Old Hobart Gaol/jail

This is a map of the jail

Today, we visited a jail that was part of one of the first British penal colonies.  This jail was in Hobart, Tasmania, one of the oldest cities in Australia.  Britain claimed Australia after James Cook charted the eastern coast of the country in the 1770s.  (He thought that the Sidney area was a great place to establish a first colony.  Other explorers had gone inland and discovered that it was populated with Aboriginal people.)  In the early 1800's the Brits started sending criminals to Tasmania.  When the prisoners finished their time in jail, they could live normal lives and populate thisnew British colony.  This jail (see photo on right) was built in 1821 and was shut down in 1963.  Even though some of it was destroyed, part of it (the chapel with solitary confinement cells under the pews) still stands today.

Here is my brother, my mom, and me in one of the primitive jail cells.  I am 4'11" and the cell isn't that much taller then me.  If I were a criminal, and I had done something to anger one of the guards, I may have to stay in solitary confinement for four weeks were for the first four days, I couldn't exit the cell!  These cells are for people who bug the guards, and if they get really angry at you, they would put you in an even smaller one.  This would be tough because I only would only have one piece of bread and a glass of water per day, and one bucket just in case I had to...um...go.  I would empty this bucket myself every few days, which isn't a lot!  This experience made me glad that I'm not a criminal!

It's been fun learning about Australian history.  Tomorrow  we'll fly to Alice Springs and learn about the Aborigonal Australians who settled this country from Southeast Asia before 40 and 70 thousand years ago!