Darlington Probation Station and Port Arthur Historic Site

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Darlington Probation Station

   Maria Island lies just off Tasmania's east coast, and Darlington is the little settlement on its sheltered north-western shore where convicts, officials and later Italian entrepreneurs left their mark. No cars are allowed on the island and no one lives there permanently, so what you find is a quiet bay, a scatter of Georgian buildings and a lot of wildlife. You reach it by passenger ferry from Triabunna on the mainland, and the crossing takes about half an hour.

   Read the complete Darlington Probation Station write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Darlington Probation Station is where the day begins. Next is Coal Mines Historic Site.

2. 2. Coal Mines Historic Site

   The worst convicts in Van Diemen's Land were sent to Port Arthur, and the worst of those were sent here. The Coal Mines on the Tasman Peninsula, in southeastern Tasmania, were established in the 1830s to supply coal to the colony and to punish repeat offenders with hard labour underground. Men worked in dark, damp shafts and tunnels, hauling coal in terrible conditions, and solitary cells were built for those who broke the rules. The site was closed in the 1840s, and today the ruins of the barracks, cells, chapel and mine shafts lie scattered among the eucalyptus forest beside the sea. It is one of eleven places that make up the Australian Convict Sites World Heritage property, listed in 2010.

   Read the complete Coal Mines Historic Site write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Coal Mines Historic Site comes up about 72 km into the recorded legs. Next is Port Arthur Historic Site.

3. 3. Port Arthur Historic Site

   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.

   Read the complete Port Arthur Historic Site write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 101 km into the recorded legs you reach Port Arthur Historic Site. Next is back through Coal Mines Historic Site.

4. 4. back through Coal Mines Historic Site

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Coal Mines Historic Site write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Coal Mines Historic Site, late in the day. Next is Darlington Probation Station.

5. 5. Darlington Probation Station

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Darlington Probation Station write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Darlington Probation Station. That is the ride.