Port Arthur was once a brutal prison for convicts in the 1800s.  Now it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site and a popular tourist destination.  The natural beauty of the area, with its rugged coastline and scenic views, is also a draw for tourists.

The Zuiderdam glided into our anchorage about 1 mile off the coast of Port Arthur, and we had tenders in the water ready to go around 8 am.  The Captain said the weather was great now, but higher winds were forecast for later in the day, which could make tendering more treacherous.

When we were ready to leave around 10 am, the skies had darkened with clouds rolling in fast with the wind picking up.  Light rain started.  It didn’t look very promising, and had they announced they were canceling tendering and recalling everyone; I wouldn’t have been surprised.  Instead, open tendering was announced, and tickets were no longer required.

We pressed on, but in anticipation of possible delays in returning to the ship, we packed extra stuff if we had to spend the night or get bussed over to Hobart, only 60 miles away by land.

After 13 minutes on the tender, we scurried down the pier towards the shelter to avoid getting wet.

Helpful staff from Port Arthur gave us large maps of the grounds and pointed the way to the Visitor Center.  HERE is the Port Arthur Historic Sites website, where you can find more information.

The basic Port Arthur site entry fee of $47 AUS is already paid as part of our port fee and includes:

• Entry to the Port Arthur Gallery, which includes interactive exhibits and displays that tell the story of the Port Arthur Historic Site and its people;
• Self-guided Port Arthur Audio Experience;  (Find on your favorite Podcast site)
• 20-minute Harbour Cruise; (This departs from the Tender Landing – I would suggest doing this as your final activity before returning to the ship – time permitting)
• Complimentary site talks at key locations throughout the day;
• Access to more than 30 historic buildings, ruins, restored houses, heritage gardens, and walking trails.

The Visitor Center is about 300 yards away.  Staff in golf carts are available for people with mobility issues.  The Visitor Center is the departure point for all HAL tours.

The Visitor Center has two levels.  On the ground floor, where you will enter when walking up from the tender, you will find restrooms, locker rooms, and a photo gallery.  In the Gallery, you can pull a playing card (representing a particular prisoner) which will correspond to a pull-out drawer in the Gallery where you can learn more about this person and their fate.

Port Arthur is also the starting point for a 4-day “Three Capes” Hike – more HERE, T-shirts and other items for this are sold in the Visitor Center.

On the upper floor are the gift shop, cafeteria, ticket counter, and a full-service restaurant (open for dinner only).  This level is the main entry for people who arrive by car, and this is also where you will meet your HAL tour bus.  John and Pam discovered a $27 Hop On Hop Off tour they took and gave rave reviews.  Here is a link to the tour company and a copy of the flyer, but I couldn’t find this tour listed on their website – I recommend you send them an email to verify that it will be operating for your visit.

Port Arthur offers several private tours for an additional charge.  Check out their website HERE for pricing and descriptions.

We spent two hours here walking thru the Photo Gallery, Gift Shop and eating a leisurely lunch in the café.  Had the weather not cleared, we planned to walk back to the ship via “The Penitentiary ” and call it a day.  Much to our surprise, the winds calmed and the skies cleared, and the rainy dreariness was replaced by a nice day.

Around 1 pm, we left the Visitor’s Center and spent the next 2.5 hours walking around the site.  Here is a site map and the walking direction I recommend.  Several of the buildings will have a guide inside for a “site talk”.  The schedule changes daily, and you can find the current schedule HERE

We listened to a few site talks, and they were all enjoyable.

While this is advertised as a prison, there are only two structures that held prisoners, the large Penitentiary and the Separate Prison – which functioned as a place of solitary confinement.  Most of the buildings were the living quarters and offices of the staff running Port Arthur.

Once the weather improved, we were reluctant to return to the ship as the grounds were beautiful, and everything well preserved and interesting.  If the weather were terrible, this stop would not be much fun as a lot of time is spent walking outside.

We caught the last tender back to the ship.  We would only be at sea a few hours as we headed over to Hobart for the evening and would stay thru the next day.

Soon after we left, we sailed past Cape Raoul, a striking point of land that drew large crowds of photographers to the open decks.  The winds were brisk and the temperature cool, so most folks were huddled against the ship’s side, trying to stay a little warmer.

While in transit, Hyperion Knight gave a mini-concert in Billboard, disguised as a name-that-tune contest.  While Hyperion did ask 25 questions about the songs he would play, he would play them full length, and then you had to guess the name of the song, the composer, and in some cases, the Lyricist.  The songs were equally divided between classical and popular tunes.

We arrived in Hobart around 8 pm.  Both days in Hobart will be covered in the next post.