How often do we sit on the balcony of our by-the-sea residence and stare across the water, wondering what was on the other side?

We probably don’t, and if we were interested, it wouldn’t take long by car to find out.

My guess, a whole bunch of other people looking across the water wondering what’s on the other side.

Curiosity killed the cat!

So, having got that flippancy out of the way, what can be inspiring about this photograph.

Perhaps if we sent our minds back to 1804, there would be nothing on the other side except for trees. There may well have been aborigines there, going about their business, blissfully unaware of the white man, until they started arriving in big ships.

For them, it was the beginning of the end.

For those that lived on this side, in 1804, the other side would seem a long way off. There would be no bridges, no cars, and no other means of transport other than by boat.

My guess, some adventurous people would have got in a boat and rowed over there. More adventurous people would explore the coastline further north, and then 25 odd years later some bright spark would come up with the idea of creating a prison, and import a few thousand felons from the mother country, England.

It would make an interesting story, if the narrator was a boy or girl growing up in this new land.