Strahan, Tasmania
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Strahan, is a small town and former port on the west coast of Tasmania. It is now a significant locality for tourism in the region.
A view of Strahan, taken from a boat in Macquarie Harbour
Strahan port and fishing vessels
The Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, a former British colonial penal settlement, established on Sarah Island, Macquarie Harbour, in the former colony of Van Diemen's Land, now Tasmania, operated between 1822 and 1833. The settlement housed male convicts, with a small number of women housed on a nearby island. During its 11 years of operation, the penal colony achieved a reputation as one of the harshest penal settlements in the Australian colonies. The former penal station is located on the eight-hectare (twenty-acre) Sarah Island that now operates as a historic site under the direction of the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service.
Sarah Island in Macquarie Harbour
Part of Sarah Island, including ruins of the "new penitentiary"
Ruins of the large domed oven in the bakehouse on Sarah Island.
Remains of the solitary cells, which were completely dark inside and barely large enough to lie down in.