Victoria and Tasmania, amazing states in Australia

Our aviator from Melbourne to Burnie in northern Tasmania.

Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania at the juncture of the North Esk, South Esk, and Tamar rivers. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart. With a population of 103,325 Launceston is the ninth largest non-capital city in Australia.

Some names in Tasmania give a reminder to names in Switzerland. Later we'll pass Interlaken in Tasmania.

Near the village Triabunna a small place with only 800 inhabitants.

On the way from Triabunna to Bicheno at the east coast.

The luxury liner Diamond Princess at the background behind the marina.

Hobart's harbor is one of the finest in the world. During beautiful morning light we were leaving the harbor for Port Arthur, a one day excursion to the former Australia's largest penal station.

Diamond Princess is a luxury cruising ship, touring in the waters of Australia and New Zealand. When we left Hobart for our excursion the ship was in Hobart's harbor for a two day stopover. Look to the two paddle boats in contrast to the giant luxury cruising ship.

Betsey Island, along with the adjacent Little Betsey Island and Betsey Reef, forms a nature reserve with an area of 176 ha in south-eastern Tasmania.

They are part of the Betsey Island Group, lying close to the south-eastern coast of Tasmania around the entrance to the Derwent River. With an estimated 15,000 pairs breeding there, it is an important site for Little Penguins and many walruses.

Port Arthur is a small town and former convict settlement on the Tasman Peninsula, in Tasmania. It is one of Australia's most significant heritage areas and the open air museum is officially Tasmania's top tourist attraction. It is located approximately 60 km south east of the state capital, Hobart. In 1996 it was the scene of the worst mass murder event in post-colonial Australian history. On 28 April 1996, Martin Bryant went on a killing spree at Port Arthur, murdering 35 people and wounding 21 more before being captured by Special Operatives Police. This led to a national ban on semi-automatic shotguns and rifles. Its a sad shadow over the touristic attraction which origin already is a shadow in humans history.

Mason Cove is the bay with the landing pier for arriving boats and ships bringing new prisoners to the cruel settlement. At the left side are the remains and a memory sign for the new cruel event happened on 28 April 1996: The Port Arthur massacre was a killing spree which claimed the lives of 35 people and wounded 21 others mainly at the historic[citation needed] Port Arthur prison colony, a popular tourist site in south-eastern Tasmania, Australia. Martin Bryant, a 28-year-old from New Town, a suburb of Hobart, eventually pleaded guilty to the crimes and was given 35 life sentences without possibility of parole. He is now interned in the Wilfred Lopes Centre near Risdon Prison. The Port Arthur massacre remains Australia's deadliest killing spree and one of the deadliest such incidents worldwide in recent times. At the present July. 2011 there was a very similar mega-crime in Norway done by the criminal madman Anders Breivik killing 76 innocent people.

The place where the commands house was located to have an overview at the whole settlement.

Before Port Arthur was abandoned as a Prison in 1877, people was the potential tourist attraction. David Burn, who visited the Prison in 1842, was awed by the Peninsula’s beauty and believed that many would come to visit it. This opinion was not shared by all. For example, Anthony Trollope in 1872 declared that no man desired to see the “strange ruins” of Port Arthur. After the Prison closed much of the property was put up for auction. However, most of the property was not sold until 1889. By this time, the area had become increasing popular and the prison buildings were in decay. As the Hobart Mercury proclaimed,"the buildings themselves are fast going to decay, and in a few years will attract nobody; for they will be ruins without anything to make them worthy of respect, or even remembrance." The decay was seen as something positive as the Tasmanian population wished to distance themselves from the dark image of Port Arthur. Those who bought Port Arthur property began tearing down the buildings, the destruction was furthered by the fires of 1895 and 1897 which destroyed the old prison house, and earth tremors[9]. In place of the Prison Port Arthur, the town of Carnarvon was born. The town was named after the British Secretary of State and the population was said to be “refined and intellectual.” The town brought in many visitors as they encouraged boating, fishing and shooting in the natural beauty of the Peninsula. They again wished to remove the negative connation attached to the area. Despite this wish, the haunting stories of Port Arthur prisoners and circulating ghost stories brought popularity to the remaining prison ruins. This was helped by the popular novels “For the Term of His Natural Life” (1874) by Marcus Clarke and “The Broad Arrow” (1859) by Caroline Leakey, which concerned themselves about convicts in Port Arthur.

Despite its reputation as a pioneering institution for the new, enlightened view of imprisonment, Port Arthur was still in reality as harsh and brutal as other penal settlements. Some critics might even suggest that its use of psychological punishment, compounded with no hope of escape, made it one of the worst. Some tales suggest that prisoners committed murder (an offence punishable by death) just to escape the desolation of life at the camp. The Island of the Dead was the destination for all who died inside the prison camps. Of the 1646 graves recorded to exist there, only 180, those of prison staff and military personnel, are marked. The prison closed in 1877.