Today we checked out Port Arthur on a day tour and returned for a ghost tour at night. Heading down from Hobart we checked out sites of natural beauty such as the Tesselated Pavement rocks, Tasman Arch, and Devil’s Kitchen. Because of the layout of these natural sites en route to the ‘main’ attraction we kept running into the same people at each site so the tip de jour is that you’d better not annoy someone at one site because you’ll see them again in a few minutes. Not a problem for me, of course, since I have a lovely personality that everyone wants more of but if you’re not as good as me, well, it’s worth bearing in mind…*grin*

We went on a guided walking tour which was not particularly exciting since we didn’t walk particularly far and the speech was a bit repetitive on the concept of “good behaviour =reward, bad behaviour = punishment” but we learned a couple of things that weren’t in the other literature or on-site signage. The cruise around the bay was part of the entry tour but the weather was not particularly encouraging for anyone to want to get off at Point Puir for a tour. It was pretty clear that a huge storm was coming and sitting on an isolated headland for an hour was a daft move so we headed back in without stopping, much to the potential guide’s relief.

The storm hit the site with gale force winds and teeming rain about 45 minutes later and everyone was sent scurrying for cover as the tempest raged. We later found out that the storm managed to uproot power lines and trees in the town we were staying in, as well as knocking out all analog television signals from 2pm - 9pm as a result of a lightning strike to the tower on Mt Wellington. WinTV (Channel Nine’s regional version) got good ratings apparently, being the only station still on air

Almost immediately the storm ceased the sun came out and as the remaining visitors came out of the various roofed buildings it was clear that 90% of people had raced to their cars and gone because the site was almost deserted. In the glorious sunshine and with the backdrop of birds chittering the only evidence of the recent storm was a few puddles on the ground and muddy footprints through the site.

Categories: Travel, Tasmania 2006