"Yes Sergeant.....No Sergeant"

When discussing what we would like to do on our first full day in Melbourne, I told Duncan that I really wanted to visit the Old Melbourne Gaol. I'm just fascinated with historical places like that.

The entry price enabled us to walk around for as long as we liked plus it included a tour of the old watchhouse which was just a short walk down the street. We walked around the gaol for about an hour, poking our noses into all the cells and we saw the 'hanging platform' where many prisoners' lives ended. Ned Kelly was the most famous of all the inmates and it was pretty creepy seeing his death mask as well as the death masks of many other prisoners. Even more creepy was the fact that some prisoners protested their innocence to the end and years later, some received a posthumous pardon. Ummmm....a little too late, I think.

The tour of the old watchhouse (which closed in 1994) was one of the highlights of our trip, in my opinion. The tour party was greeted by a lady in a cop uniform (an actor playing a sergeant) and she was absolutely hilarious! She treated us like we were criminals, insulted us constantly and we had to answer every question with "Yes sergeant" or "No sergeant". We got shut in a cell which was pitch black and made to line up and not move while she told us the history of the place. At the end, the 'sergeant' said, "I'm not really a sergeant and I'm a really nice person." I would love to have an acting job like that.

A death mask.

Cat of nine tails.

Old exercise yard.

Padded cell at the Old Watchhouse.

Watchhouse exercise yard.

Do I look scary?

He doesn't even look sorry for what he's done ;)

I married a fellon!

Having a photo taken with the 'sergeant'. She was so cool :)