I believe it was the ‘Ghost Tour’ we took part in the night before, that the ghosts conjured us to return to this site to do the ‘Introductory Tour’ – an unplanned activity.
We were so blown away with the experience during our ‘Ghost Tour’ that we all wanted to have a better look at the site during the day.
Tickets are more expensive but justifiable. At $40 per person, it covers entry to the site for two consecutive days - which I believe you need to take the time to fully appreciate what they have to offer – one day is not enough.
The price also includes a guided ‘Introductory Tour’, ‘Harbour Cruise’ and access to some of the historic ruins.
We purchased our tickets at the ‘Visitor Centre’, the lovely staff was very helpful, she told us that the cruise is optional but it comes with the price of the ticket regardless, she highly recommended that we should do this activity.
It was a no-brainer for us, we wanted to do the cruise but you need to let her know, so that she could reserve your seat. She planned our cruise for 9.45am, a 20-minute cruise (but you need to be there 10 minutes prior to departure time) that left us enough time to join our ‘Introductory Tour’ that was booked for 11am, a 45-minute tour.
The lady also gave us a ‘Visitor Map’, and Brochures to help guide us around the site and information explaining each building.
We were so glad we did the cruise, we cruised passed the ‘Dockyard’, ‘Point Puer Boys’ Prison’ and the ‘Isle of the Dead’ with commentary to go with it – very sad but fascinating stories. You could also buy light refreshments on the cruise.
Then we did our ‘Introductory Tour’, ‘Paul’ our tour guide was great, he did take us to the same places we did on our ‘Ghost Tour’ and told similar stories but differently – both tours unique / both tours a must.
The ‘Ghost Tour’ had more stories told in comparison. What I enjoyed most about the day tour was that we got to take clear photos and had a better look of the buildings. I did take a photo inside the Commandant’s House and I believe in the photo, there appears to be an orb – I showed it to my family and they believe it’s just light but you can make out what you believe (I have attached it to this review).
We then headed to the ‘Museum Coffee Shop’ located in ‘The Asylum’ building (open 10.30am to 3.30pm) for something to eat. The café offers pre-packed sandwiches, pastry snacks, cakes, cold drinks and coffee / tea – we had sandwiches and spinach feta rolls and their chocolate mini muffins – highly recommend the muffins, two in a pack, moist and delicious.
We only had a couple of hours to spare, as we had travelling plans to follow. We were able to squeeze in time to venture on the site, we also found a memorial dedicated to that tragic day, on Sunday 28 April 1996, where a gunman took the lives of 35 people on site, we had the time to read the plaques and also visited the museum.
The lady whom we purchased the tickets from, also gave us a card each, a clever interactive activity to take part in the Port Arthur Gallery (located in the Visitor Centre) to find the matching picture and discover their fate – it also works out as a nice memento to take home too.
You need to visit the museum, there is a lot of information to read, artefacts to see and you could also search on their provided device, family names to see if they were convicts during that time and what crimes they committed – excellent idea, that gives it a personal touch.
Also, read your printed tickets, as it contains valuable information. On the ticket itself, there are further activities that are included in your tickets - ‘Museum House Talks’ which you can join – the lady also told us but very hard to remember times and places to attend. On the ticket, it states scheduled times and locations (easy to find, just follow the map given to you) to join these sessions. Don’t worry, more than one session is available for these talks, to give you a fair opportunity to attend at least one of them.
For dinner, ‘1830 Restaurant & Bar’ is located in the ‘Visitor Centre’ (from 4pm – you may make reservations for dinner where you purchased your tickets).
Very important to know… your tickets are non-refundable. Regardless if the weather is cold, wet or hot, the tour will go ahead.
Bring comfortable walking shoes, umbrella (works great for sunny or rainy weather – perfect shade for both), sunscreen, a bottle of water (there are also bubblers available on site – we found one in the outdoors eating area of ‘Museum Coffee Shop’) and dress appropriately for the weather conditions.
If you are going to take advantage of using your ticket for the two-days, there are optional tours (for additional fee) you can take part in. Had I known prior, I would have loved to visit ‘Isle of the Dead Cemetery Tour’ – perhaps there may be a next time?
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