Judy & Brian Tour Oz: Bonny Hills NSW August 31 2015

Bonny Hills NSW August 31, 2015

A pretty horrible run down the coast yesterday thanks to the vast amount of roadworks being undertaken. At least they are out there doing something about it and the end result will be phenomenal. After 2 hours we had covered only 120km, so we took some time out at a big new servo come cafe complex just south of Kempsey.

Made it into Bonny Hills, which is about 20 km south of Port Macquarie. The park is right next to the beach and has a heated pool, so we might survive for few days.

We found ourselves up in 'Port' as you can't help but call it,where we took some snaps and wondered at the 'progress' which has swallowed up the original coastal penal colony turned port and fishing village and turned it into a Sydney suburb.

A quote from wikipedia to set the scene for Port Macquarie:

In 1821, Port Macquarie was founded as a penal settlement, replacing Newcastle as the destination for convicts who had committed secondary crimes in New South Wales. Newcastle, which had fulfilled this role for the previous two decades, had lost the features required for a place for dumping irredeemable criminals, that being isolation, which was lost as the Hunter Region was opened up to farmers, and large amounts of hard labour, which had diminished as the cedar in the area ran out and the settlement grew in size. Port Macquarie, however, with its thick bush, tough terrain and local aborigines that were keen to return escaping prisoners in return for tobacco and blankets, provided large amounts of both isolation and hard labour to keep the criminals in control. Under its first commandant, Francis Allman, who was fond of flogging, the settlement became a hell, where the convicts had limited liberties, especially in regard to being in possession of letters and writing papers, which could get a convict up to 100 lashes.

The Penal settlement lasted from April 1820 to c. 15/08/1830. The settlement peaked with 1500 convicts by 1825 but by 1828 this had fallen to 530.

One thing they haven't spoiled is thely love old church of St Thomas. Built in 1824 by convict labour, it retains plenty from its origins. It is the 5th oldest church in Australia. At the time, it still came under the auspices of the Dioceses of Calcutta! The most striking feature are the 'box' pews. Originally there were only two at the front: one for the commandant and his mates, the other for the Infantry. The convicts were forced to attend and stood at the back of the church under close guard.

Under the floor of the front box, there is a gravestone marking the final resting place of the second commandant of the settlement, a Captain Rolland. According to the informative commentary, the original floor was packed earth, covered over with brick pavers. The pavers are still there and exposed down the sides of the church. They have a really unique organ, a Walker model, made in 1855, it features three spiked barrels, that have 11 hymn tunes on each. Think about a pianola, you can play it normally or kick back and let it play itself. They were saying that there current organist is 87 or something, so it mighty come in handy.

The church also has a fairly unique tower in that it is square and has a castellated tower and no spire. There is a small bell on the second floor. On the two floors they have lots of old bits and pieces from the early days such as the baptismal font, the lecturn and various bibles and hymn books. Mentioning bibles, they have one inside the church which was donated to them in 1970. It was brought to Australia by a local family in the 1800s. It was printed in 1749.

Finally, I fulfilled a bit of a personal quest: I walked out onto the roof of the tower and took some snaps. One of the old family photos is of the Black family up here in about 1958-60.