Exploring the Tasman Peninsula

Some Facts About the Tasman Peninsula

There is much more to the Tasman Peninsula than just the Port Arthur Prison, so I headed off to document some of it for you.

Pugsley and Albert join the Eaglehawk Neck Dog line

In further posts I will be looking at some of the weird and wonderful points of interest including: Eaglehawk Neck dog-line, Convict Coal Mine, Australia's First (convict powered) Railway,  and Unzoo, along with the towns of Nubeena, the largest town on the Tasman Peninsula; Eaglehawk Neck and Tarawa - as well as details of the many available caravan parks, RV and tent campsites, so it would be well worth your time to bookmark this blog for future reference.

Lying to the south and west of Eaglehawk Neck, the Tasman Peninsula has an area of 660 square kilometres and a population of around 2,200 permanent residents.

Given that there is an overload of information around on Port Arthur, I will concentrate more, in this series of posts, on the rest of this exciting and colourful region.

The Tasman Peninsula

 Original Inhabitants

The aboriginal inhabitants of this area, prior to European arrival, were the Pydairrerme people.

Their territory was what is now known as the Tasman and Forestier peninsulas.

The Pydairrerme people were a part of the larger Paredarerme language group, whose territory covered a large area of the east coast of Tasmania.

 The Reason for European Settlement

The first European settlement of the peninsula was Port Arthur in the early 1830s and was selected as a penal settlement because it was geographically isolated from the rest of the colony, but more easily reachable by sea.

Its inaccessibility was enhanced by having Eaglehawk Neck lined with guards and guard dogs, to prevent the escape of any convicts.

A small number did escape, however, including the bushranger Martin Cash.

It also had excellent supplies of timber for shipbuilding and general construction work, as well as stone, clay, lime and coal and was close enough to Hobart to allow for a viable settlement and a deep sheltered harbour, where visiting British warships could be repaired.

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and tourism are now the area's major industries and it is a base for the local crayfish, salmon and shellfish industry.


Camp sites around Tasman Peninsula

The Tasman Peninsula region has a broad range of accommodation options that include two tourist parks along with a number of RV and tent only campsites.

NOTE: Clicking on 'coordinates' will take you to the appropriate Google map.

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White Beach Tourist Park

128 White Beach Rd, White Beach

Phone: (03) 6250-2142
Coordinates: -43.111338, 147.736878

Website: White Beach Tourist Park

I chose the White Beach Tourist Park as my base for this series for its convenient position on the western shore of the peninsula.

Located directly on a stunning beach, with delightful and helpful hosts, White Beach Tourist Park offers quiet camping, free Wi-Fi, dump point, BBQs, a camp kitchen/dining area with TV and a book exchange, coin operated laundry, a play area for the kids, easy access for caravans and motor homes and accommodation for families and couples.

The Park has self-contained cabins, powered caravan/motorhome sites and outstanding grassy campsites.

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 NRMA Port Arthur Holiday Park
Garden Point, Port Arthur

Phone: 1800 607 057

 Coordinates: -43.132369, 147.857515

Website: NRMA Port Arthur Holiday Park

Offering a range of modern facilities including amenities, playground, camp kitchen, pump track, kiosk, outdoor pizza oven and fire pits, the accommodation options include water view cabins, safari tents, ensuite and unpowered sites and bunkhouses.

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Lime Bay Camp Ground
181 Coal Mine Rd, Sloping Main
Coordinates: -42.956029, 147.703285

The campsite is suitable for tents and caravans and facilities include toilets, limited picnic tables and fire places. The campsite has a set fee.

 

Take your own water and firewood, and as the area is prone to fire bans at short notice during warmer summer months, a fuel stove is recommended for cooking.

Lime Bay State Reserve is a large and attractive 1300 ha secluded reserve consisting of sheltered beaches and eucalypt plantations at the end of well maintained, gravel Coal Mines Rd., north of the historic Convict Coal Mine complex.

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Nubeena Ex- Servicemans club
1577 Main Road Nubeena, Tasmania
03 6250 2135
Coordinates: -43.108146, 147.746876

Suitable for self-contained RVs and caravans, this site costs $20/ night, with $10 redeemable on the bar.

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Mill Creek Camp Ground
Tasman National Park
Cape Hauy Track, Fortescue Bay

03 6250 2433
Coordinates: -43.143263, 147.968744

www.parks.tas.gov.au

Suitable for RV, caravan and tent; bookings are necessary. Toilets and fireplaces are provided, while hot showers and wood are available for a small fee.

A gas barbecue in available in the day use area.

National parks pass required and is available from caretaker, (24 hour park passes available at self-registration box near camp ground information board)

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Convict Coal Mine historic site - Tasman Peninsula

Convict Coal Mine ruins at Saltwater River

The main Convict Precinct

 
Excavated in 1833, the coal mines were used to punish the worst convicts, who worked here in extremely poor conditions.
 
Developed to limit the colony’s dependence on costly imported coal from New South Wales, as well as serving as a place of punishment for the “worst class” of convicts from Port Arthur, the mine was operational for over 40 years.

The main section of the site with the car-park upper left

 Coal Mine Walks

There are ten walks in the area - each with its own specific interests, including:

1. Convict Precinct - a 30-minute return walk of 800 metres which covers the main buildings and ruins in the convict precinct. 

2. Tramway and Beach Walk - a one km, 40-minute walk to inspect the area where the tramway ran down to the beach and where the coal was loaded.

: "Along the shore you can see small lumps of red and black material. The red material is coal slack, burnt by fires that smouldered for many years after the Mines were closed. The black material is coal that fell into the water during loading at the jetties. There were four main jetties. Two were near the Settlement, a third serviced the inclined plane, and the fourth serviced the Commissariat Store."

3. Plunkett Point - a 2 km return walk taking around one hour on a gravel road to Plunkett Point.

The Commissariat Store was built here in 1842. It could contain provisions for 2,000 men.

4. Inclined Plane - a 3 km return walk taking around 105 minutes and reaching the clifftops at Plunkett Point, north of the convict precinct. This took the coal from the shaft to the jetty.

There is a contemporary description of the process: "a windlass arrangement for hoisting the coal, a full box going up and empty one going down. A platform was built to the mouth of the shaft, and the boxes of coal were landed and placed on a tram, which ran out to a screen above the rails of the inclined plane... The [screened coal then] went into wagons underneath, which were run down the hill to the jetty." The system worked in such a way that the heavy coal-laden wagons rolling down the hill helped to pull the empty wagons up the hill. Not surprisingly it required "careful treatment to safely bring the wagon to the jetty. We used to stand on the brake behind, and guide the wagon to keep it on the road. The jetty was built so that [ships] could lie underneath; the wagons above, with flap arrangement below, could then quickly discharge their load into the hold of the boat."

5. Signal Station - a two hour, 3.5 km walk around past the Inclined Plane and the Shaft to the location of the old semaphore signal station.

The signal station was part of a system designed by Captain Booth at Port Arthur which allowed communication to occur between Port Arthur and the outstations in fifteen minutes.

6. Military Precinct & Gardens - a 4 km return lasting 2 hours and 30 minutes to the Military Precinct, which lay beyond the convict precinct

7. Military Precinct to Convict Settlement - which is a short 15 minute, 500-metre walk.

8. The Quarry - a 90 minute, 2.5 km return walk.

In a detailed contemporary account of this large shaft which was 92 metres deep. It was constantly flooding and William Thompson, one of the workers in the mine, has left us this description of the working "At the bottom of the shaft there were three roads. One was called the Double Road; it lay right in front of you and ran steeply down for about 40 or 50 yards... at the bottom there was a pump which was continually kept at work pumping the water up to the bottom of the big shaft. At the mouth of the pit was a pump to drain the water that collected at the bottom, and this was continuously operated by about eight men or more.
The coal was extracted by "sending the men down was for one man to sit across the short iron bar, holding onto the chain which was attached to its centre, and another man sat on the opposite side across the first man’s knee. They were then lowered by the windlass to the bottom. One miner got the coal from each face..."

9. A Heathland Wander - a pleasant 3 hours, 4.5 km return through the surrounding heathland from the Main Shaft to the Air Shaft.

10. The Air Shaft - a 5 km return, 3 hour 30 minutes walk through the heathland to the air shaft.

There are signs and displays to guide you around and inform about the history of the Site

A great place to explore on foot, with a number of tracks and paths around the extensive site, the Coal Mines offers visitors the chance to discover, among the ruins and scenic vistas, a different perspective on Tasmania’s convict history.

The site is managed by the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority and is one of the Unesco Australian Convict Sites World Heritage properties.

Getting There

Take the signposted turn-off  at Old Trading Store on Nubeena Road, Premaydena and travel around 13km north-west to Saltwater River Coal Mines Historic Site. Entry is free.

Turn off Nubeena road for the Convict Coal Mine at the Old Trading Store

 

 

 

  Lime Bay Camp ground 
Located at 181 Coal Mine Rd, Sloping Main, this beautiful isolated, National Park, campsite is located right near the water’s edge is suitable for both tents and caravans and  is approximately 7km north of the Convict Coal Mines.

Facilities include toilets, some picnic tables and fire places, but you need to  bring your own water and firewood.

 FEES & BOOKINGS
Camping Fees:
$13 per site based on 2 adults – Unpowered Site
Children – 4 and Under Free
5-17 years $2.50
Family Rate – $16 per site
Bookings are not taken.
 National Park entry fees and conditions apply. 
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Check out the post 'Hiring A Campervan In Tasmania - You’ll find Campervans and 4x4s from providers such as Maui, Cruisin, Tasmania Campers, Jucy, Britz, Apollo and many more.
 

Taranna & Norfolk Bay - Tasman Peninsula

Taranna

Taranna is a tiny hamlet on the Arthur Highway, on the way to Port Arthur, around 10km from Eaglehawk Neck, with an estimated population of 277 residents.

It is believed that 'taranna' is the local Aboriginal word for 'kangaroo'.

Taranna's main attractions are the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park, Unzoo, the Tasman Historical Museum & Coffee Shop, and The Norfolk Bay Convict Station.

Its real claim to fame, however, is that it was the terminus for the infamous human 'railway' which ran between  the jetty at Little Norfolk Bay and Port Arthur and was powered by four convicts pushing the carriages along the crude 7 km of track.

Norfolk Bay and Port Arthur Tramway

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NOTE: Clicking on 'coordinates' will take you to the appropriate Google map.
The Norfolk Bay Convict Station 

Norfolk Bay Convict Station, originally the Commissariat Store, was built in 1842.

It is a red and white-roofed building on a side road and was built by convicts with bricks that were were brought to Taranna from Port Arthur.

Historic Bed & breakfast accommodation on the Tasman Peninsula,

The building has had a chequered history, with some of the details on a plaque near the jetty.

The jetty site at Little Norfolk Bay - opposite the Norfolk Bay Convict Station

It was originally the Commissariat Store, which was specifically built to hold stores that were landed at the Little Norfolk Bay jetty and pushed along the tramway to Long Bay, Port Arthur.

When Port Arthur closed in 1877 the store was converted into the Tasman Hotel

The Norfolk Bay Convict Station is located just off the Arthur Highway at
5862 Arthur Highway in Taranna

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Old Convict Tramway

When a ship coming down Port Arthur from Hobart entered Storm Bay, it was exposed to the prevailing westerly winds and swells coming all the way from Antarctica.

In good weather a passage to Port Arthur might be accomplished in less than a day, but when the wind blew hard South-West, a sailing ship could be held up for days, sheltering under Bruny Island.

In 1836 Charles O'Hara Booth, then commander of the penal settlement at Port Arthur, oversaw the construction of the tramway to resolve this problem.

The tramway was created to replace the hazardous sea voyage from Hobart to Port Arthur, meaning  ships no longer needed to enter Storm Bay to reach Port Arthur:

A section of the tramway with a convict powered truck at the Norfolk Bay Convict Station

Sometimes called Australia’s first passenger railway it was, in reality, a tramway with wooden rails and trucks pushed by convicts and was a clever adaptation of timber-getting technology that required a great deal of maintenance and large manpower to run.

At the bottom of the Derwent, they could turn to port and stay in the sheltered waters of Norfolk Bay till they reached its southernmost point. 

The gangs of men who pushed the trucks were housed in a camp half-way along the track, and about fifty were needed to work the trucks in relays.

Three or four convicts were used to push the railway the 7 km from Port Arthur to the jetty at Little Norfolk Bay.

One description of travel on the railway, by a Col. Mundy,  reported that the occasional derailings may not have been all accidental, but used as a chance to pick the pockets of the passengers.

Mundy also describes the discomfort of the ‘quality’ (especially the ladies) brought into much too close contact with the convicts when the men jumped aboard the trucks to free-wheel downhill “and the d . . .. l take the hindmost”.

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Tasmanian Devil Unzoo

 Arthur Highway, Taranna
Coordinates: -43.060637, 147.864232

Website: Unzoo

 

Tasmanian Devil Unzoo is a four-in-one wildlife nature experience that combines up-close animal encounters, wildlife adventures, a Tasmanian native garden and original art.

The Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park, also known as The Taranna Wildlife Park, is working to rescue the Tasmanian devil species from the edge of extinction and teach people about this unusual marsupial.

The park is home to a small population of the devils, as well as a number of other Australian native animals, some of whom are unique to Tasmania.

The  Park is all about bringing wildlife to the visitors, and the entire park has been built with this in mind.

Visitors can wander the park and interact with the animals, be involved in feedings, and hear the expert keepers talk about Tasmania’s native animals while viewing the animals in their natural habitat.

Much care has been taken to allow visitors to see the animals, without limiting their lifestyles, including the placement of viewing domes inside the Tasmanian devil enclosure.

A Wombat

Visitors can also wander along the park’s nature trail and view the on-site botanic garden with iconic Australian native plants, and local birdlife.

 In the welcoming visitor reception area you’ll find information, good coffee, light refreshments and gifts, including quality Tasmanian books, clothing and souvenirs.

Pick up your guided map, bird and plant checklists at the reception desk, and chat to one of their knowledgeable guides to find out about the Unzoo or to book your place on the presentations and Devil Tracker Adventures.

You can also find out more about their journey as the world’s first Unzoo and efforts to save the endangered Tasmanian devil through the support of the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Project.

Tasmanian Devil

Young visitors are also welcome to play and explore in the Little Devil’s Playground, which offers an interactive display with information about Tasmanian devils and Tasmania’s prehistoric mega marsupials.

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Check out the post 'Hiring A Campervan In Tasmania - You’ll find Campervans and 4x4s from providers such as Maui, Cruisin, Tasmania Campers, Jucy, Britz, Apollo and many more.