In 1840public pressure bought an end to convict transportation to N.S.W. Migrants were encouraged to come to these shores and arrived by the thousands to start a new life in a new country. Australia was certainly no promised land, it was rugged and strange beyond their wildest imagination.
The climate for starters was totally different to what they were used to. Australia is the driest Continent on earth. They were totally unprepared for bush life and were ridiculed for their lack of folk lore by those already here. Hopes and dreams for a better life were shattered, some left on the next ship back, but thanks to those who stayed and shaped this country into what it is today. Australia is an ancient and worn-down continent which includes some of the oldest land surfaces on earth. A land of beauty and uniqueness like no other.
The area of Australia is almost as large as that of the USA(excluding Alaska) and almost 32 times greater than the UK. Our early pioneers carved a living from the bush enduring hardships we today, can only imagine. Men were often away for months at a time leaving women and children alone in a little slab hut in the scrub, neighbours were days away. These were the days of bullock teams, bushrangers and roaming strangers.
Australia's early days saw many men, roaming around the country side in search of work or a handout. They rolled up their essentials in a blanket or bag called a swag, or matilda. This they strapped to their backs and carrying an old billy can they set off to enjoy a nomadic carefree life. They were called "Swaggies, Tramps, and Sundowners."
Our famous song,"Waltzing Matilda" tells of a Swaggie who stole a sheep( jumbuck) while camped at a billabong( water hole)
Bullockies, bushrangers, shearers, drovers, squatters, all paved a colourfull past in Australia's History pages. From goldfields to sheep cockies( farmers), from the Northern Tropics, to the Southern Highlands, from Fertile plains to Inhospitable deserts, from droughts to flooding rains, were a triumpth to ordinary people, who did ordinary things under extraordinary conditions to Advance Australia Fair.
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