Day 302: Port Arthur — Sullivans Cove Whisky — Richmond — Back to Hobart
Our time at Stewart’s Bay felt like one of the shortest of any overnight this year. We’ve had other one-night stays but after an evening arrival yesterday we had to pack up and check out by 10 this morning. Breakfast didn’t start until 9am (maybe the latest of what feels like thousands of hotel breakfasts we’ve had this year) so we had all the bags in the car and turned in the keys before heading to the restaurant.
Willa had a video call with NYC buddy Ava after breakfast and then we headed out to the walking path, enroute to the Port Arthur Historical Site.
I had jogged this path this morning. After heavy rain last night it was a crystal clear morning.
There was a retired couple doing an overnight on this boat. Looks peaceful!
When I jogged by around 7am it the boat was all closed up. On my way back around 7:30 they had come up on deck for coffee. By the time the whole fam walked back down this path after breakfast the husband was baiting his lines for a little morning fishing. A couple hours later the boat would be gone. Life in Tasmania.
It’s about a 15 minute walk to the site. The kids were playing with sticks and dirt — and whining if we got too far ahead of them. We’ve said this before but they’ve gotten used to being kept so close to us for a lot of this trip (busy sites, airports, crossing Vietnamese streets) that they freak out a bit when we are walking ahead — even on a completely safe path with absolutely no one else on it.
Correction: we did pass an echidna searching for a mid-morning ant snack.
Port Arthur is a convict settlement built in the 18th and 19th centuries. It’s not just a jail — it was an entire town community and many of the buildings have been preserved.
We walked by the old dock yard…
Then to the visitors center.
We picked up our pre-purchased lanyards but decided to explore on our own, skipping the walking tour and boat tour included with the tickets.
We knew this was going to be a short visit for a couple reasons: One, it was already a late start to the day because of the late breakfast and we wanted to make a couple stops before heading back to Hobart. Two, as we’ve stated here recently, the kids tolerance for any sort of grownup-talk tour has decreased to exactly zero. They’ve maxed out for the year and will actively ignore or just walk away to find something more interesting to do.
When we got our lanyards we were each given a playing card with a drawing of a Port Arthur local. We then matched our card with an identical card on a just inside the entrance to the visitor center museum, pulled out the drawer and read a short historical bio of this person. This was a great way to get people to make their way through the museum.
Also in the museum was a touch screen console that encouraged you to enter a name so it could search a database of all the convicts who did time at Port Arthur. We found Margaret Sullivan and James Sullivan.
We strolled around the old penitentiary building…
We took the same path back to get our car at the Stewarts Bay Lodge, stopping for 15 minutes or so on this little beach. We had it all to ourselves.
First stop on the way back to Hobart was the Sullivan’s Cove Whiskey distillery. We tasted this brand for the first time at Bluestone restaurant in Launceston and oh man, wish we could have stayed in this cozy spot for a tasting. But the kids were anxious for lunch and nobody wanted those two rugrats killing the vibe in there.
A super nice guy greeted us and asked if we wanted a tasting. We said no, but that we had stopped by because we’re Sullivans! He loved this news and gave us two free beenie hats branded with Sullivan’s Cove. We bought a branded flask.
Turns out Sullivan’s Cove is considered very good — crazy expensive (hundreds per bottle) and has won a bunch of awards. Apparently it’s such small batch stuff that it’s really hard to get outside of this actual distillery.
Another 15 min on the road and we got to Richmond, a little village about 20 minutes from Hobart that attracts a bunch of Sunday day-trippers. We had lunch at an adorable and delicious family run spot called Czegs Cafe. Credit to Google for helping us find this one.
We walked around the block to The Richmond Bakery so James could cash in a school related reward: one sweet in exchange for 5 straight days of “free journal writing” without help from dad. We all had sweets of our own to celebrate his accomplishment. Margaret and I both admit that we have no idea if it’s bad to offer rewards for things like journal writing.
It was kinda surreal being back at the Old Woolstore Hotel again — and back in room 134! — after a two-week, clockwise road trip around Tasmania. It’s a really gorgeous place with kind people, stunning nature and an tragic yet fascinating history. I loved having a set plan for where we would stay each night but driving our own car and being on our own program every day. I believe Tassie will age well in our memories.
Sydney tomorrow!
MISC:
James on jails and bad guys: Sometimes when you do something against the law you can get dead. Like crossing the street when the light is red.
I haven’t shaved since before we got to Tassie. Won’t call this a “beard” but it’s as long as I’ve ever gone. It’s likely coming off tomorrow morning.
