Leaving Stanley and getting back in the car we had another long driving day to look forward to. We wanted to get from the North West of the island down to the South East by the evening.

There was still heaps to see along the way - remember I said the only state left to visit was Western Australia? Well - I've now been to Perth, but not sure if this one counts! :oP

The town of Richmond is very picturesque and worthy of stopping for a photo or two. The church, stables, and the bridge were all built with convict labour.
In the afternoon we found a tessellated pavement. Never heard of one? Neither had I, so here's the science stuff for you to read about how they are formed. Interesting things!

We arrived in Port Arthur with just enough time to have a quick wander around the buildings before our second ghost tour of the holiday. First stop was to try on the leg irons they would have worn. It may sound silly, but they were WAY heavier than I thought. It really made me think about how little they would have been able to move about in them. View image, View image
Unfortunatly for you, I ran out of memory space right after those shots, and Ray's camera stuffed up and totally stopped working. So you'll have to take my word for it that the site is very well preserved and very interesting. It is the site of the prison where the convicts were sent to. Following bush fires a lot of the buildings have been restored to the way they were, but some have been left alone. On these, you can look at a lot of the brick work that would normally have been covered in plaster etc and you can see the markings etched into the individual bricks left by the convicts who crafted them and built their own prison with them. This is the offical website for Port Arthur. Check it out and see it for yourself.
The ghost tour in the evening was well and truley spooky. I didn't see any ghosts this time, but the tales of convicts and freemen who haven't fully left the buildings certainly creeped me out. I wasn't the only one jumping about during the scarey ghost story session :oP