MONTHLY CHALLENGE
Ruins of the World
I look for them everywhere.
Australia is a young country. Well, actually it’s a very old country inhabited by its original indigenous population for 60,000 years or so. But they left nothing to become ruins. They were mostly nomadic hunter-gatherers so didn’t build homes to last. The only things that remain of their history are their cave paintings and their middens. Even houses built in the 1800s have been knocked down for progress. A few remain — Ormiston House and Wolston House are two that are open to the public. I’ve taken my classes to them a few times.
We have a couple of historical villages. The closest one to me is Old Petrie Town. The houses here are all weatherboard timber as most early homes were. Slab huts were common among the first white settlers but not being fire-resistant, they didn’t last forever. I learned a lot of Australian history at school and some European history after 1815. There were centuries of history in other countries. I’m always fascinated by historical places and the history associated with them. Japan was the first of these countries.
Then came the United Kingdom. People told me I’d soon tire of seeing castles and churches. They were wrong! I still haven’t seen enough.
