Sailing To Australia In The 1800's

For many people thinking of immigration, Australia's history is a must to learn in order to better appreciate the country. And one of the most interesting aspect of Australia's history is how Europeans first arrived to its shores. You will find here that the journey was not easy as it seems today.

During the early 1800's, the only means of getting into Australia is by the seas. And, compared today, travel through this route was far from quick. A large ship using only sails (which was the only means of propulsion back then) can make the journey from the United Kingdom to Australia in just over four months in calm weather. However frequent changes in the weather can set this back to a year or so. Faster and smaller ships can usually travel in at least half the time, however this is still nowhere near the one month time that it takes modern ships to do so.

Aside from the weather, another reason that the trip takes too long is the difficulty of navigating towards Australia. Unlike today, where many ships are equipped with modern tools, such as radars, GPS and computers, ships back then have to rely only on the skills of their navigators in order to find the easiest path towards Australia. Thus, it is not uncommon for many ships during those times to get lost and wrecked in some far flung island.

Because of the long journey, life at sea during this period is not easy for sailors. Often, the journey take too long that they end up using up their supplies even before they arrived in Australia or to the nearest resupply points in their route. Thus, they would usually resort to unconventional methods, such as using their clothes for food (these stories are actually true) in order to survive.

Living and hygiene conditions in those journeys were also often less than favorable. And as the main priority was often focused on maintaining the ship in one whole piece, these are further neglected as the journey goes on. Passenger safety is also often overlooked, and many are cramped into small cabins to save space. Thus, disease easily spread to many people and often, some don't make it into Australia, as they die during the journey.

Conflicts among the people on-board are also a major problem for travelers during those times. And because of the length of the journey, these can usually escalate into worse situations. Some of these even end up stalling the ship's journey altogether.

This is but of the distant past already. However, it is a constant reminder that the route that Australia took to become the nation that it is today is not always a calm one.

Image reference: http://www.plyc.com.au/history/canowie.jpg