Little Lolly's Small Adventures: Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia. Excursion: Tasman Peninsula, Lavender Farm & Wine Tasting

Port Arthur - former convict settlement

The sun was out when the Maasdam dropped her anchor in the beautiful bay just off Port Arthur, a former 19th-century convict settlement which is now an open-air museum.

After a tender across the bay to the pier of the former settlement we had a bit of a walk through the grounds to the main entrance where we were met by our tour guide alongside our waiting bus.

As we drove along the Tasman Peninsula we had beautiful views of the coastline and bays. In 2013 there were fires on the peninsula and we could still see the remains of the fire in the form of blackened trees and recovering foliage.

View of Long Bay from Port Arthur Lavender Farm

We stopped at Port Arthur Lavender Farm which overlooks Long Bay. The owner gave us an interesting history about the original family farm that she and her husband inherited. In order to move forward they allocated some of the fields to cultivating lavender. Not knowing what to do with the lavender, they decided to distil it and produce lavender oil. They obtained a separate property, not far away, to open up a distillery for the lavender. Lavender is grown on the smaller property too but not on a huge scale. It takes 100kgs of lavender for 10ml lavender oil so lavender oil is very expensive. There is never any waste from the lavender cuttings - it goes into making paper. There were lavender soaps, lotions and potions that we could purchase, as well as lavender seasoning, lavender chocolate and lavender fudge. We were able to sample the lavender fudge and chocolate (yum) and then enjoyed a morning tea of scones with lavender in them, served with lavender cream, fresh tea or coffee. We also had time to wander around the property and distillery for a bit before heading off for our next destination.

Memorial of the 'dog line' at Eaglehawk Neck

We travelled to Eaglehawk Neck which is a narrow neck or isthmus that connects the Tasman Peninsula with mainland Tasmania. This neck was the only way in and out of Port Arthur Penal Colony via land. Because the narrow neck was a means of potential escape for convicts, it was heavily patrolled by guards and dogs (also known as the 'dog line'). Here we were able to visit the barracks (a simple wooden building with a few rooms) and wander along the famous dog line.

View from Pirates's Bay Lookout

Our next stop was to Pirates' Bay Lookout for a photographic and scenic break to see the Tasman Peninsula's cliffs, Pirates' Bay and beach. A whale was spotted in the bay as we were about to leave so we hurried on to our next spot - Tessellated Pavements - in the hope of seeing the whale from a lower point. Unfortunately we didn't get to see the whale again.

The Tessellated Pavement is flat expanse of 'tiled' rock which looks man-made but is not. The 'tiles' are a result of erosion. From a viewpoint one could look down onto it or, take a walk to some steps down onto the rocks. I didn't have time to take a walk down to the rocks because our wine tasting session was about to begin at the hotel across the road.

Tessellated Pavement

The wines were from Bream Creek and the owner gave a talk about his vineyard and wines as we tasted 4 types of wines. This was accompanied by savoury biscuits and cheese. Unfortunately I'm not a wine drinker so I couldn't tell one red wine from another let alone one white wine from another despite their different names. I barely got through the tasting because, to me, the wines tasted awful; but I was polite and gave them a try.

There was a bit of time after the wine tasting before we headed back to Port Arthur so I took a walk down to Tessellated Pavement to take a few photographs.

Heading back to the ship in the tender

Our journey back to Port Arthur was uneventful. There was a good 1½ hours before the last tender so a few guests decided to wander around the grounds of the historic sight. I decided not to do so and caught a tender back to the ship.

About 3:30pm the ship drew up her anchor and headed out of the beautiful bay, setting sail towards Sydney.

Leaving Port Arthur and heading out of the bay

Shore Excursions needed help with folding brochures so I went down to help. The shore excursions staff had to open up their desk for customers so they left us to it at around 4pm so there was just me and the doctor's wife collating the brochure pages and stapling them. Nobody else came to help. Paul popped by just before 6pm. He was hungry and wanted to eat. I didn't want to leave ("the job's not done until the paperwork is done") so Paul took over the stapling (he didn't have to help but it was kind of him to do so, and I enjoyed his company). I helped the doctor's wife with collating the brochure pages for a short while until she left - she and her hubby were hosting a table for guests. Paul and I continued with collating brochure pages and stapling, and were finished around about 7pm. We popped by shore excursions to let them know that we had finished putting the brochures together and boxed them; and then headed up for much needed dinner.

Our route from Port Arthur to Sydney

Our backs were very stiff so after dinner we went to the spa and lay on the hot stone beds for a bit to get some heat into the muscles. I also found the warm water from the mineral pool helped.

I think we will sleep well tonight!

PHOTOGRAPHS

Port Arthur Convict Settlement