Thurs.8th Oct.Port Arthur.As usual we set out in the rain and decided to go straight down to Port Arthur. There are one or two places to stop on the way but we decided to leave them until coming back in the hope the rain would have cleared but the rain was worse coming back.Joe braved the weather at the Tessellated Pavement which is a rock formation on the beach but didn't bother with the chocolate factory and the line of dogs which is a statue of a guard dog chained to a barrel, this represents a line of fierce dogs which were chained up at the narrowest point on the peninsula to stop convicts escaping overland. It rained when we were on our 20 minute boat ride at 11am but cleared and although it was still cold we had beautiful blue skies while we walked round the site until about 4pm when in the blink of an eye it changed again, the bay disappeared and the rain swept across.Port Arthur penal colony is the most popular tourist attraction in Tasmania and rightly so.It was very quiet today but it must get crowded in summer and has a timed entry system for the cruise round the bay and the guided walk which are included in the entrance fee. Port Arthur was the scene of Australia's worst mass killing in the 90's when a gunman massacred 36 people and injured many more.He started the shooting at the coffee shop killing 20 people including 3 staff and then walked around the site killing more.Somehow he must have got away from the site because he was only arrested the day after.The café is now a ruin and has been left as a memorial site.

Tomorrow will be the Huon Valley and it looks like we are not going to do the Cadbury experience because they don't open at the weekend and we leave Hobart on Sunday morning.