Port Arthur

We travelled south,  towards Hobart and heading for Port Arthur which is our last stop on our Tassie Trails trip. We've seen a great deal in ten days. We sort of skirted around Freycenet and Coles Bay........had quick look but not enough time this trip. The countryside was parched and brown but relief was coming in the form of steady rain when we reached Port Arthur.

View of the settlement from the jetty

We rugged up against the cold and wind and took the cruise around the harbour which gave us a view of the settlement from the perspective of how the convicts would have seen it on their arrival. It was an informative tour with too much to digest in one visit.....which is why some people we met were on their  third visit in a week! I didn't realise how progressive some of the thinking was in the 1850's, separating the young boys (often orphans) and providing them with trades and skills to make a successful life after incarceration. .......and it was very successful. There are 1100 graves on the Island of the Dead.....most of them unmarked and surprisingly, they have fitted given the size of the island. No upright burials though ...we were assured.

The church- never consecrated.

We experienced a very informative and entertains introduction to the history of the settlement from a guide originally from California. It was marvellous the way he made the dates and stories come to life with humour and engagement with the participants. The cruelty of the conditions in this settlement beggars belief, but even more surprising is the strength of the human spirit. That people survived the work gangs, the ball and chain, the floggings, the starvation, cold and isolation is hard to comprehend from our modern, indulged perspective but then to have the audacity to make escapes is beyond comprehension. After our visits to Macquarie Harbour and here we concluded that our forbears, even those just living a normal life, were tougher people than us...much tougher. And amongst  the prisoners, the hardest were termed "pebbles" ........small, round and very hard to break!

The ruins of the Broad Arrow cafe - scene of the 1996 tragedy.

We also visited the Broad Arrow cafe .......such a solemn place now. Hard to comprehend the magnitude of what happened here in 1996 .......and that it is still happening in places around the world like Las Vegas recently. Thankfully a little more "common sense" regarding guns in Autralia.

The main prison block....in the drizzle and cold.

Our digs for the night at White Beach (about 10ks out of Port Arthur) were marvellous. Right on the beach, beautifully appointed, comfortable and welcoming. We could easily have spent more time here.

Dinner at a  restaurant called "Lucky Ducks" (we thought because of the name that it was going to be Chinese but turned out to be just an Australianism for fortunate) was just the way to finish off our time in Tassie.

Too quickly the ten days has evaporated but we have some wonderful memories.....the family history, the scenery, the experiences, the food and the company.....and all I can say is aren't we "Lucky Ducks".

Little England and the East Coast

From the rugged west to the lush, green north it is quite surprising how close the various regions of Tasmania are...and also how different. We left Cradle Mountain and within an hour or so, after negotiating some steep gorges and rugged mountains, we found ourselves in lush, green rolling hills with patchwork paddocks and fat, healthy sheep dotting the landscape. It is almost like a scene from an English calendar.

We went through small, well kept towns like Sheffield (famous for it murals) and Railton and Deloraine on our way to Launceston. We were told that it was mandatory to visit the chocolate factory, the cheese factory and the raspberry farm ( to taste chocolate covered raspberries)...........and  that is just what we did. And when we arrived in Launceston they were having a food and beverage fair in the centre of town......just metres from our luxury apartment. Our stomachs were aching....but what a tasty day!

We spent a quiet Sunday visiting the famous Cataract Gorge with its gardens, chair lift and peacocks...that put on quite a spectacular show for the visitors without much encouragement at all!

The Gorge from the chair lift.

What a show off.

And as we continued across the north through the green hills of Scottsdale to the East Coast the the views continued to make us think we were in England or Ireland somewhere. The lavender in the lavender farm on the way was not in bloom but it it was impressive nonetheless. The structure, colours and shapes made it a striking vista.

We stopped for lunch in a quaint little cafe / antique / bric a brac shop in St Helens as we hit the east coast. The food was great and the shop....well very interesting.....and quirky!

St Helens is known for the "Bay of Fires" on the coast where an orange lichen grows on the rocks. It is quite common along the coast but concentrated in this area against crystal clear water and blindingly white sand. Worth a visit.

We arrived in Bicheno in time to arrange a a "Fairy Penguin" tour in the evening after dinner....and then found or "digs" ....up on a hill, overlooking the ocean. Quit a view.

The Fairy Penguin tour was really very well conducted and informative. We were bussed in a small mini bus to a special place on the beach set up to observe the penguins come ashore to their burrows. 

They come and go at night to avoid predators and after 50ks of swimming and catching fish during the day they  return and regurgitate their catch for the chicks. But only after scurrying across the beach and climbing up the slope....quite a task for such a little creature with no knees!

Our guide was really knowledgeable and kept us safe from "projectile pooing"...which happens apparently when people upset them. Maurits and I kept our distance.!

We observed them in a number of locations coming up the slope (each penguin alway uses the same track up the beach) and going home to feed the chicks....and what a racket they make when dinner is being "served".....very slimy!. We were shown the process in an observation box and when the guide lifted the lid, Maurits' face started doing contortion somersaults! I must say...the stench was quite overpowering.

We weren't able to take our own photos but this one off the web is pretty close to what we saw.

The Fairy Penguins are very cute, .....and fascinating to watch ....... but oh so smelly !!!

The alpine region - Cradle Mountain

We thoroughly enjoyed our Strahan stay but our plans meant that before we knew it we were heading to Cradle Mountain via Zeehan. Zeehan (named after Abel Tasman's ship) was a large zinc mining town which has seen better days since the 1890s.... but it did have a really outstanding mining museum......quite unique I would think and a must see for anyone visiting this part of Tassie.

The iconic Cradle Mountain "Boathouse" on Dove Lake.

We were hoping to be able to use the winter gear we had carted all the way from home and were not disappointed at Cradle Mountain. Arrived in the early afternoon at our cabins which are surprisingly  cosy and comfortable and after checking in, headed out to explore the area. Alpine, glacially formed and beautiful.... we found that it is quite remote but well visited by tourists, I suppose because of its iconic status and the abundant flora and fauna.

             
                  This "little" fellow was just up the path from our chalet. They are all over the place.

After purchasing our park pass, and checking out the ranger station and shop we headed down the road to Dove Lake.

The scenes people travel from all over the world way to see.

I was surprised at how little there is here....a few park buildings, a shop and  three or four accommodation establishments (one being a Peppers) but no real village or defined settlement. It was 7.5 kms of very narrow, windy, "one way only" sections which took us through a variety of grassed and wooded areas down to the lake. It sits in a glacial valley formed 10,000 years ago and discovered by european explorers in the 1820s. It was still raining, so after a quick reconnoitre and having established our bearings we headed off to our cabins.....after a few stops along the way to check out the wandering wombats feeding on the abundant button grass around the creeks and on the hillsides.

We found the Wilderness Lodges very comfortable (even at 3 degrees outside) and they were plonked right in the surrounding vegetation of moss and lichen covered alpine trees and bushes which made us feel right in the wilderness. Mind you we didn't suffer too much especially at the restaurant where we had probably some of the best meals of the trip.

The vegetation just off the verandah of our lodge.

Even though it was very low cloud, raining, cold (7 degrees top temp) and windy, we had come to Cradle Mountain to explore and experience .......so off we went again early the next morning this time all geared up for the elements. Surprise! Hardly any cars in the car park and I think we each secretly thought "are we the only ones silly enough to venture out?" Well, we weren't....there were a few other hardy souls and besides, the forecast was for the weather to clear at 11.00am (it really didn't) so, undaunted we "girded our loins" and headed out along the Dove Lake circuit track to take in the sights, sounds and kinaesthetic experiences of this alpine region (read wind, rain, cold).

On the track....atmospheric.  A sign says - No Diving!!!!!

The circuit is 6kms of gravel track, boardwalk and stairs fantastically maintained by the park authorities and a must do in any visit to Cradle Mountain. It winds around the shore-line, up and over huge boulders, through beautiful temperate rainforests and eerily quiet and dank moss forests with water oozing through the ground.

     
                         This section was called "The Ballroom"......I don't know why.

The waterfalls seemed to be coming out of the clouds and were crashing down from the cliffs hundreds of metres above. The track helped us to get "up close and personal" with Cradle Mountain and this alpine ecosystem but after about three hours we found ourselves back in civilisation.... the carpark....and toilets!

In the end we didn't need to worry that we had carried all that winter gear for nothing.....it was well and truly needed for a comfortable experience...and it was an experience. I think some people could feel their leg muscles the next morning!

Having explored it in inclement and "atmospheric" conditions, Cradle Mountain has been a special part of our Tassie Trails.

World Heritage on the Wild West Coast

After our diversion at Hollow Tree we continued to explore the West Coast of Tasmania widely regarded as having some of the most pristine wilderness areas in the world....which seems somewhat contradictory when you drive through swathes of felled forests which leave a large, ugly scar on the landscape. The confronting vista of acres of tree stumps, discarded logs scattered all over and the earth exposed to the elements was not just a few isolated pockets but miles and miles of these so called plantations. "Rip Rip wood chip" kept going through my mind.

An example of the destruction we saw in patches on the way to Strahan.

When we add to logging, the impact of mining...... and the rugged, remote West Coast has certainly been exploited over the years. The Queenstown I remember from nearly 50 years ago was a working copper mine where the fumes from the processing stack denuded the hills of vegetation for miles around and left a colourful petina on the surrounding hills. I hardly recognised the place....no working mine now and nature slowly reclaiming what is rightfully hers .....trees and greenery everywhere. Here's the rub though, when we stopped for a rest in Queenstown we thought we had arrived on a Sunday....dead as a door nail. Wilderness and humans don't mix well and it is a an issue not easily resolved....wild country vs industry, jobs and livelihoods?

                        The road into Queenstown when it was a working mining town.

Strahan was our destination and here is a wonderful example of where one industry, tourism, is flourishing. It is a small, quaint village with a Harbour and wharf closely attached to the village.....and a long history of a working port which they have preserved very well. It was busy ( had to wait to be seated for dinner!) with lots of accommodation and young people working everywhere. We really liked it.

The view from the bar having drinks before dinner.

Once a harbour, alway a harbour.

The weather was very kind and we had a magnificent excursion on the Lady Franklin on Macquarie Harbour and up the Gordon River....World Heritage wilderness at its finest. This huge catamaran took us across Macquarie Harbour (the second largest in Australia) past the fish farms growing their salmon  and out to the harbour entrance known by the convicts as "Hells Gate." So called  because when they came here they were entering Hell...and we "got the picture" through the stories, vivid descriptions and explanations from our guide on our tour of Sarah Island.

Hells Gate is a very narrow entrance (80meters) and many sailing vessels were wrecked negotiating its channel. Most vessels had to wait, sometimes days, for favourable winds. I read about this in books like "For the Term of His Natural Life" and others and I must say my imagination could not have dreamed up a more dangerous channel....nor could it have imagined the horrors and deprivations the convicts suffered on that extreme penal outpost of Sarah Island in the middle of the harbour....a place instigated for the "worst of the worst" including Alexander Pearce...the cannibal convict.

Hells gates- the entrance to Macquarie Harbour and Hell on Earth for the poor unfortunates sent there

                            Before the light houses, many ships and lives were lost.

Entering the Gordon River was quite a moment considering the history of this controversial river. The proposed damming of the Gordon below Franklin was a political, moral and social flashpoint in the 1980s and really put the Greens as a party on the political map.  Thank goodness for those individuals and groups who fought so hard to preserve this Magnificent World Heritage Park. We just couldn't imagine such a place being ruined by another thoughtless dam project.

We witnessed magnificent forests with Huon Pine that lives for over 600 years, huge Celery Top pines and a temperate forest that has been here for milenia. The crisp, clear reflections in the dark, glass like water were the most impressive I have ever seen.

The Lady Franklin- a very comfortable way to enjoy the Gordon River

Magnificent Temperate Rain Forest trees hundreds of years old.

The water - so dark and still it is like a mirror.

We all agreed that we are so fortunate to have such magnificent areas right on our doorstep....areas that photos really don't do justice.... and that some forward thinking people saved from development.

The West Coast of Tassie is wild and rugged and still appears not nearly as developed as the rest of the state. Beautiful and well worth a visit.

Hollow Tree

About an hour from Hobart, following the Derwent River and past the quaint village of New Norfolk, is the sheep farming area called Hollow Tree. It's hilly and rocky with rivulets and farmlets and it is the place the Best's called home from the early 1820s when John began to buy land from his employer Mr Wells. It's not unlike parts of Ireland....but it is a long, long way from their homeland.

Armed with a "mud map" provided by another descendant, Ann Gowans, we set about locating any signs of the remains of their homestead.....more hopeful than purposeful. It is thought that, as he prospered, he built a stone dwelling and that is what we are looking for......just some old convict stones to suggest that this place was a family home and farm over 150 years ago.

            Anne Gowan's "mud map" showing the location of the Best farmstead with an X

After calling in on a local farmer for a chat about the local area we arranged permission to access the area marked on the map.....X marks the spot....but it was a pretty rough map.

Our "Time Team" sussing out the "lay of the land"

We headed up the past the Large Georgian style house of the Hallets  (currently being significantly renovated) and found a flattened type area with some sheds on it which looked to be around the right location as per the map.

Between the Dew Rivulet  and the Burn house is quite a hill and we had been warned that most of the convict era stone had been "re-purposed" over the years by farmers. Now we are no Tony Robinson "Time Team" but when Wendy noticed some random fruit trees in an area near a smaller water course (Little Dew Rivulet has been referred to in documents / plans) and there was a pile of  "pushed up" stones and timbers, well that quite caught our attention.

Examples of convict worked stone in the pile...recently uncovered.

As it turns out, some workers recently laying irrigation in the fields came across this "difficult spot" with a shed on it so they moved the shed to another paddock and used a machine to clear the stones in the way of their irrigation pipes. On closer inspection it was clear that some of the material was definitely convict hewn stone and their work had unearthed a line of square stones forming a rough foundation. When we looked closely, we could make out the outline of what looked like a foundation about the size of a small building. It was pure chance and timing that we happened upon this pile of material just recently exposed.

Note the line of stones forming a Right Angle to the top R of the picture

We spent quite a bit of time carefully examining many of the interesting objects including huge supporting timbers rough hewn and spiked together and it seemed clear that this material had been built over with other structures over the years. Bricks, rubble timbers and stones were in the pile, but also clearly were examples of shaped blocks with the "sparrow pecks" only found on convict worked stone.

In the end we would have been quite content to have walked and explored the locale of our ancestors...the place they lived, worked and raised their families. But after the finds of the day we think that there is a fair chance  that what we happened upon was of convict origin, and if so a good chance based on the information on the map, that it may have been the Best homestead.

Well, who'd of though it?

Hollow Tree from the hill. 

Hobart Town

After an easy flight and settling into our "digs" at the apartments on the docks, we wandered along Campbell St. in the footsteps of John Best who was marched along here, in chains, when it was a dirt track, on his way to the gaol 199 years ago. Within a couple of days two of their company were hanged for the crimes they were transported for and we can only imagine the conditions the Minerva men endured and their thoughts and fears after finally arriving in the antipodes.....that fearful place known as Van Diemen's Land.

Many of the descendants of John and Mary Best remained in Tasmania and settled in places like Hamilton, Ouse and Bothwell. Our branch of the family experienced some success as drapers in Hobart and we are here checking out where they lived and worked as well as taking in the sights and delights of our most southern city.

View of the corner shop in Elizabeth St early 1900's

                                                          The new store built in 1904

The old store in about 1890

We found the old Best & Co "Emporium" in Elizabeth st and were impressed, in our wanderings around the city, with the number of old heritage buildings, maintained, restored and valued within the fabric of the modern city. The University of Tasmania has a number of campuses with architecture remeniscent of the Frank Ghery style, wrapped around the more heritage buildings.

We followed up the locations of various family houses over the years and it was quite strange imagining ourselves in their times and locations. We were invited into one home by the current owners in their 80's who kindly showed us around the house and grounds....and it is still in good shape.

We visited Sandy Bay, Battery Point and Salamanca ......touristy, but fine shopping according to the girls!

                                One of the family residences..... in better times!

            Battery Point......quite gentrified after being saved from the bulldozers in the 1960's

      18 Proctors Rd where Mr & Mrs Read invited us in to see the old house and stables.

While the girls were "exploring", Maurits and I took the opportunity to have a closer look at our very own icebreaker and Antarctic supply ship, the Aurora Australis. It is a mighty, working vessel with dents in the bow to prove that it does actually "walk the walk" in that extreme environment of Antarctica. It was being provisioned for the summer exploration season with great containers on the decks and with machinery and gear all around...which has been happening on this dock since the days of Shackleton and Mawson. Australia has a long and distinguished history in Antarctica and Hobart continues to provide a critical role. 

We also found a sculptural exhibition that was opened by the Irish Prime Minister recently, an exhibition to honour the 15000 convict women and children that arrived in the colony between 1803 and 1853. It was a moving tribute to the hardships and hopes of their "wretched lives" and although John Best's family (wife Mary, four children, sister and her three children) came out as free settlers  a few years after John was transported, it is clear that they would have endured the same conditions and hardships as the convict families.

Mt Wellington is a must in any any trip to Hobart and we were not disappointed with this table top mountain standing sentinel over the city. Over 1200 metres high....mostly cold and blowy with tortured vegetation giving an insight to the alpine conditions the summit endures. If it was good enough for Charles Darwin to visit (albeit after three climbing attempts) it was good enough for us to drive up in comfort to admire the view.

We've really enjoyed our short time in Hobart but it's off to Strahan tomorrow for the "World Heritage" part of our visit....but not before a detour to "Hollow Tree" along the way to visit where John and Mary Best lived their lives.....as convicts, settlers and farmers.

Tassie Trails - from Family Heritage to World Heritage

Our Family History research has been a theme in our travels for many years. We have been known to picnic in cemeteries (much to our children's chagrin) and it was the compass for our 2014 trip "Returning to our Roots" when we visited locations in Germany, Scotland, England and Ireland....our ancestors' countries of emigration. For some it was to find a better life, for others it was to escape political oppression and for others, well, it was at the pleasure of His Majesty.

This theme led us to small, out of the way places like Altenau and Tangermunde in Germany, and Bir and Kenmare in Ireland where Wendy's relatives came from. And it led us to Kinnegad in Ireland .......a small, rural, boggy, nondescript township out of Dublin that was the ancestral home of the Bests in Australia. Until recent years we suspected, but did not actually know, that we are descendants of the poorest of the poor, the Bog Irish.

The story of John Best is fascinating .....but only one of many in Australian/ Irish convict history, and it would never have been known except that convicts have records....and they have been well kept.

This trip to Tasmania is, in part, to follow the fate of John Best and his family, from Irish convict to free farmer......with all its trials, tribulations and hardships. The highlights of their lives (mostly being able to own land, sunshine and eat regularly) and the tragedies of a murdered daughter and a son hanged for the murder of a fellow farmer. The efforts of his descendants to make good, and their efforts to hide the shame of their antecedents, has been part of our family's oral history for generations......but the internet has changed all that.

The story of John and Mary Best is  chronicled in Mark Rowland's outstanding blog, "Just One Australian". It has been the inspiration for us to follow up what happened to him and his family after boarding the Minerva in Cobh Harbour, Cork in December 1817.......bound for Van Dieman's Land.... at the other end of the earth.

This fascinating story, 199 years old and a major impetus of our visit can be explored further here:-

http://justoneaustralian.blogspot.com.au

The Minerva approaching Hobart, June 1818
(Photo from the "justoneaustralian" blog)

Only a few days to go!