08 Feb: Hobart (TAS) --> Doo Town (TAS) --> Port Arthur (TAS).
[CAPTION OPPORTUNITY ALERT.]
The day had the word 'extremes' written all over it. +Marc and I started out the day at Crossfit 42S (latitude) and had a nice workout. Dave, the coach leading the workout, gave us a reco for stopping off on the way down to our next destination - Port Arthur.
On the way down, we passed through the town on Dunalley, which suffered significant damage in early January from brushfires. For the folks outside of Australia, these were the ones that you actually heard about in the news in the global press. The damage was devastating and sobering to the both of us. Many fundraisers are still taking place and the community is still in recovery obviously.
Coach Dave told us to check out a spot called Blowhole because of how the water from the bay feeds into this one area on the peninsula. The kicker is that the Blowhole (that is the official name) is in a town called "Doo Town". This is where I expect the lack of maturity to kick in. It gets better. Each house in this very small town has a name with the word "Doo" incorporated in it (i.e., "Doo Me Right", "Thistle Doo Me" and my personal favorite "Doo F#@k All" with the owner literally sitting on the porch having a cigarette). It was so comical that Marc and I knew we had to take photos, which will be posted in the next day. Oh, and the Blowhole was actually pretty amazing along with the Tasman Arch because we actually saw our first echidna in the wild! Fun!
But we had Port Arthur on our itinerary because our friends in Melbourne, Chris and Shelly, recommended seeing the historic prison. Australia had its initial western settlers set up a penal colony for the British Empire and Tasmania, given its even more remote local, was set up to host a prison.
Needless to say, many bad events took place at Port Arthur, and one of the things Marc noticed was that many Roman ruins in Italy are in better condition than what we saw of buildings in the late 19th century. The reason for this was a combination of things - bushfires, vandals/thievery, and shame. Considerable debate took place as to whether the place should be completely destroyed given the atrocities that took place at Port Arthur or whether it should remain as a reminder of what took place. During this time, significant decay took place on many of the buildings.
That said, I think the government has done a great job trying to preserve the buildings and the history with some integrity. Unfortunately, the Port Arthur museum has been the site of more tragedy in recent times when a gunman opened fire, which resulted in the murder of many (mid 90s).
After the prison tour, we went to our B&B. Sometimes better lucky than good because we struck gold with the view and location. We pretty much had a beach all to ourselves, although it was a bit cool for sunbathing. Anyway we just enjoyed the view, caught a quick dinner, checked out an amazing sunset near where we were going to hike tomorrow and called it a day.
Another day where we considered ourselves lucky, grateful and better informed about where we are visiting. Good stuff. Thanks again for tuning in.
But being that we want to end these entries on more of a positive tone, we encourage you to imagine if you had a house in 'Doo Town' and what you would name it. :-)
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| The "Blowhole" |
On the way down, we passed through the town on Dunalley, which suffered significant damage in early January from brushfires. For the folks outside of Australia, these were the ones that you actually heard about in the news in the global press. The damage was devastating and sobering to the both of us. Many fundraisers are still taking place and the community is still in recovery obviously.
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| Echidnas look like porcupines but are more agile and more mobile than you would think |
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| Our favorite sign in "Doo Town" -- Go ahead and judge us |
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| Some of Port Arthur's historic prison grounds |
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| Yes, this was our view from our B&B |
After the prison tour, we went to our B&B. Sometimes better lucky than good because we struck gold with the view and location. We pretty much had a beach all to ourselves, although it was a bit cool for sunbathing. Anyway we just enjoyed the view, caught a quick dinner, checked out an amazing sunset near where we were going to hike tomorrow and called it a day.
Another day where we considered ourselves lucky, grateful and better informed about where we are visiting. Good stuff. Thanks again for tuning in.
But being that we want to end these entries on more of a positive tone, we encourage you to imagine if you had a house in 'Doo Town' and what you would name it. :-)