Salamanca Market, Tesellated Pavement,Port Arthur, Eaglehawk Neck, Richmond, Pontville and Sorell market – Tasmanian Trip Day 7 and 8

The initial plan was to visit Port Arthur in the early morning. It was agreed we will give Salamanca the miss but my SIL changed her mind and wanted to visit the Salamanca Market. It was supposed to be a quick visit. There was no much to see and even with quick browse here and there, we were there for 2 hours.

There were so much hand craft work in glass and timber, antiques, books, food – hot baked spuds, organic vegetables, fresh fruits, coffee, croissants, and buskers singing the blue, jazz, classical music or lively folk songs. We have to drag ourselves away from the “evil” place so we will not miss Port Arthur.

As we drove to Port Arthur, we made a stop at Pirated Bay to see the Tesselated Pavement.

This intriguing geological feature is a natural rock platform with an appearance remarkably like paving stones. We then headed to Port Arthur.

Port Arthur has an intriguing history. It has a sad story to tell. The impressive architecture, delightful gardens and chilling prison facilities were created with convicts labour.

Do not be fooled by the serenity of this place. As you walk through each building there are always sad story of pain, misery, torture and death. It was through discipline, punishment, religious and moral instruction, classification and separation, training and education to set the prisoners honest. By today standard, it will be deem cruel.

On entry you will received a playing card which gives you the identity of a real convict. You find your convict and trace his life at Port Arthur.

You have the option to take the introductory walking tour or walk around by yourself. If time is an essence walk around by yourself. The introductory tour takes about 45 minutes.

The entry ticket includes a boat tour passing the Dockyards, Point Puer Boy’s Prison and the Isle of the Dead Cemetery. We were there for 3 hours and you could spend the entire day there reading and reflecting the hard life of this poor people and what hardship they have to endure.

We had a quick cup of coffee and we headed back to Eaglehawk Neck to see the Tasman Blowhole. The blowhole was not the highlight. It was the fishing competition that enthralled us. Boats were coming in with their catches and we have never seen such large fish before. The heaviest fish we saw was a 75Kg yellow fin Tuna caught by a young boy on the fishing trip with his father.

We stopped at Donelley for some food, turning off at Sorell and headed to Richmond, a small historic village, before heading back to the Motor Inn.

The next day we dropped in at Pointville and Sorell Market before heading off to the airport to catch the flight back to Melbourne.

Ok folk, this is the end of my Tasmanian's trip. I have used up my quota for uploading pictures and until I work out how else I can post more pictures in future posting, you have to excuse me if there are no pictures in future posting. Any readers with good suggestion are welcome.