A cruisey day today with not far to go, about 100km. Stopped in Sorell and used the free wifi at Banjo’s cafe and bakery to upload some photos and read emails. Have had no internet for about five days now.
From Sorell drove out onto the Tasman Peninsula, over the man made Denison Canal and had a look at the Tessellated Pavement near Eaglehawk Neck. The pavement is a rock landform of horizontal rectangular patterns caused by fractures in the surface and the wetting and drying action of salts. A rectangular version of the hexagonal Giant’s Causeway in Ireland.
We were far too early for check-in at the Big 4 Port Arthur Holiday Park so went to check out how the parking, entry etc worked at the historic site. Our booking was good for two days and before we knew it we were ticketed in, had our identity lanyards and were reserved on a 1.30pm 40min. introductory walking tour and a 20min boat harbour cruise at 3pm. We used this to get a feel for the place, which is huge with over 30 buildings, and will come back and look in more detail tomorrow.
The weather wasn’t good, a strong, cold wind and frequent heavy showers with bright sunshine in between. About half the thousands of visitors were clad in blue $5 throwaway ponchos. We also took in a “live” theatre performance in the penitentiary which was excellent. After the boat ride we were both cold and a bit wet so went and checked into our little cabin. We found Jan and Brian who are also staying here – glamping! They are in what is called a Safari Tent, really quite cool compared to our basic cabin. The tent has a solid floor and solid walls around the bathroom but the rest including all the roof is canvas, and very fancy at that. It has kitchen appliances inside but the sink and a bbq are outside on the deck.
Even though Port Arthur has thousands of visitors each day there is very little accommodation and few eating places. It is only 90mins from Hobart and the vast majority of people are day trippers. After driving around with Brian and Jan for a bit the only place we could find for a meal was the restaurant /cafeteria at the historic site visitors’ centre. The restaurant was fully booked so it was fish and chips and a glass of wine in the caf.
Managed to get a little internet before we used up our (meagre) allocation. Tonight it is very windy, a bit rainy and friggin cold. There is a heat pump in the cabin but it is only programmed to cool and no other heating. Still we have electric blankets – ah, Tasmania in the summer!