As if we needed any more reminding of Europe, this afternoon we wandered through Fitzroy Gardens to let Ella off her lead and came across Cook's Cottage.
This cottage was built in 1755, making it the oldest building in Australia.
And if you've been paying attention (which I suspect you haven't because I think at least 50% of the readership of this blog come here to look at the pictures), you'll know the Europeans didn't arrive until 1788. So yep - you guessed it - they shipped it here in crates.
The house was built by Captain Cook's parents and stood in the Yorkshire village of Great Ayton from 1755 to 1934, when it was dismantled brick by brick and brought to Australia as a gift from some British philanthropist or other. And then they put it back together, which must have been unbearably painstaking for them, and now they charge $4.50 for entry to have a squizz at the bedroom where young James Cook used to dream of sailing the seas.
The gardens at the back have been planted to re-create the sorts of plants and vegetables you can grow in Yorkshire, which might explain why it's such a familiar shade of green to compliment the house.
A little taste of home in Melbourne, even if it's the wrong side of the Pennines.
No comments:
Post a Comment