Tassie Tales

A visual diary of life in Tasmania from Larry & Jo Holt

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Port Arthur Revisited


Yesterday Jo and I took a drive down the Tasman Penisula and finished up at Port Arthur once again. This was our third visit in twelve months. We have a two year pass and part of the reason for our visit this time was me trying to get some value out of our ticket we bought last year. In many respects once you have seen it, you have seen it. There is not a lot of reasons to return again and again.

What struck me this time was the efforts being made now to challenge the entrenched view that it was a nightmare of a place for all involved. It certainly was harsh and conditions were very severe, but I could not help but notice the opening line on the new edition of the booklet they give tourists coming in. It read, 'Prepare to be Surprised. Many visitors expect a sad tale of torture and misery, but there is so much more to Port Arthur. ..... Some men did leave here equipped for a future that they could not otherwise have dreamed of' It goes on to describe Port Arthur as 'an ambitious, but deeply flawed experiment'

What a difficult thing it is to record history. Even when family members retell the stories of their family and upbringing the details can vary so greatly. It all depends what parts we tell and what parts we leave out. I am sure that the telling of much of Church history is no different. There's part of each of us that wants everything to be either black or white. Almost every movie we watch presents truth in that way. People are either good or bad. The trouble is that we are all a curious mixture.

1 Comments:

  • At 8:34 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Nice one Lal

    I don't leave many comments, but I faithfully look at your site every day to see what's going on in your life.

    Keep up the good work!

    Ben

     

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