Living it rough
In the very early days of clearing many lived in tents, and a few in unusual dwelling places such as ' the branch or stump of a large blackbutt that had been hollowed out by fire" (blackbutt means mountain ash). This made a very good camp for four men. It was so spacious that they had plenty of room to make their beds crosswise. Camp beds were very rough and ready - "two flour bags stretched on poles and set on forks" or "two hazel stumps and a sheepskin". Tables were made by driving sticks into the ground and nailing split timber onto the tops of the uprights. Chairs were four forked sticks with short pieces of wood laid in the forks.
Charles Daley, p 96-97
Pioneer bed
Food of the simplest sort came packed in bulk at great expense - salted meat came in casks, salt, sugar and rice in sacks, tea in chests and treacle in 100 pound (47 kgs) kegs.
Charles Daley, p 97
Practically every camp had no woman for the first two years and the male members of the family put work before house keeping. After a hard day one man would go home half an hour ahead of the others and light a fire. By the time the others came home the billy was boiling, potatoes (if any) peeled and on, or rice or dumplings done, ready for tea when everyone was washed.
Charles Daley, p 97
In the first five or ten years the pioneer spent all their time clearing scrub. The relatively well off had a case of axes; the poor had only one, and hoped for the best. Every scrub cutter carried a pocket stone and string for running repairs. Grindstones were rare and very carefully looked after since one often had to serve a whole district.
Charles Daley, p 97
