Courtesy of Going Down Swinging comes this neat representation of how the Indigenous languages are/were distributed in Australia.

More recent history, but well before my time, is the following photo of Kiama:

Made me check my grandfather’s memoir.

With regard to hotels, I repaired Tory’s Hotel in Kiama after it had been severely damaged by the great fire which swept Terralong Street in 1899. right down to Shoalhaven Street and, when the hotel itself was only saved after a tremendous battle….

You can see that hotel in the photo, just beyond the bridge.  Strange little steam engines no longer operate though.

Two hotels that are still operating in Kiama are Tory’s Hotel, built in 1888, and the Grand Hotel  built in 1891. The Royal Hotel was on Terralong St, and it was destroyed by the 1899 Terralong Street fires, along with 15 other buildings. To add fuel to the temperance movement, liquor rescued from the Royal Hotel during this devastating fire, was pilfered and led to drunkenness and an inability by those thieves in assisting those affected by the fire. –  source

Tory’s Hotel (1888) – now known as Kiama Inn Hotel – was erected on the site of the Fermanagh Hotel, built in 1842. Like many country pubs it once sported a cast-iron lacework verandah about the second storey but these were removed earlier in the last century in an attempt to ‘modernise’ the appearance of the building. Also these verandahs were seen as dangerous as automobiles running off the rudimentary roads and hitting the corner posts may have caused them to collapse. It was the local stopping point for the Cobb and Co coaches. The owner George Tory had his name built into the hotel. It is difficult to see today because it has been painted over. Tory’s Hotel can be seen at the top of the hotel on two sides with George Tory in between. The year 1888 can also be seen on both sides. – source

Finally, some thoughts from an Illawarra Dairy Farmer on agriculture in this country today: Drought raises the the hard questions.

Like the rest of the world agriculture has a diverse population of people who farm.

For simplicity and this post I am going to put the people in agriculture into five boxes based on the feedback I get from my interaction with the people I have met on my journey. It goes without saying that a Venn diagram would be much more appropriate

1. Self-absorbed – those who do their own thing and believe Darwinism will decide who survives and who perishes. 
2. Self-promoters who want to save the world
3. Putting one foot in front of the other
4. Taking one step forward and two steps back
5. Move between 2 & 3 depending on their circumstances ( and how much support they garner when they put their hands up to be in box 2)

Coming from a family that for generations has admired the people in box 3 and striven hard to stay there I am definitely an outlier

I am fascinated by, and admire people who want to save the world. I totally understand why they need to be a self-promoter. After all how you can save the world if no-one knows your values and what you stand for and whether you have what it takes to achieve your vision. I also understand why this has to be a team effort and taking people with you is pivotal to success. Realistically how can you build a team if no-one has ever heard of you? Whilst farmers are the ones feeding the world they cannot do this alone and food security is a shared responsibility between everyone along the supply chain…