Port Arthur...

Australians and Americans don't have much in common, but one thing they share is their understanding of their heritage. I still remember everyone I met in the states trying their best to convince me that they were Irish too! One person even said, "Oh I love that irish movie, you know, the one with Mel Gibson!"

"Braveheart?"

"Yeah That's the one!"

Well thankfully the Australians aren't quite so bad, but a lot of them are very aware of their ancestry. Often this makes for interesting conversation because their ancestors were convicts from Ireland and the U.K.  Yesterday I spent the day at Port Arthur, the site of a famous prison here in Tasmania. It was fascinating! I started with a guided tour of some of the site by Joooaaaaaaaiiiiiimes. (Thats his own pronunciation for his name- James) He had the funniest accent, clearly Australian but mixed with a pinch of I'm-gonna-try-really-hard-to-annunciate-so-you-foreigners-can-understand. Brilliant!

I then took a boat ride out around the harbour stopping for a tour of The Island Of The Dead. Sounds promising doesn't it? Its a tiny island just off the coast where they buried 2000 prisoners and guards who died whilst at Port Arthur. This tour was from Shelly. If I thought Jooooaaaaaaiimes was a funny character, then Shelly took it to another level. The tour was supposed to be 40 mins long. She spent approx 37 of those precious minutes telling us about one of her convict ancestors that she'd written a book about! It sounds terrible but it was classic! She was one passionate woman! Some of the stories were remarkable. It's hard to believe how these people were treated, some of them as young as 9 years old!

I finished the day by taking an audio tour of the entire site (how many tours can I fit in one day!) Part of it told the story of a Sergeant Phillip Good who got punched by one of the other guards. Must go look into that further. There was also a Good convict (get it), Thomas. Maybe there's more to my family than meets the eye! This explains why I'm always checking for exits when lining up at the bank!

Altogether, it was a fascinating day. The site was basically beautiful gardens and buildings steeped in years of Australian history- what more tourist could ask for more?