Port Arthur Ghost Tour

Well, what a day I had on the Port Arthur Ghost Tour. Departing from Hobart at 11am we made our way towards the historic village of Richmond, stopping briefly on the way at Risdon Cove for a photo opportunity.

In Richmond, the tour group had a chance to see and photograph Australia's oldest bridge; the famous Richmond Bridge. I discovered that Richmond Bridge was constructed by convicts from Sandstone and took 17 months to build; completed in 1825.

Richmond is home to many beautiful Georgian buildings and I quickly got photos of the main properties. The journey continued, stopping at Pirates Bay Lookout for views over towards Eaglehawk Neck and a quick photo opportunity.

Tasman Arch and Devil's Kitchen is our next stop where we had a brief walk and several photo opportunities of these natural rock formations created by the pounding sea.

Along the journey we are treated to a DVD that outlines the life of one of the real Port Arthur convicts and how his harsh treatment and quest for freedom shaped his hard life.

Now we arrive at Port Arthur, the highlight of the day. It is a huge area that encapsulates over thirty buildings including ruins and restored houses. Having had a good look around in daylight, we have chance to quickly check out the gallery / museum area and grab a quick meal.

Then it's the Ghost Tour, pitch black outside and conducted by lantern our guide gave us Ghost Stories from his experiences and those of other previous visitors. In summary it was well worth witnessing the Port Arthur Historic Site both in the day and at night.

The tour I went on was extremely well organised, the guide was informative and helpful, the DVD made the journey interesting and the stops on the way to view additional attractions was an added bonus.

The positives of this tour where:

# Small group of around 10 people meant we got to know each other on the journey.
# Several stops at points of interest along the way made the journey seem shorter than it was.
# Tour started at a reasonable time of day meaning I wasn't tired all day like many "early start" tours I've been on.
# Seeing Port Arthur in the daytime and night time in one journey was a bonus.
# DVD on the way gave me a real idea of how harsh life at Port Arthur could be.
# The driver / Guide was informative and friendly.
# Mini bus was modern and air conditioned.

Negatives if I had to give any:

# Not really a negative as this was a Port Arthur tour after all, but if I had to be picky, having only one hour in Richmond gave me chance to take photos but not fully investigate some of the many attractions of the village. I did see the key points of interest and decided to visit Richmond again another day for a half day or so.