Day 6 was a day out for Team Hobart. Alan invited the gang over to his mum’s place just down the road from church, waking up way too early to lovingly make us breakfast.
We then road-tripped our way to Eaglehawk Neck on the Tasman Peninsula passing, among other sites:
- Doo Town, a small shack (holiday house) community where the shacks have names like ‘Much-A-Doo’, ‘Yabba Dabba Doo’ and ‘Sheil Doo’. One shack-owner refused to conform to tradition, naming their shack ‘Medhurst’.
- Officers’ Quarters Museum, the oldest timber military building in Australia. A line of ferocious dogs (the Dog Line) just beyond the
Quarters separated the Port Arthur convict settlement and free community. A fine bronze dog statue sits where the Dog Line used to be.
We also caught some gorgeous landmarks/sites like the Tasman Arch, Blowhole (sadly blowing no steam that day) and Pirates Bay (off in the distance).
After lunch at Doo-Lishus, a famous Hobartian food van, we broke off into two groups – one (Kate, Jack, Edwina, Ross, Tom P and Tom Murray) headed to the Port Arthur Historic Site, and the other (Alan, Chris, Cathy, Danae, Nick and Susan) headed to the Coal Mines Historic Site.
It seemed that solitary confinement was a popular means of keeping convicts in check at both sites, and as we wandered in and out of what remains of those cells, were struck by how harrowing it would’ve been to have been part of these settlements back in the 1800s particularly if they had no notion of God or his comfort.
We all came together for dinner at an Indian restaurant in Salamanca Place, sharing stories and photos of what we’d done during our time apart and enjoying food and drink together on a cold but dry night in Hobart.
Prayer Points
- Thank God for how He has been knitting us together as a team. There are twelve of us in total and we have, over the past four days, had the chance to get to know each other better as we’ve prayerfully served alongside each other and had fun together.
- Please pray that our day of rest will energise us for the rest of our week in Hobart. On Friday, we have a traditional service in the morning, preparation for youth group (Alive for Years 3-6 in the afternoon; Crosswired for Years 7-12 in the evening) and continue with our door-knocking adventures.
- Please pray for fruit from the evangelistic efforts of the church: that those invited will come to the events remaining this week (Saturday: men’s brekkie/women’s supper; Sunday: evangelistic services) and those who have been challenged to respond to the gospel will be moved to seek out Jesus.