Tasmania Trip 2019: Day 3 Launceston to Port Arthur

Day 3 Wednesday 18/9/19

-Cataract gorge, Tasman Arch, Devils Kitchen, Blowhole, -Road trip to Port Arthur & Port Arthur ghost tour

Today started with a breakfast call of 7.30am, a full hot and cold breakfast buffet for students to have anything and everything they wanted! From toast, bacon, eggs, croissants, cereal, hash browns and more!

We left our amazing accomodation behind at Tamar Valley and headed for a morning of walking and beautiful sights of Cataract Gorge. This special piece of Launceston is like experiencing wilderness in the heart of a city.
We walked along the cliff walls of the gorge stopping for a group photo!
Along the way peacocks can be seen walking along with their bright blue and green feathers. We walked along the suspension bridge originally constructed in 1940. We walked a little further, turning right instead of left to expend some more energy!
We finished at the gorge basin pool and park area where students got a drink, played at

the park, more photos of peacocks and a few choosing to experience the single span chairlift across the basin of the Gorge, believed to be the longest single chairlift in the world.

We jumped on the bus to head off to Port Arthur, this will be a bit of a drive with a lunch stop on the way! On the way to the accomodation, we made two brief stops: one to a blowhole and another to devils kitchen as well as the Tasman arch. These stops allowed us to take in the true beauty that Tasmania has to offer.

After checking into our cabins at White Beach Tourist Park we made our way back onto the bus and headed to the main area of Port Arthur. Port Arthur is a village and historic site in southern Tasmania. It was a 19th century penal settlement and is now an open air museum acknowledge by the United Nations as a sacred site and heritage listed. Some of the ruins there included a huge penitentiary, the remaining shell of the convict church and the solitary confinement cells in the seperate prison building which were used to inflict mental punishment in the place of floggings.

This site is where we participated in a ghost tour. Previous recordings showed that 10,000 paranormal experiences have occurred within this area. Our tour guides Michelle and Meade confirmed these statistics with some of their own personal stories about feeling touches, hearing noises and seeing figures roam around the old buildings. After continuously looking over our shoulders for 90 minutes, we headed to the upstairs area of the Port Arthur historic site where we enjoyed Shepardʼs pie or fish and chips, with fruit crumble and ice cream for dessert.

After a day full of exploration and amazing sites we headed back to White Beach Tourist Park to rest up and get ready for the day to come.

We also made a friend who Miss B named “Kingston” the Kookaburra (see photos), Connor was brave enough to get up-close!

By Alannah and Olivia.