On our first full day here, after a surprisingly good nights sleep considering the huge time change, we were taken out and about locally.
Sorrento, despite being named after an Italian town, was a resort founded by an Englishman who allegedly saw the potential as he passed by on the ship when he arrived in Australia. It has some lovely buildings and is obviously very well to do. It is also at one end of the ferry crossing which goes across the mouth of the bay to connect the 2 peninsulas. We will be using that later in the week. From there we went to Portsea for lunch and then on to Point Nepean National Park.
One of the attractions of the park is the Quarantine Station set up in the 1800s to try to prevent diseases being brought in by the passengers and crew of all the ships coming in from various countries around the world.
On arrival the people were checked and then, if necessary, they were held in one of the 3 hospital blocks according to passenger class. Those in First got to stay in their cabins – the blocks were very basic with only rudimentary separation for singles and couples, and sanitation was largely absent. Yuk.
This was mainly to combat typhus, smallpox and latterly Spanish Flu as the base was used during both World Wars as a barracks as well.
The machines in the photos were used to disinfect the passengers’ belongings. The big cylinder was for bags and clothes and worked by first creating a vacuum into which formaldehyde was introduced. Due to the initial vacuum, it permeated all the fabrics and then of course they had to wait for it to dissipate. The other chamber was for steam cleaning and there was a huge boiler in the next room to provide the heat to create the steam. That one was mainly for bedding.
An interesting part of the history of this continent. They still strive to keep out disease and so the rules on what you can bring in are very strict. Woe betide you if there is mud on your boots!