TASMANIA

TASMANIA return home
FEB,2007 click photos to enlarge return Australia

Subjectively Tasmania could rival New Zealand in natural beauty. It has a very pristine wildness about it that we loved and steeped in convict and free settler history.
We stayed at charming B&B's along the way and traveled by car through the middle of the island and most of the coast line. We hit most of the main convict sights like; Port Arthur on the south east coast and the women's prison (female factory) in Hobart town. Kelly had just read an Australian Trilogy written by Bryce Courtney that was partially set at the female factory and although it was a fictional novel it

Cradle Mountain National Park

was based on factual places, so she had to see the main factory for herself. Our tour was guided by 2 actors playing characters dipicting a story of a woman sent over to Tasmania from London for stealing a loaf of bread in the mid- 1800's. Our tour started at the Cascade Brewery in Hobart and ended at the female factory. It was a great way to see it, because otherwise I think it wouldn't have had the same effect. All that remains of the prison is a huge empty grass field with four walls surrounding it with occasional excavated stone walls that partitioned off the prisoners. But with our guides we were transported back into this woman's story. It was fantastic.
We loved Tasmania and the people we met along the way. There was so much to see and do that I think these pictures tell the story best of what we experienced. We only had 2 weeks to spend there but I could definitely have spent more time exploring the great wild outdoors of this incredible place.