Willburke Graylands
In 1788, a ship they named The Friendship, belonging to the First Fleet, attempted her return voyage to England from Australia. The crew were reported to have come down with scurvy and were unable to properly man her. Believing they had scuttled her in the Straits of Makassar, they abandoned her and survived. They were later transferred to The Alexander
On the 29th of July, 1789, a women’s convict ship they named The Juliana finally departed Portsmouth, England, headed for the Colony of New South Wales, Australia. The marines that staffed the ship were, without plausible excuse, unable to keep an accurate record of the number of female convicts on board. However, it was reported there were seven births (as a result of their ‘open ship’ while calling into many ports) and five deaths.
In 1860, Robert O’Hara Burke set off from Melbourne on an exploration expedition with 16 men, including William John Wills and Charles Gray. Their goal was to be the first to cross the continent from South to North, to open up a route for the newly invented telegraph line to connect to Europe, to discover a route for a railway, and to find out if there was an ‘inland sea’ that many believed lay beyond the ranges. They equipped themselves with food for 2 years, 6 tonnes of firewood, 80 pairs of shoes, a cedar-topped oak camp table with 2 chairs, beds, a bathtub, hats, buckets and a Chinese gong.
They reached as far as the Gulf of Carpenteria, and decided the weather was way too hot, the conditions far too dangerous, one of their men, Mr. Gray, was ill with dysentery, and another, Mr. King had wandered off delirious. So they turned back for Cooper’s Creek, where they were supposed to be met by some others with supplies. When they got to Cooper’s Creek, they discovered the others had only just given up waiting for them (for four months) and had left 9 hours prior. Dismayed, exhausted and bitterly disappointed, Burke and Wills truly believed this may be the end.
After weeping into their pillows for what seemed like hours, Burke looked up and saw a tree. The tree was clearly inscribed by one word: DIG. Burke grabbed his shovel and dug desperately.
Wills grabbed his shovel and helped. Gray grabbed whatever he could find and joined in the wild digging. They digged and dug, digged and dug, digged and dug and digged and dug, till the stars rose and fell. Sweat was drenching their dirty pioneer shirts, dirt and dust were flying everywhere. Just when they were about to collapse and surrender to death ..
.. their shovels broke through the bottom of the dirt and they all fell down!!
DOWN.. DOWN ..
SPLASH!! They’d fallen into The Inland Sea!! Burke reached out to cling to the table and implored Wills and Gray to do the same. They clung to the table and fell asleep, floating.
Not knowing how long had passed or whether they were in Heaven or hell, they awoke to find themselves washed up on some strange shore.
Their belongings were all over the beach. Aching all over, almost blinded by the sun and half naked, they pulled themselves up and trudged to the top of the beach.
There they all stood, eyes agoogled in disbelief. For before them lay a vast, vacant land they had no idea where was. Burke volunteered to explore further and find out where on Earth they were, find some people and get some help.
After a half day of walking, he found a road. For another two and a half days, he followed it.
Finally he came to an intersection, with a huge sign directing to Veronaville, Pleasantview, Strangetown, and Information. He was absolutely blown away by the spectacle of a horseless cart driving by.
He decided to follow the sign to Information.
At the tiny information office, in the middle of nowhere, he was informed by the clerk that he was nowhere. Nobody had yet been interested in these parts and ne’er bestowed a name upon it.
Burke asked how to get back to Australia. The clerk said he’d never heard of it, and couldn’t find it in any of his geography books, but that for $20,000 he could have a piece of this land and call it anything he wanted. Burke didn’t have any simoleans. But he did have 80 pairs of shoes.
It just so happened that the clerk had a beastly fetish for shoes. So he traded them for a piece of land, and the right to proclaim this a new neighbourhood: WILLBURKE GRAYLANDS.
Meanwhile, back at the beach, where William and Charles waited for Robert to return with some findings, a strange flagship appeared. It seemed to have come out of nowhere, one minute they were looking out to the bleak sea, turned their backs, and then the next minute it was there.
William fretted, he thought he was losing his mind. “Where are we? What is this place? Where did that ship come from? WHAT IS GOING ON?!!”
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