Left Pemberton in the rain, arrived in Northcliffe in the rain... but only 30km and we must be getting fit because we didn't mind the hills at all. Spoilt ourselves again and stayed in a propper campsite. As it happens it was a kangoroo sanctuary so spent most of the time feeding kangoroos and watching the babies poke their heads out of the pouches of their mother. It was lovely!
Now, after a hearty breakfast, we feel ready to tackle the next 100km without habitation of any kind. Even so the next town, Walpole, only has 500 inhabitants!
Heritage
The Australians are now very keen to conserve what remains of the pioneering era. The settlements were mostly associated with logging in the south west. There are several small local folk museums illustrating what life was like. Logging here commenced at the turn of the last century, further new settlers from the uk were attracted to emigrate to Australia when there were insufficient jobs for soldiers returning from the 1st world war. The governor of western Australia was keen to encourage the growth of dairy farming to reduce dairy imports. The group settlers as they were called were often allocated virgin forests to turn into pasture. Many were unskilled and unprepared for such a back breaking task. They were given temporary accommodation first in tent and then in corrugated iron shacks and worked in groups of about 20 men, cutting their quota of trees, digging wells and building wooden homes. Children had virtually no schooling or proper clothing. No soil tests were carried out. Some land was just not suitable for pasture. This, coupled with the depression of the 30's, meant that many gave up the struggle. Only about a third stuck it out, the rest returning home often with only the clothes they stood up in.
In some rural areas, these early settlements remain much as they were when first established with the addition of tarred roads, schools and shops etc. The pioneering spirit is very much still in living memory and often gives a strong sense of identity to many small rural towns.
There is no mention of the early clearances of Aborigines from their land. No one that we have met, bar Penny, a young Brighton born Australian artist that we met yesterday, spoke of Aborigenes. The Aborigenes that survived the European diseases were forced into domestic labour, their children forcibly taken from them, not to mention sexual and other exploitation. It is something as yet unresolved...
Now, after a hearty breakfast, we feel ready to tackle the next 100km without habitation of any kind. Even so the next town, Walpole, only has 500 inhabitants!
Heritage
The Australians are now very keen to conserve what remains of the pioneering era. The settlements were mostly associated with logging in the south west. There are several small local folk museums illustrating what life was like. Logging here commenced at the turn of the last century, further new settlers from the uk were attracted to emigrate to Australia when there were insufficient jobs for soldiers returning from the 1st world war. The governor of western Australia was keen to encourage the growth of dairy farming to reduce dairy imports. The group settlers as they were called were often allocated virgin forests to turn into pasture. Many were unskilled and unprepared for such a back breaking task. They were given temporary accommodation first in tent and then in corrugated iron shacks and worked in groups of about 20 men, cutting their quota of trees, digging wells and building wooden homes. Children had virtually no schooling or proper clothing. No soil tests were carried out. Some land was just not suitable for pasture. This, coupled with the depression of the 30's, meant that many gave up the struggle. Only about a third stuck it out, the rest returning home often with only the clothes they stood up in.
In some rural areas, these early settlements remain much as they were when first established with the addition of tarred roads, schools and shops etc. The pioneering spirit is very much still in living memory and often gives a strong sense of identity to many small rural towns.
There is no mention of the early clearances of Aborigines from their land. No one that we have met, bar Penny, a young Brighton born Australian artist that we met yesterday, spoke of Aborigenes. The Aborigenes that survived the European diseases were forced into domestic labour, their children forcibly taken from them, not to mention sexual and other exploitation. It is something as yet unresolved...
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