Overcast. Humid. Not hot, but oh so humid.
Did pretty much nothing all morning. Attempted to get some sleep. Not altogether successfully. Made up a picnic lunch and headed out.
First stop was Trial Bay Gaol. The buildings are remarkably well preserved. Although most of it is solid granite. It'll probably be there for centuries.
We spent a good hour and a half here. Well worth the $7.50 entry.
Front entrance
Interior courtyard
This was the mess hall
Cell block A on the left, exterior wall on the right, with a sign saying watch out for swooping magpies on the bottom left
The area between the mess hall and the cell blocks
The kitchen
Remains of the hospital building, with cell block B behind
"Silent cells"
Stu in one of the silent cells
View from the lookout tower. The prison was built to house prisoners to build this breakwater. But they never really made very good progress with it, and eventually abandoned the idea and closed the prison.
Looking down cell block A
During its time as a prison, they housed one prisoner to a cell on hammocks
During World War I, they reopened the prison and sent educated German men here to keep them out of the way during the war. They housed two per cell, which made the gaol quite overcrowded.
The kitchen building
Looking down cell block B. This was built later (1900) and is remarkably drab next to the lovely granite.
One of the baths in the bath house
Kangaroos next to the bath house
Looking down to the bath house
After the gaol, we ate our picnic lunch in the car and then went on the walk down to Little Bay and the duck pond.
Walking up to the German monument, they've cleared a long tract of bush out, so you can see all the way up to it. It unfortunately looks slightly rude from a distance..
The German monument, for the four Germans that died in the gaol during the war. It was blown up in 1919 by persons unknown, but eventually rebuilt.
View of Trial Bay Gaol
Banksia
View across to South West Rocks
Little Bay
Little Bay
Kangaroo tracks in the sand
Big boy kangaroo. Look at the muscles on him!
Kangaroo and joey
Joey having a drink
Bounce!
The duck pond. Originally built as a water source for the gaol
Scribbly bark
One of the powder magazines used to store explosives for the construction of the breakwater
The other one. It was supposedly blown up as a test run by the same people that blew up the German monument.
Wandered back to South West Rocks and went down to the tidal creek
Where kids were jumping off the bridge into the creek..
Came back to the house for a very lovely chicken dinner. After dinner we watched the King's Speech, which we quite enjoyed, even though a few liberties were taken with the story.
Comments