New Italy
På turen ned til Evens Head kørte vi lidt længere sydpå.
12 km syd for Woodburn ligger et sted, som hedder New Italy. I dag er det kun en bebyggelse med et lille museum ved landevejen.
Men det er historien om nogle af Australiens første flygtninge.
1) The New Italy story began in 1880 when farming families from Veneto in Northern Italy were beguiled by the marquis de Rays to purchase land and homes in the phantom paradise of la Nouvelle France.
(An imaginary kingdom in the Bismark Archipilago)
2) In July 1880, 50 families (340 people) travelled across France to Spain to board the “India” an old sailing vessel departing Barcelona to the promised land.
The expedition arrived in Port Breton in October. The voyage took 3 months and the conditions were so shoking that nearly 100 died and were buried at sea. The rest were confronted by depravation, no shelter from thetorrential rain and meagre supplies. The next 4 months saw terrible suffering, illness, starvation and many more deaths.
In desperation the half-disabled “India” set sail for Australia.
Needing food, the vessel put in at Noumea , where the authorities impounded the vessel due to its un-seaworthiness. The English consul contacted Sir Henry Parkes who sent the steamer “James Patterson” to rescue the contingent.
On Friday 1881, 217 of the original 340 emigrants arrived in Sydney, destitute and in poor health.
3) These survivors founded the settlement now called New Italy.
They were capable colonists and thrived on the barren land. Building homes, digging wells, growing diverse crops and fruit trees , raising cattle and sheep, cutting railway sleepers and producing wine, cheese and salami.
By 1888 the thriving community had a school , post office church and two wine shops, a lucrative silk production called Sericulture and even a bicycle club.
I dag er efterkommerne flyttet fra området og bor rundt omkring. På det lille museum var der en gæstebog for besøgende + en særlig gæstebog for efterkommere af de oprindelige flygtninge.
Det var i New Italy området vi så store kænguruer:
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| En flok i New Italy |
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| Her er 2! |
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| - også til aften var der kænguru |
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