Day 138: Port Arthur and Hobart

This was one of the best days of the entire season. One of the longest days of the entire season, too (until we face our travel day home, at least). There is much to tell you about a day that started in one port, moved to another port and finished with fireworks and drinks along the water in Hobart during the Royal Hobart Regatta. Very fun!

The day was rather overcast, and I know it was in the high 90Fs here just a few days ago, but where did that weather go? Instead we were faced with temps in the low 60s that felt even chillier along the water. And we spent our entire day along the water. 

We started with a quick breakfast in the World Fresh Marketplace, returned to the cabin to dress in jackets (and I had my wool headband around my neck, but it quickly moved up to my head once we were in the tender), and went to the Harmony Restaurant to collect Elite tender tickets to go ashore. Whether due to the wind or the ship size, the Majestic Princess was anchored quite a bit further from shore than the Ruby Princess had been. And despite the fact that there were five ship tenders being used to shuttle passengers ashore, it was a time-consuming process. Port Arthur conducts its own boat tours of the area, and their large catamaran took up one pier. It seemed like two Majestic Princess tenders could squeeze in along the other pier, but that wasn’t often done. Instead, we sat in the tender for at least 30 minutes waiting for dock space to become available. As I’ve said before, these Royal Class tenders are great... but there are a lot of people on these ships. 

Finally we were ashore, and we first went to the Port Arthur Visitors Center to book seats on the free boat tour over to the Isle of the Dead (the Port Arthur cemetery) and Point Puer, the site of a boys reformatory in the mid-1800s. There is a nice narrative that goes along with this, and we gained some additional good information from it. 

We next spent a bit of time on the lowest level of the imposing Penitentiary building, where the most hardened criminals were housed. The remains of the cells show how extremely small they were, with the only light coming in a narrow window at the back. No, thank you. 

These pics are just because I loved the flowers. 

Great hiking weather

Port Arthur Historic Site from the water


The lowest level of the Penitentiary housed the most hardened criminals 

The ruins of the building, which was gutted by fire, have been shored up with bracing and wire. 

Very small cells

Note the anchors for shackles in the walls

The guard tower

And then we set out to walk the opposite direction we had walked two years ago, to Carnarvon Beach on a path through the woods along the waterfront. This was such a fun walk. We encountered very few other people (a real plus at this point in the season), the path was wide and very obvious and fairly flat. We made it to Carnarvon Beach in the next bay south of Port Arthur, and continued on the Point Puer Road along the water to the Point Puer Trail. We looked long and hard for an echidna in the undergrowth, like we had seen two years ago, but weren’t so lucky this time. We were dressed appropriately, the day was never hot, and it was perfect afternoon of walking. 

We hiked right along the water

A beautiful walk

Carnarvon Beach

Does anyone know what this is?

As soon as we reached the end of the Point Puer Trail, we needed to turn around and start back. The last tender from shore to the ship was at 4pm, and we had been keeping track of how long we had walked so we wouldn’t get left behind. Not that that would have been a disaster; the Majestic Princess sailed to Hobart, arriving there at 8:30pm for an overnight stay. Hobart is less than two hours from Port Arthur by road, but if our tardiness had resulted in the ship arriving in Hobart late tonight, we wouldn’t have been very popular with anyone board, crew and passengers alike (there was a spectacle awaiting us in Hobart- read on- and the crew loves their overnights in port). 

Once back on board, I was going to get showered before dinner, but G pointed out that we’d most likely be going out again after dark in Hobart, so it didn’t make sense to get too cleaned up. Besides, we were more hungry than dirty after our 19000+ step day, and instead shared a pizza from Alfredo’s, leading me to offer that comment that gets said at least once a season: Hurry up and finish eating so we can go to dinner. ;-)

We limited dinner to just one course each, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery from our window-side table as the Majestic Princess cruised along the steep rock cliffs of Tasman National Park. I love overnights in Hobart for several reasons, the biggest one being the beautiful scenery between Hobart and Port Arthur that gets missed if the overnight isn’t scheduled. 

Day 6 dinner menu, page 1

Day 6 dinner menu, page 2

Day 6 dessert menu

We watched from the Hollywood Conservatory as the ship entered Hobart Harbour. It was finally cleared by the local authorities for passengers to proceed ashore about 8:30pn, but we didn’t leave the ship right away. Today was the middle day of the three-day Royal Hobart Regatta, and there was a large fireworks show scheduled for 9:30pm over the water next to the Regatta grounds, just beyond the port terminal. It was chilly, and we chose to watch from the Open Deck Behind the World Fresh Marketplace as it felt a little warmer there, despite the fact that the Harbour Control Tower blocked a tiny bit of the view. I love fireworks (and am missing the Friday night fireworks in Hawaii), and this was a great show. 

Royal Hobart Regatta fireworks with the Tasman Bridge in the background

After the show, we walked off the ship and along the waterfront to a pier where there are several restaurants and bars with outdoor seating. The area was packed; Regatta weekend is obviously a very big deal. We finally returned to the ship just after midnight. It had been a fantastic day, and there are lots of Regatta activities scheduled all day tomorrow. They will give us nice options for our fourth visit to Hobart this season...assuming we have the energy to even get off the ship, that is. I think if I was boarding a flight from Sydney to LAX right now, I’d sleep the whole 14 hours.🥱

Day 6 Princess Patter, page 1

Day 6 Princess Patter, page 2

Day 6 Princess Patter, page 3

Day 6 Princess Patter, page 4

Day 42: Port Arthur, Tasmania

Sometimes on these Tasmania itineraries, the ship overnights in Hobart and then sails at 6am the next day for Port Arthur, arriving at 9am or so. Or, if done in reverse order, it will depart Port Arthur about 5pm and arrive in Hobart about 8pm, overnighting and spending the next day there. We like those occurrences; in addition to having an overnight in Hobart, we travel the distance between the two ports in daylight. The scenery is spectacular the entire way. 

But we did neither of those scenarios on this cruise. We left Hobart about 11pm last night (at least we were scheduled to; I woke up at some time during the night and could tell we were at sea), and when we awoke this morning, we were in the long harbor that is home to the Port Arthur Historic Site. This is a gorgeous area, with views in every direction. 

The distance between Hobart and Port Arthur is only 30 or so miles by boat

The webcam view this morning 

G was up and out of the cabin before 7am. He had his first breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room...and his second with me in the Horizon Court Buffet about 9am. It was a beautifully clear morning, but very cold, in the low 40s. We decided to wait until it warmed up a bit before we tendered over to Port Arthur. At about 10:30am, we left the ship for what seemed like a very short tender ride (compared to the Queensland tenders last cruise) to shore. 

View toward the mouth of the harbor

Looking toward Port Arthur from the tender.

The small island on the right is the Island of the Dead, where over 

1000 prisoners and Port Arthur workers are buried. 

If you followed our travels two years ago, or if you are Australian, you know that, from 1833 to 1877, Port Arthur was a penal settlement housing more than 2000 convicts, military staff and civilian employees and their families. Though most people arrive at Port Arthur by road and pay an admission fee to enter the grounds, we lucky cruisers are tendered into a dock on the back side of the site, near what was once the shipyard. Our entrance fee is paid through our port fees, and includes an overview walking tour and a boat ride around the Island of the Dead, which served as the cemetery, and near Point Puer, home to the first juvenile reform center in the British Empire. 

We walked around the site a bit, and spent some time in the Visitors Center. This was under construction the first time we visited Port Arthur, and we didn’t really spend enough time there to do it justice during our second visit. Afterward, we took a boat tour (included) around the harbor, past the Island of the Dead and the area where Point Puer had been located. A large fire at Port Arthur in the 1890s left many of the buildings in ruins. While they have all been shored up to be safe, a decision was made to not restore them to their original condition. 

The penitentiary 

The commandant’s house

The Island of the Dead

The area where Point Puer, the boys’ reformatory once stood

We returned to the ship around 2pm. The Melbourne Cup horse race, a very big deal in Australia, was taking place at 3pm, and was going to be shown on the MUTS screen and in Club Fusion, where a fashion and hat contest would take place before hand, and where there would be an Australian sing along.  An Australian sing along?  Count me in. I love partying with Aussies; they definitely know how to have fun!  I sat with a couple who had placed bets on the race, and cheered as the lady’s choice, Vow and Declare, won the race. She had placed a bet for each of her grandchildren and couldn’t wait to tell them they were all winners. 

There was just enough time to get cleaned up for the evening. G went to the Elite Lounge in Skywalkers, but I haven’t yet made it up there (because he’s been the first in the bathroom to get showered lately). We met up in the DaVinci Dining Room for the Italian night menu. I had the sautéed prawns and sea scallops served with broccoli and lemoncello sorbet for dessert. We hadn’t eaten lunch and it was nice to sit down for a meal feeling hungry for a change.

Day 4 dinner menu, page 1

Day 4 dinner menu, page 2

Day 4 dessert menu 

Sautéed prawns and sea scallops served with broccoli

The entertainment in the Princess Theater was production show Magic to Do, and we just weren’t feeling it tonight. Instead we went to the Horizon Court Buffet for coffee and watched the sunset from the Terrace Deck. Reader Cheryl sent me the most wonderful analysis of the factors that would increase our odds of seeing the Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) and our alarm is set for midnight tonight to go out on the Terrace Deck to look for them. Thank you so much, Cheryl!  Is there anything you don’t know??  ;-)

Our scenic cruising of Oyster and Wineglass Bays in Freycinet National Park begins at 7am tomorrow morning. We’ll have to re-set that alarm after our search for the Southern Lights to make sure we don’t miss a second of views. 

A chilly sunset from the Terrace Deck

Port Arthur Port Guide, page 1

Port Arthur Port Guide, page 2

Port Arthur Port Guide, page 3

Port Arthur Port Guide, page 4

Day 4 Princess Patter, page 1

Day 4 Princess Patter, page 2

Day 4 Princess Patter, page 3

Day 4 Princess Patter, page 4