"Paving the Way"- a book review.

Camels at Encounter Bay,Victor Harbor with the "Bluff" in the background. The "Bluff" was where the whalers stood watch for whales.

"The Bluff" or "Rosettas Head"

I am currently reading a book I started when I was much younger.
I never got to finish it.
It is called "Paving the Way" by Simpson Newland.

You can read the book online at the link below.

 http://adc.library.usyd.edu.au/view?docId=ozlit/xml-main-texts/p00114.xml;chunk.id=d1501e140;toc.depth=1;toc.id=d1501e140;database=;collection=;brand=default

It is a wonderful historical novel of the early days of Australia and in particular Encounter Bay, The Coorong and the cattle drives overland from Sydney to South Australia.

It is also a story of the early days of Whaling in South Australia.

When you look up the life of Simpson Newland you realise that the story is drawn much from his own life experience.

He became a very prominent South Australian.

See link below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simpson_Newland

It is a romance and some historical facts influence the narrative.

There is an infamous episode in Australia's history of a massacre of Aborigines at Rufous river in NSW.

A similar incident is described in the book.

There are many moral issues touched upon in the book and you can see the influence on Newland of his upbringing as the son of a Congregationalist Minister.

I could see this book being made into an epic movie or TV series but there are many things that film makers  may find to politically incorrect to tell the story honestly.

The main character of the book made a dash for safety  alongside the Coorong.

In Port Elliott

Granite Island is also part of the story

Modern day cattle drive

Victor Harbor Horse Drawn Tram connecting Granite Island

The Darling River also had to be crossed by the stockmen and their cattle