This has been a busy week for travelling. I have this weekend off so we decided travel down 
the east coast to Hobart. Thank you to all the folks a IUC as we were able to use your gift to spend four nights on the road. We left on Thursday and went down the center of the island and then headed to the coast to a small town called Swansea. There were many swans in the area and I don't know if that has anything to do with the name. It was a very friendly town as I met several people on the street who wanted to have long conversations and of course made recommendations of where to eat. The town has a general store that had anything you could think of for sale. It was fun to 
walk through the store. Across the bay from Swansea is sandy beach called Nine Mile Beach. We walked along the beach and Bruce noticed something out in the water. We think it was a whale as it was so large and in the picture you can see what we think is its tail (sorry it is sideways but I can't post it any other way). We both saw it but the picture really doesn't show how big it was. We spent the night at Swansea and our hotel was right on the ocean front. It was very warm sitting in the sun. Two children from the room next to us kept running into the water which really was very cold but they didn't seem to mind. The next day we headed down the coast to Port Arthur. It was a beautiful drive with lots of sun and little villages on the coast. Port Arthur is a restoration of the site of one of the most notorious penitentiaries in Australia. It is so large we spent the night and ou
r motel was so close to
Port Arthur that you could see the buildings from our balcony. Convicts sent to Port Arthur were repeat offenders. It is also the site of the first prison for boys. This prison was on an island, Point Puer, just in the harbour next to Port Arthur. The youngest boy to serve time there was only 9 and his crime was stealing toys. The boys were taught trades but it was a very harsh life for them. The slogan for the penitentiary was "a machine for grinding rogues honest". It was quite a disturbing place to visit especially the separate prison. Prisoners sentenced to this part of the prison were not allowed to talk or see other prisoners. They did not have a name o
nly a number and when they left their cell they were required to wear a hood over their face. They were only allowed out of their cells for one hour a day and on Sunday to church and each pew had partions between the seats. The penitentiary was put in this place because of its location. It is almost like an island with only a small section of land attaching it to the rest of Tasmania. This is called Eagle Hawk Neck and was easy to guard by soldiers and dogs. We saw the quarters the guards lived. There is a statue of one of the dogs and it looks quite viscous. On Saturday we drove leisurely to Hobart. Hobart is a large city and half the people in Tasmania live here. We are staying in a very old hotel on the waterfront. The hotel was first built in 1846 and in the restaurant and pub they have kept some of the ambiance and the rooms are very comfortable. This morning we went to W
esley Hobart Uniting church. It was a great servic
e a
s on the first Sunday of the month is a special family service. It felt like home as the first hymn was Part of the Family. This church was established in 1820. A beautiful sanctuary. The plaque on the corner stone says it was placed there by John Franklin, arctic explorer and Governor of Tasmania. In the afternoon we went to the top of Mou
nt Wellington which is on the edge of Hobart. It was a very narrow twisty road and when we go to the top it was very cold and windy but the view was awesome. To finish our Sunday we went on a Harbour Supper Cruise. It was a very nice meal and the cruise was very relaxing as we were told stories of the past and saw all the city lights from the water.
the east coast to Hobart. Thank you to all the folks a IUC as we were able to use your gift to spend four nights on the road. We left on Thursday and went down the center of the island and then headed to the coast to a small town called Swansea. There were many swans in the area and I don't know if that has anything to do with the name. It was a very friendly town as I met several people on the street who wanted to have long conversations and of course made recommendations of where to eat. The town has a general store that had anything you could think of for sale. It was fun to 
walk through the store. Across the bay from Swansea is sandy beach called Nine Mile Beach. We walked along the beach and Bruce noticed something out in the water. We think it was a whale as it was so large and in the picture you can see what we think is its tail (sorry it is sideways but I can't post it any other way). We both saw it but the picture really doesn't show how big it was. We spent the night at Swansea and our hotel was right on the ocean front. It was very warm sitting in the sun. Two children from the room next to us kept running into the water which really was very cold but they didn't seem to mind. The next day we headed down the coast to Port Arthur. It was a beautiful drive with lots of sun and little villages on the coast. Port Arthur is a restoration of the site of one of the most notorious penitentiaries in Australia. It is so large we spent the night and ou
r motel was so close to
Port Arthur that you could see the buildings from our balcony. Convicts sent to Port Arthur were repeat offenders. It is also the site of the first prison for boys. This prison was on an island, Point Puer, just in the harbour next to Port Arthur. The youngest boy to serve time there was only 9 and his crime was stealing toys. The boys were taught trades but it was a very harsh life for them. The slogan for the penitentiary was "a machine for grinding rogues honest". It was quite a disturbing place to visit especially the separate prison. Prisoners sentenced to this part of the prison were not allowed to talk or see other prisoners. They did not have a name o
nly a number and when they left their cell they were required to wear a hood over their face. They were only allowed out of their cells for one hour a day and on Sunday to church and each pew had partions between the seats. The penitentiary was put in this place because of its location. It is almost like an island with only a small section of land attaching it to the rest of Tasmania. This is called Eagle Hawk Neck and was easy to guard by soldiers and dogs. We saw the quarters the guards lived. There is a statue of one of the dogs and it looks quite viscous. On Saturday we drove leisurely to Hobart. Hobart is a large city and half the people in Tasmania live here. We are staying in a very old hotel on the waterfront. The hotel was first built in 1846 and in the restaurant and pub they have kept some of the ambiance and the rooms are very comfortable. This morning we went to W
esley Hobart Uniting church. It was a great servic
e a
s on the first Sunday of the month is a special family service. It felt like home as the first hymn was Part of the Family. This church was established in 1820. A beautiful sanctuary. The plaque on the corner stone says it was placed there by John Franklin, arctic explorer and Governor of Tasmania. In the afternoon we went to the top of Mou
nt Wellington which is on the edge of Hobart. It was a very narrow twisty road and when we go to the top it was very cold and windy but the view was awesome. To finish our Sunday we went on a Harbour Supper Cruise. It was a very nice meal and the cruise was very relaxing as we were told stories of the past and saw all the city lights from the water. 
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