Yesterday, Mal and I spent the day driving down to Port Arthur, about one hour from our home. We revisited the “Port Arthur Historic Site”. The site contains more than 30 historic buildings, extensive ruins and beautiful grounds. We took the short ferry ride from the site to the “Isle of the Dead” cemetery and passed the site of the old and long gone Point Puer Boy’s Prison. The Port Arthur site was built by convict labour in the 1830’s.

On Sunday 28th April 1996, a tragic chapter was added to Port Arthur’s history when a gunman (Martin Bryant), took the lives of 35 people and physically wounded 19 others in and around the Port Arthur Historic Site. Among them were locals from Port Arthur. The Memorial Garden incorporates the shell of the Broad Arrow Cafe where 20 people were killed during the massacre, and has been created as a place of remembrance and reflection. (  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Arthur,_Tasmania  )