Australian Life Essay, Research Paper

Australian Life

Life in the Bush

The Australian life style was portrayed as one of the bushman although it

was not . The life of a typical Australian was really the city life . The

bushman was one with no classes and he treated every person as equal . A middle

class person was the same as a working class man . The bushman was a very trust

worthy and helpful character he would help a stranger as if it was his friend

and if that friend needed anything he would be glade to ofer him every thing he

has .

The bushman lead gypsy like lifestyle with the constant moving and roaming

round the country side . They would often walk or ride horse back from place to

place with their tent and billy and camp out over night when they had no where

to stay . The bushman where very much like aborigines they tracked and did not

need a compass or a map they knew plants and trees . They called this bushcraft .

A bushman would cook , clean , wash his cloths and patch his pants this made

them very independent . If a bushman was ordered or commanded he would say ” Are

you talking to me or the dog ? ” they treated everyone equal and wanted to be

treated equal .

They dressed in tweeds , flannel tops , with blue jumpers in the cold and

yellow oilskin jackets in the rain . They wore hard wearing blucher boots and

broad felt hats . The bushman would often have a drinkdown the pub . They often

told stories to each other as their past time . The bushmans homes were made

from slabs of bark , green hide . The houses were simple and didn’t always show

advantage . Nor dose it have to , the bushman’s home (bellow) is there to

shelter him .

In the 1880’s writers and painters portrayed the bush life as better then

the city life . This bought on the image that all Australians lived in the bush

.

City Life

The city life of Australia was not recognized as much as the bush life

although most of the population of Australia were present in the cities . The

cities in the mid 1880’s were walking cities only the few wealthy were able to

afford the private horse-drawn transport . The wealthy with their transport were

therefore able to live out side of the city center . The working class worked

and played short distances away from home . In the 1870’s the population began

to spread as factories and offices moved into the suburbs . The bringing of

people out into the suburbs was also because of the advent of cheaper , faster

transport by way of horse drawn trams . In the 1880’s steam and cable trams (

Above ) joined the cities to the suburbs .

Skilled workers could earn upto 8? and laborers at least earned ?2/10/.

Cost of living was reasonable with bread 4?d. for a pound of loaf : milk was 4d.

a quart and meet about 5d. a pound . Middle class and wealthy people were able

to afford a Newfangled phone . In 1860’s land could be bought for 200? the land

price jumped in the 1870 to 2000? the land continued to double every decade .

The average rent was 50?in 1880 and in 1890 70? .

With the sorting of work hours a boom began in leisure began . Roller

skating and cyclorama were popular past times . Horse racing , cricket and

football were popular sporting activities this boom made football ( Australian

Rules ) a very popular and recognized sport .

The chart ( below ) shows the rapid growth of Melbourne . Melbourne enjoyed

it’s successes from the gold rush era and also the boom . Melbourne was more

recognized and well know then Sydney and had a European feel about it which

attracted people to it .