Description
Ellen Clacy was no ordinary woman. Her journey to Australia in the mid-1800s show remarkable courage and optimism in a time when women in England had very little freedom or initiative in paving their own way toward expressing their desires for less conventional pursuits. And what can be a less common goal than that of traveling half way around the world to a remote continent where gold digging was now the trend of the day.The book speaks about Ellen Clacys journey to Melbourne and subsequent travel by foot to Bendigo. Dressed in a blue serge skirt that was also used as nightwear, and carrying her parasol, the author continued her journey with enthusiasm and optimism, despite reports of numerous bandits, thieves, murderers and other lost souls roaming the land in search of a better life in their search for gold.Even though her journey was not fraught with any debilitating disasters or unbearable challenges, it was certainly a difficult one. Yet Clacy adjusted well to a life that was very different to the one she was accustomed to in England, and at the same time, she diligently kept her journal, making valuable notes of all the goings on in the area, the activities of the diggers and bush rangers, as well as invaluable insight on transportation and accommodation.Clacy tried her best to paint a clear and colorful picture of all the most important details regarding colonial life in Australia, as well as anything else that possible immigrants might have been interested to learn.