Canada Bay

When we look at the history of Australia many of you think of the land of British convicts. It is true that Australia was a penal colony (much like Georgia in the US). The other day I was walking along the water by our apartment and I noticed a big stone with a plaque on it. It gave me a brief history of our little cove known as Canada Bay, which I had always wondered about, given the name.

Here is it, Canada Bay in all its glory!

Basically there was a group of French/ Canadians in Quebec that thought their beloved Canada should not be subject to the dictatorship of the Queen of England. They started to organize protests but their demonstrations were quickly put to rest as the Queen of England put them all on a boat to Australia. Lucky them--except for the fact that they were put in jail and then put to work for over a decade! We live in an apartment complex called Phillips Landing, which is named after the boat that brought these people over.

Personally, I think there was some preference given to the British convicts because they got the beach's and the guys from Quebec got the bay. Note: there is quite a stigma about people who live on "the north shore" (i.e. beaches) vs. the inner west (where we live). We are on the ghetto side of the harbor bridge but we couldn't afford a three bedroom apartment if we were on the other side! Either way we love our little cove, and here's to Canadians!!