disharmony between the stunning environment and the pain, misery and solitude that the settlement's worst offenders endured here for almost 50 years.  (The fact that a deranged man massacred 35 people here in 1996 provides another chilling layer to the Port Arthur experience.)

Hauntingly beautiful

The church
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For me, the highights included marvelling at the size of the cells in the penitentiary, peering out onto the settlement from the guard tower, and imaging myself as a prisoner in the church at the Separate Prison (where you stand in a private booth, with the ability to see the preacher but none of your fellow prisoners beside you or in front of you.)

Don't skip out on the 45 minute tour and the boat ride to Island of the Dead that come with your admission ticket.

The Port Arthur experience is Tasmania's number one for a reason.

Another view of the penitentiary
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On the way to/from Port Arthur, be sure to check out Richmond (home to Australia's oldest bridge, which was built with convict hands), the Tesselated Pavement (where nature cuts grid-like patterns into the rock), the Tasman Arch, and Devils Kitchen.