Fine day, warm tho' cloudy. Dr and I had a dip in the creek about 2 minutes walk off. After breakfast, went for a ride – my mare being a hired one and not very fast. Lithgow is situated some hundreds of feet above the sea and the country round is very pretty, woody and mountainous but poor. Went for 6 miles or so and then came back. Called at a place where some surveyors put up – they seemed very nice. Made arrangements for going to their camp which is 40 miles off, tomorrow. Lithgow is a fair sized country town having the usual accompaniments and prettily situated. Our dwelling is a short way out. In the evening wrote to the agents of the Pacific Mail Co at Sydney to secure a berth by S ... read more

Another regular wet day. Spent the morning writing to the bank in London for Letter of Credit for £100, sent cheque for that amount. Also went on with my letter home. Got out for a bit after dinner, the rain having stopped for a time. Mr H dined with us. Read etc., after dinner. Went to bed early – nothing to do. Somewhat cold, glad to have a fire in the sitting room.... read more

Got up a little after 6 o'clock and had a snatch breakfast. Drove to the railway station which is most inconveniently situated at the end of George St. Caught the 7 o'clock train for the Blue Mountains. Went there with Dr Foreman whose acquaintance I made at the W-House. When we started it began to rain and continued to pour the whole day. After travelling about an hour and a half, we crossed the River Nepean and soon afterwards began the ascent. Going up some little way we came to what is called the Zig Zag. The train is first pulled up an incline, then reversed and pushed up another – there were three of these …….. up the hill. The scenery, they say, is glorious from the top but between the mist and the rain, ... read more

On 22 January 1879, at Rorke’s Drift on the Zululand border in South Africa, a tiny British garrison of 140 men defending a mission station, fought for 12 hours to resist repeated attacks by up to 3,000 Zulu warriors, who came very close to defeating the garrison but were ultimately repelled. This heroic defence was rewarded by the government of the day with no fewer than 11 Victoria Crosses – the largest number awarded to a regiment for one action. It was, however, fought later on the same day that the British Army had suffered its most humiliating defeat at a battle nearby. The Battle of Isandlwana was the first major encounter of the war and a disaster. A Zulu force of around 20,000 warriors attacked a portion of the British Army that had been left ... read more

Fine hot day tho' somewhat cloudy. Went by steamer to a Manly Beach, a place of 9 miles north east of Sydney – supposed to be the Brighton of N.S.W. tho' only a small place. It is prettily situated and a fine view of the bay and heads is obtained on the way there. Taking it altogether, Port Jackson is lovelier than the Bay of Naples but taking them bit by bit, the Bay of Naples carries away the Palm. The steamer took about ¾ of an hour getting there. Called at a place called Woolloomooloo Bay which is part of Sydney. Arrived at M Beach at 11 o'clock. Walked a couple of hundred yards or so when the open sea appeared in view, the waves coming in fine rollers. Walked among the rocks looking for ... read more

A dull, heavy uncomfortable sort of day. Did not like to do any excursion for fear it might rain. A Chinaman called in the morning selling things. Their English is very peculiar and it is not easy to follow what they say. Bought a pair of slippers from him for which I gave 2/-. Went and bought some things. Spent about an hour in a curiosity shop full of things belonging to the natives of Australia and the South Sea Islands – bought some of the things. In the afternoon, walked about the town. Some of the streets (which are narrow and somewhat crooked and not too well kept) and pavements are cut out of the solid rock. Walked on to the botanical gardens and wandered about there. It is certainly very lovely. The trees and ... read more

Had breakfast at 8. Went out soon afterwards to take a boot to be mended. Bought a guide book which turned out to be rather a poor one. Called at the Post Office and Petty's Hotel for letters, but there were none. After lunch, went on with my letter home and wrote and posted a letter to the Melbourne Post Master General asking him to send on any letters, if any. Went for a trip in one of the numerous steamers that ply about the bay. This one took me to Nelson's Point on the North shore – went for a walk about the place after I landed. It is one of the suburbs of Sydney and very pretty. The houses overlook the bay and there are tropical and subtropical plants growing in the gardens. Fruit ... read more

The cricket match that the diarist goes to see between a touring English team captained by Lord Harris (English XI) and a team from New South Wales (NSW XI) in Sydney, became the scene for one of the earliest riots at an international cricket match. Known as the “Sydney Riot of 1879”, it was caused by a controversial umpiring decision. The match began on 7th February and continued on Saturday 8th February in front of a crowd of 10,000. New South Wales had started their second innings when the star Australian batsman, Billy Murdoch, was given “run out” by the umpire. The decision caused an uproar among the crowd who then invaded the pitch and started to assault the umpire and some of the English players. The situation was finally diffused and the ground cleared but ... read more

I find that, according to the papers, I had travelled from Melbourne in most distinguished company, in fact none other that *Joe Thompson, the notorious betting man. A thoroughly wet morning. Went about looking for rooms in a boarding house. Tried one but it was too dirty, did not like the look of it. Tried another and took a bedroom there, same terms as at Mrs Coates' viz £2. 2/- a week. Got my heavy luggage carted from the wharf, also at the same time, got my things from the hotel and took them to the boarding house (Mrs Loftus, Wentworth House, Church Hill, Sydney). Lunched at the hotel. Having one or two things to take over to W-House, I walked over with them after lunch. On my way was surprised to meet Voos who is ... read more

The settlement of Sydney is said to have begun on 26 January 1788 when the 11 ships of the “First Fleet” dropped anchor at Sydney cove with their cargo of British convicts. Captain James Cook had arrived earlier in 1770 but 18 years later the British returned to stay. By the time transportation of convicts ended in 1840, there were about 30,000 people living in Sydney and when gold was discovered in 1851, people began pouring in not only from Europe and America but also from China. They came to make their fortunes and many of them did. There was a flurry of building in order to accommodate the growing number of inhabitants and the lavish Victorian architecture from this period is a legacy to the prosperity of the following decades. By the end of the ... read more