Choices in the Great Southern Land
First of all, you have to determine your route. Everyone is talking about the possibility of an enormous inland sea in the centre of Australia. You’re sure it’s out there somewhere, after all it can’t just be desert can it? If you choose to explore the inland looking for an inland sea, click here. [Explorers: Charles Sturt, Edward Eyre, Thomas Mitchell]
(b) Grazing land and gold are where all the money is. Many rich squatters are saying there is a lot of money to be made by discovering pastoral and agricultural lands for sheep and wheat in the south and north. Some even say that if you travel south-west from Sydney you might find grazing land that borders the supposed inland sea. If you choose to seek your fortune as a farmer or grazier and discover the south-west or push into Queensland, click here. [Explorers: James Grant, John Murray and Charles Grimes explored Victorian coast & found Port Phillip; George Evans discovered Bathurst; John Oxley discovered Qld – include story of Pamphlett escaped convicts- and established Moreton Bay settlement]; Allan Cunningham, the New England Region and the Darling Downs]; Hovell & Hume, the Snowy Mountains;
(c) It’s a difficult life for settlers, who may have to wait months for goods to arrive by ship. Establishing a trading base in the Northern Territory would mean goods could be more easily sought from the Dutch East Indies in the north and that ships could reprovision before they left Australia’s remote Top End. Crossin Australia from south to north will also help lay the route for the much talked about telegraph line, and it hasn't yet been done.If you choose to explore Australia from south to north, venturing into the wild’s of the Northern Territory click here.
(d) Australia’s first convict colony was founded at Port Jackson in 1788, the limits of settlement have been set by the towering hazy bulk of the Blue Mountains. Many men have tried to conquer the treacherous passes, but all have so far failed. People speculate that beyond the Mountains’ bulk lies rich farmlands that could make you your fortune. If you choose to explore the Blue Mountains and beyond, click here. [Explorers: Watkin Tench & William Dawes (failed in 1791), William Paterson (failed in 1793), Henry Hacking (failed in 1794), George Bass [failed after “fifteen days of unparalleled fatigue and danger”], Francis Louis Barrallier failed in 1802], George Caley discovered the “Devil’s Wilderness” but also failed; Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth succeed in 1813 by sticking to the ridge tops].
Sydney colony is by now full to overflowing with criminal undesirables, many of whom are filthy and starving. There is little natural security provided by the harbour site. Perhaps a new, tougher colony can be founded somewhere else, on better land or with more challenging landscape that might help prevent convicts escaping and becoming bushrangers. If you choose to search for a new colony site elsewhere, click here. [
(b) Grazing land and gold are where all the money is. Many rich squatters are saying there is a lot of money to be made by discovering pastoral and agricultural lands for sheep and wheat in the south and north. Some even say that if you travel south-west from Sydney you might find grazing land that borders the supposed inland sea. If you choose to seek your fortune as a farmer or grazier and discover the south-west or push into Queensland, click here. [Explorers: James Grant, John Murray and Charles Grimes explored Victorian coast & found Port Phillip; George Evans discovered Bathurst; John Oxley discovered Qld – include story of Pamphlett escaped convicts- and established Moreton Bay settlement]; Allan Cunningham, the New England Region and the Darling Downs]; Hovell & Hume, the Snowy Mountains;
(c) It’s a difficult life for settlers, who may have to wait months for goods to arrive by ship. Establishing a trading base in the Northern Territory would mean goods could be more easily sought from the Dutch East Indies in the north and that ships could reprovision before they left Australia’s remote Top End. Crossin Australia from south to north will also help lay the route for the much talked about telegraph line, and it hasn't yet been done.If you choose to explore Australia from south to north, venturing into the wild’s of the Northern Territory click here.
(d) Australia’s first convict colony was founded at Port Jackson in 1788, the limits of settlement have been set by the towering hazy bulk of the Blue Mountains. Many men have tried to conquer the treacherous passes, but all have so far failed. People speculate that beyond the Mountains’ bulk lies rich farmlands that could make you your fortune. If you choose to explore the Blue Mountains and beyond, click here. [Explorers: Watkin Tench & William Dawes (failed in 1791), William Paterson (failed in 1793), Henry Hacking (failed in 1794), George Bass [failed after “fifteen days of unparalleled fatigue and danger”], Francis Louis Barrallier failed in 1802], George Caley discovered the “Devil’s Wilderness” but also failed; Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth succeed in 1813 by sticking to the ridge tops].
Sydney colony is by now full to overflowing with criminal undesirables, many of whom are filthy and starving. There is little natural security provided by the harbour site. Perhaps a new, tougher colony can be founded somewhere else, on better land or with more challenging landscape that might help prevent convicts escaping and becoming bushrangers. If you choose to search for a new colony site elsewhere, click here. [