At the end of the Tasman Peninsula, south-east of Hobart, the ruins of Port Arthur sit on a quiet green bay surrounded by eucalyptus forest, and it is hard to imagine a more beautiful place for such a grim history. From 1830 to 1877 it was a penal settlement for convicts who had committed further crimes in the colonies, a place of hard labour, harsh punishment and, later, a model prison where silence and isolation were supposed to reform the mind. The great sandstone shell of the penitentiary, the church, the separate prison and the houses of officials still stand in the grounds, and the boat trip to the Isle of the Dead, where convicts and free settlers were buried, completes the picture. Port Arthur is one of the eleven Australian Convict Sites inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2010.
The site also carries a recent tragedy. In 1996, a gunman killed thirty-five people at and around Port Arthur, the worst mass shooting in modern Australian history, which led to the country's strict gun laws. A memorial garden at the site remembers the victims, and visitors are asked to approach the subject with respect.
The ride from Hobart is a pleasure. The Arthur Highway crosses the causeway at Sorell and the narrow isthmus at Dunalley, then reaches Eaglehawk Neck, a strip of land only a few dozen metres wide where convicts trying to escape were stopped by a line of chained dogs. Nearby, the Tessellated Pavement, a natural rock platform cracked into neat tiles, the Tasman Arch and the Devil's Kitchen, sea cliffs carved by the waves, are worth a stop. The road winds through forest and along the coast with good surfaces and moderate traffic, but beware of wildlife at dusk and dawn: wallabies, pademelons and possums are often on the road, and roadkill is common.
The small towns on the peninsula have limited services, so fill up at Sorell before you go. There are cafés and a restaurant at the historic site itself, and the coast offers fresh seafood, especially oysters from the local farms. The weather can change quickly, with cold winds from the Southern Ocean even in summer, so bring layers.