I didnt expect to fall in love with Port Arthur, but I did.
I was never a history kind of person. Basically, I think history doesnt 'add any value'. See my theory is that if people dont learn from the history, really what is the difference between history and fiction? And really, according to what I was forced to study back in highschools, people rarely learn from what the history has taught us - so seriously, what's the point? This is purely my personal point of view and obviously I am a person who is very into value-adding (ha!).
On top of the fact that I am not into history, before I went to Tasmania the only other thing Port Arthur meant to me was the early convicts. That's another thing - I have always thought prisoners are in prisons for a reason and it is not something I like to focus on a lot. The only time I think about it is when I think about how much tax I pay every year, not to mention that I work like a dog and am considered cheap labour anyway. And then one day when I read the paper it said that the government was building swimming pools for some of the prisons. And as a matter of fact, prisoners in the Roturua jail in NZ actually get to play video games like PS2. Well they do have to queue up and wait for their turn, but heck even Yuting never had anything like that until Shang kindly bought him an Xbox as our wedding gift (and Yuting is truly the dog of the dogs and the cheapest of cheap slaves).
You can tell me that I had been brainwashed but after spending a day at Port Arthur I have changed my mind. To me Port Arthur is about a model that was created with good intention, although flawed in many places, to helped the early convicts to a better life. The location was a natural prison, being on the top of the Tasman Penisula with the only passway to the outside world a strip less than 100m wide which is called Eaglehawk neck. The prisoners were taught trades, worked in woodchopping, leather making, shipyards, etc, and went to Sunday services. Of course not everyone ended up an angel but what can you expect really, we are only HUMANS.
Part of the buildings have been re-built and the rests were also looked after really well in a way that it is not that difficult to stand in the ruins and imagine what Port Arthur was like back in the 1830s. And it was not just about the prisoners, the commandant had his family and his army with him. There were people working in the church, and some of the soilders had wives and children. And they put in all the effort to have a life as normal as possible. They brought the English trees and flowers and they had parties, and kids went to school. It is a really beautiful place and for some reason it actually makes you feel peaceful and calm.
We walked around the historic site for the whole day and visited almost every single building and it is very different to what we experienced the night before during the Ghost Tour. Things didnt feel as eerie and I had a lot of respect for the people who re-built Port Arthur and restored the furniture and artifacts, which really gives you the picture of life at that time. When you buy your ticket you will also get a randomly selected playing card that actually represents a real convict and after going into the information centre you follow the particular convict's life. This is actually really cool and for some reason I feel very warm to 'my convict' and just couldnt wait to find out what happened to him at the end quickly, like how I always want to read the last page of the book first (very bad habit I know - hey I am result oriented!). Turned out the 'my convict' was actually a 16 year old boy and he was sent to Pt.Puer Boys' Prison on another island and tried to escape... Yuting's convict was obviously a bit of a suck-up as he got promoted to an 'overseer' who was like the supervisors. (See the similarities here? The convicts have cells and we have cubicles. When he sucks up he gets promoted and one day might even get freedom... this is too depressing) You could also try putting on the leg irons. Handcuffs were not in fashion in Port Arthur as the convicts had to use their hands to do lots of work - maybe I should stop complaing about being a cheap slave after all...
We had dinner at the restaurant of Fox and Hound. Dont think I have mentioned that the motel has a mock-tudor theme and the restaurant is accordingly decorated, which is quite nice. The food was not that spectacular but there WAS lots of food. I actually really like the Fox and Hound Inn. This is not a place I would pick for a romantic weekend get-away but it is perfect for when it is really cold and you want to be with your friends and be all un-pretentious. You want to wear an old jumper and pajama pants and play board games (which was what we did for the whole night) and drink hot tea and make that 'Ahhhhhh.....' sigh after each sip.
As a result I am giving it 3.5 stars for the value for money, unique-ness, and staff friendliness. Well guess where the half star came from? The best thing about Fox and Hound? It has a drive-through bottle shop!!! I am really giving this half star for Eric...
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