"Quick I cant find a pulse - get the crash cart.."
Trip Start
Oct 04, 2004
1
55
102
Trip End
Ongoing
Hobart,
Australia
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
We thought the entry fee of $26 was a bit steep, but we were assured it was well worth the money. We took the 20 minute ferry trip around an island used as a graveyard, and then joined a 40 minute walking tour around the prison. Although some parts were interesting, I'm not too sure it was worth the entry fee alone.
Luckily for me T felt the same way. Although finding out about the history of the English Prisoners was interesting, we didn't quite share Dan and Holly's enthusiasm for the old buildings we looked in! We felt like we were the children being dragged around stately homes by our parents, Dan and Holly (this happened a lot to me as a child!)
Maybe it's the sadist in me, but I actually found the massacre of tourists here in April 1996 more interesting. On that day, a lone gunman, Martin Bryant, walked into one of the many café's and shot at will, killing 35 people and injuring 18 people, Australia's worse massacre. The police eventually arrested him, so he's now locked up for life. Because of the killings, there is a permanent memorial dedicated to the victims. Although the empty shell of the café is still there, it felt quite weird to stand inside knowing what had happened.
Click here to jump to more info on the massacre, its quite interesting.
Before we left we took a quick look inside what is apparently 'The most haunted house in Australia,' conveniently located inside Port Arthur.
01. Port Arthur Prison
We checked all the rooms thoroughly, but alas, we were unlucky this time. [See Photo]Whilst driving down to Hobart, we pulled into a little town called Dootown. There isn't actually anything to do in this town, it had just become famous in the area because each house had a name with Doo in it. Funny house names we saw included doo-me, doomeup.com (this was a derelict run down building), justdooit, and dof**kall!
Whilst we were in Hobart, we were staying with another Aussie friend we had met in London. It was whilst we were eating dinner here I started having more difficulties with that bloody squid allergy again, it still hadn't gone away. I don't know why, but this time it got a bit more serious. The decision was to rush me to hospital. I thought it was just a fuss over nothing, but when my throat started swelling up, making it hard to breathe, I thought I'd better go and see someone!
So that's why, 3 days after eating that pesky squid, I was lying on a hospital bed hooked up to heart and breathing monitors! It didn't take the nurses long to work out what was wrong, so I was up and out in 2 hours. I made sure I was the polite, charming Englishmen, apologising for being a nuisance and taking up a bed that could have been used for a more important patient. - Yes very sleazy, but the nurses loved me and I walked out there with a hand full of free drugs and I didn't have to pay a penny for their services! Who needs travel insurance when you have a bit of charm!
