About 185 million years ago, during the Jurassic Era, as the supercontinent Gondwanaland broke up magma forced its way through sedimentary rock and cooled slowly to form dolerite columns. These columns guard the entrances to Port Arthur. Cape Raoul on … Continue reading Organ Pipes Redux, Cape Pillar.
Van Diemen’s Land was the was one of the most notorious penal colonies in the British Empire. In 1642 it was named by Abel Tasman, a Dutch Explorer, for his boss, the head of the Dutch East India Company. In … Continue reading A Terrible Beauty, Port Arthur
I first learned about Hobart from Pop. During the Second World War he was on a troop ship, the George Washington, sailing from San Francisco to Calcutta (as it was then known). They zigged and zagged for weeks. The first … Continue reading Tall Ships and Long Memories
Approaching and departing Port Arthur from the sea is breathtaking. We sailed in around Cape Pillar and out round Cape Raoul with rock formations called “The Organ Pipes” that reminded me of the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. Please enjoy … Continue reading Organ Pipes Sail By — Cape Raoul, Tasmania
Alaska’s former governor Wally Hickel really said that, pointing out that Walt Disney had it right, you need to enhance nature. Aside from the prison, there are formal gardens going down from the church, not as formal as they once … Continue reading “You Just Can’t Let Nature Run Wild” — Wally Hickel.
Port Arthur, Tasmania, I was going to call this post “The English Gulag” because Britain operated a string of penal colonies and labor camps throughout Australia to rid itself of criminals. Some of the “Convicts” were convicted of, essentially being … Continue reading Despair in a Beautiful Place
I am writing this Thursday afternoon. Wednesday we were hove to off the island of Tasmania, nose into the wind, blowing up to 90 knots, surrounded by green water, 9 meter (29 foot) seas and making no process. We made … Continue reading Public Art and Pocket Parks — Hobart
To my dad Hobart was a kind of heaven. He had been on a troop ship, the Washington, for a long time out of San Francisco. The Japanese had reported sinking her but she zig zagged safely through the North … Continue reading Fulfilling Pop’s Dream – Cruising into Hobart.