David Rabbitborough's The Australian Home. |
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David Rabbitborough's The Australian Home. |
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The Front Yard
The vast flat grasslands of the lawn stretch away toward the distant hydrangeas. On the other side rises the steep grey face of the paling fence. A long green hose, biological name Nylex Entanglus, snakes its way across the grassland to a dark corner. Beside us stretches the Front Fence, a low brick wall, no more than 50 centimetres (18") high, and yet with tiny battlements along the top. What sort invaders could such tiny fortifications have been built to repel? Some historians have conjectured that once a race of midgets inhabited the continent and indeed under the leaves of the hydrangeas we can still actually find statues of a tiny race of inhabitants - some sitting on mushrooms, some reclining, some with a fishing rod. Where this race came from, why they died out overnight and why they were so feared by the early humans that they built these walls to keep them out, we may never know. Our journey into this delicately balanced ecosystem begins where the Front Fence meets the mail box full of junk mail. Before us lies the long trek down the hot, hard, concrete driveway - its surface bleached almost white, except where the occasional oil spot lies congealing in the sun.
The House
After passing over a low plateau called the Front Porch we come to the door, or rather, the doors of the dwelling for while a simple wooden door is sufficient to keep out humans, the Australian blowfly is of such awesome size that it requires a separate door made of steel mesh and wrought iron to keep it at bay
| Click on the rooms of the plan at right to find out
more about this fascinating realm or click on text below. The Hall and the Lounge |
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