Visiting Prony Village

Having anchored deep into Baie du Carenage to shelter from predicted SE'ers with gusts to 25-30kn a visit to Prony village was on the menu. On the way we could drop off our rubbish at the jetty where we could commence our day's expedition. Tying up to the jetty at the boat ramp would save the trouble of dragging Marylin up the beach and getting our feet dirty too. The soil around here is bright red and muddy. Everything it touches gets stained. The Bloke was very anxious to avoid any such thing.



Luckily there was a well marked trail to Prony Village since it is something of a historic site in the same manner as Port Arthur is in Tasmania. It too began as a penal colony.


The Bloke barely noticed he was on boot camp again. Being able to chat to Hugh and Julianna took his mind off the exertion of climbing the hills. We brought the walking poles along in case it was slippery.

An example of a sled for moving tree logs down the steep slope ready for transportation by ship.

Initially the penitents, let's call them slaves, were set to work to cut timber for the spawning colony of New Caledonia which needed building materials. In time, quarrying to build the facilities and later mining all took place here too.


Harsh conditions led to escape attempts which were punished most severely. These solitary confinement boxes demonstrated one of several punishments. The others described on signboards were tortures a bit too nasty to mention!

   

Some jail walls still stand and the profile reveals their construction materials

   

The Bloke, who hasn't eaten any bread for a week, checked out the bread ovens

The village was established in 1867 and after it's initial use as a penal settlement was them used to house mine workers and their families. Cobalt, chrome and iron ore was extracted from the hills around this location, and it shows.



In time many of the scars will heal. There is 100+ year old banyan tree which has encased one of the masonry walls of the the Superintendent's house for example. Nature hates a vacuum.

The sturdily constructed magazine where explosives were stored for quarrying and mining operations.

The Chapel

We were expecting something bigger but no time was wasted on anything more substantial

Popeye the sailorman - A bit of humour on the door of one of the cottages. A few are still occupied, perhaps in a caretaker capacity. The village was officially closed in 1911 with a 44 year history containing a great deal of misery.

   
The vegetation is very lush and included a tree that at first glance I mistook for a bottlebrush but the foliage and formation of the flowers was very different. One can only hope that the poor souls who laboured here could appreciate the beauty of nature surrounding them.