Port Arthur

We've finally seen Australia's most famous convict ruin, the penal colony of Port Arthur.  The experience was as memorable as we'd hoped.  We based ourselves at Convict Bay, the convict colony's primary harbour.  Our B&B was the original wharf customs store and post office.

This location also made it easy to visit Tasmania's original coal mine, home to Port Arthur's worst offending convicts.  The ruins were ours to explore alone for more than an hour.

Garry and I were both surprised by the scale of Port Arthur's operation.  The site was actually home to thousands of people, all living in a compact and colourful village set into the hillside of a picturesque harbour location.

Perhaps my favourite location was the incredibly narrow neck of sand that connects the Tasman Peninsular to the rest of Tasman.  It was here that the infamous Dog Line was put in place to apprehend escaping convicts.  The site's history is immortalized by a statue of a fierce dog standing guard over the main road.