Fun Travels in Australia and New Zealand, Part Three

When I left readers in Part Two of this odyssey around New Zealand and Australia, I was talking about the zealous fruit police and canines in Zed. The best way to see both countries is by a combination of ship and bus tour. The cruise that we took can be replicated by similar cruises on Holland America, Royal Caribbean, and Princess.As we left Zed's Picton headed across the Tasman Sea, we gathered our thoughts about New Zealand. Much of the country is pastoral, orderly, and quite pleasing to the eye.



Traveling around by bus, you see tidy houses, huge herds of sheep and cattle, timber farms, very well utilized land, kiwi plots, wineries, graceful coves, brilliant flowers, fruit stands with the most glorious, juicy, crispy, and crunchy apples and pears-everywhere a prosperous looking, lush and lavish countryside and a sturdy yeomanry. Or perhaps to be politically correct we should say yeofolks or yeoguys.Even the dogs seem unusually happy and friendly. One big, lovable honey-colored golden retriever insisted on clambering aboard the bus with us, and I think he would be in the States with me now, by my side, if his mistress hadn't dragged him away.



An American urban pit bull would become seriously dysfunctional and neurotic in Zed as would his master.Oddities showed up: we saw deer and ostrich farming. The people were very wary of betting the family farm on sheep alone. Prices for lamb meat and wool products have had a tendency to dip precariously and often. One sees horses wearing blankets in the blazing sun to protect them from the powerful rays of the sun which get through the very thin ozone layer in that part of the world. Small children wear desert type hats which have long hoods on the sides and the back to protect them from the murderous sun.



The people seemed to be drifting away from their British customs and traditions, forging their own identity distinct from Britain's or America's, sort of a neo-Asian blend of various strands including Polynesian, and an Anglo-Saxon Orientalism. The people were far more aware of Asian trends and economic realities than the American tourists were. They were more attuned to the economic headlines coming out of Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Beijing than they were of financial news of New York and London.One night at a bar on the ship crossing the Tasman Sea, I was talking to a retired Aussie naval officer from Darwin on the northern tip of Australia.



He expressed very genuine fears about mainland China's long-term expansionary ambitions and said there was a real fear in Australia among many about China as a military threat as well as an economic one.I was ready to dismiss his misgivings as the result of the scotch he was imbibing until a retired officer from the Kiwi forces seconded his opinions and said that there was also a faction in New Zealand that saw China's one billion and growing population as a bona fide threat. Incidentally both countries have tightened their immigration policies considerably.



Even though both could sustain larger populations, they have no intention of doing so.Both New Zealanders and Aussies go completely mad over rugby, cricket, and soccer-football and love to gamble. The electronic poker machines you see in all the pubs are called pokies.Our ship took off from Picton in New Zealand for Tasmania, the island off the southeastern tip of Australia. The three days on the Tasman Sea exposed us to very rough swells with much pitching and heaving, rocking and rolling, tossing and turning and considerable barfing by most of the passengers and a goodly number of the crew.



It was to have been a placid, restful interlude in a busy schedule of sightseeing, but it turned out to be for many, the voyage from hell and back.Tasmania is the land of the Tasmanian devil, a vicious little rodent that eats carrion. The agricultural riches seen in New Zealand were again in evidence on the island. Rich farmland produces apples, potatoes and grapes. A man from upstate New York said Tasmania and New Zealand were just like where he came from, the land of appleknockers, hicks, and hayseeds.



Our first stop in Tasmania was the city of Hobart where we stayed overnight. The city has a very attractive waterfront area lined with sidewalk cafes and restaurants, and a big Antarctic exhibit building. It has a pedestrian street in the shopping area, and late in afternoon it's loaded with school kids just like the malls in the States. The countryside outside of town is comely and bus visits in and outside of town are well worthwhile.We departed from Hobart at 5:00 a.m. and arrived in Port Arthur at noon for a five hour visit.



We took a tender ashore. Port Arthur is a great historical site but also a disturbing place to visit because of its melancholy past.In the 1780's England started transporting its criminal element to Australia. Port Arthur started as a timber station in 1830 and during the 1830's it began serving as a penal colony, often for Australia's harder cases. It was closed down as a prison in 1877 and over time became a tourist attraction.It sits in beautiful bay; it's a very attractive, sylvan place with green fields.



On the slopes around the bay are the old brick buildings, some restored and some merely ruins. You see the old prison cell blocks, the chapel, a house for a lone political prisoner, little cottages for officials, the governor's house, and a number of other buildings which serviced the community.It resembles a college campus that no longer is in use-a beauty of a place, but a beauty with an edge to it, because over ten thousand inmates had been confined there over the years. Tranquil, well kept up with lawns cut, bushes trimmed, it's a delight to the eye.



There's an exhibit building that depicts life in the penal colony. One small cellblock was for the worst offenders, where they were subjected to psychological punishment in a dehumanizing, demeaning atmosphere. In the so-called "Separate Prison" prisoners wore hoods and their keepers wore horrific masks at times and an order of silence was imposed. Some of the horrific masks can be seen in the museum on the grounds.On April 28, 1996, in this of all places, a deranged man went on a killing rampage in the town and in the surrounding area; he ended up murdering thirty-five people.



It's almost a fitting place for a mad gunman to choose for a modern desecration, a former hard-time prison, because no matter what the present beauty of the place, it has a haunted feeling of the ghosts of prisoners. None ever escaped from the prison and lived; bodies would be found later in the woods. The forlorn boys' prison and graveyard sits accusingly on a little island out in the harbor.After the visit most tourists feel more somber and reflective because through the guides and museum and the "Port Arthur Experience" they come to realize how tragic were the lives of the inmates.



It is difficult to imagine such a peaceful and relaxing place having such a sad past. You will find an outstanding website for the site at portarthur.org.Our last stop in Tasmania was Devonport on the island's north coast. It has interesting tourist attractions including a narrow gauge railroad, a maritime museum, and an aborigine center. Ferries take off from here for Melbourne, Australia, though we stayed aboard our cruise ship for the trip to one of the Down Under's largest cities.Next stop: Melbourne