Hobart to Port Arthur - December 4th

It was only a short drive from Hobart to Port Arthur so we decided to take our time and stayed in the posh hotel until the last minute. Henry Jones definitely gets my AAR stars on staff friendliness (The concierge 'transported' our 4 huge lugguages in ONE GO to our two rooms with nothing but a BIG SMILE, and that is more than 70kg of lugguages I am talking about), privacy, unique-ness and the arty-farty (and I mean this in a good way) element that makes the hotel so special. Unfortunately it is quite pricey ($295 per night for a double bedroom without breakfast therefore can only be visited on very special occassions) so I am sorry to inform Henry Jones Arts Hotel that they get 4 stars from me - still that's pretty good work you have to admit!

Next stop was to visit the Tasmanian Devil Park in Taranna. The park is actually also a rescue centre for local injured animals or baby orphans whose moms became roadkills. The staffs nurse and look after the animals until they are ready to go back to the bushes again. For some animals, such as this handsome eagle with only one wing, would get to live and be looked after in the park for the rest of its life. This is really sweet, and kind of justifies the 20 dollar admission fee.

The devils couldnt be any cuter - they are like the combination of little bears and puppies and their pink ears shine under the sun. They run around making scary noises and fight over their food - I wish I could give them a pat, but cant touch the devils as apparently they can be really aggressive.

However, if you really feel like patting someone - the kangaroos and wallabies have lots of love to give, especially during feeding time. And this is interesting, they actually prefer us feeding them rather than eating from the ground because 1) they dont have to bend their neck as low 2) they can eat more in every mouthful 3) they like us! This one wallaby even held Yuting's hand and wouldnt let go! We also saw quite a few mothers with their joeys (which I have never seen before either).

We arrived Port Arthur and had an early dinner after checking into the Fox and Hounds Inn. The activity of the night was to go on the famous Port Arthur Ghost Tour. Port Arthur, with its convict history, has been the location where numerous unusal sightings and 'ghostly experience' were reported, and the Parsonage (where the pastors stayed), is the one of the most huanted houses in Australia. Our guide Laura was a great story teller, and to my surprise she appeared to be very logical. She explained that there were two major theories of the reasons behind most of the sightings: the first one was that while the people have passed away their memories stayed (The Ring, say no more), and the second theory was that the sightings were mirror images of what happened (e.g. imagine seeing your childhood on a video tape). As a result sometimes people see faces on a piece of wall, or men and women in 1800s outfits in the reflection on a window.

I feel particular uneasy with the second theory. Trust me, if you are short sighted and not wearing your glasses and trying to look around in the dark (which is what I do if I need a toilet break during the night - I cant see anything so I cant find my glasses, and because I cant find my glasses I cant see anything), everything looks like a face on something. Be it the shadow of the trees on your ceiling, or the way your clothes pile up on the floor, seriously everything looks like SOMETHING.

Well let's not get distracted - so we followed Laura and went to the Church, then the Parsonage, then the Medical Officer's House, where they had a few disection rooms in the basement. This was not a 'ghostly experience' but I really felt quite uncomfortable in the room. It was the thought of knowing that people got cut up in the very same space I was standing at. You know there was going to be blood, the smell of corpses, eye balls out of their sockets (should I stop here?). And if I want to make it even worse - who knows if those people were really dead when they were cut open?!

The Ghost Tour ended at the Seperation Prison, which is also called the 'Silent Prison' as the convicts were denied any communication with any other people. They were not allowed to speak, they each had their own cell, and they had seperate 'booths' for Sunday services to avoid any sort of contact between prisoners, not to mention that each also had to wear a white bag on his (there were only male prisoners in Port Arthur) head, so the convicts couldnt even make eye contact with each other. Even just the thought and the imagination on how quiet this prison must have been, sent shivers up my spine.

We went back to Fox and Hound Inn just before mid-night, and celebrated our survival with instant noodles directly from Chinatown. I wouldnt describe the Ghost Tour as scary but it definitely makes you feel kind of creepy and want to be with people. Jeicy made a really good comment 'You really appreciate how small the motel room is after a ghost tour'. It made sense as we had a pretty small unit in the Fox and Hound Inn (but what could you expect - $190 per night with two seperate bedrooms - only if the light in the toilet actually works) and everything was kind of squeashy but it was actually really nice and I felt like I was a little girl again staying at Grandma's for the weekend...