It could be imagined that Conrad, and no doubt Louisa, together with their children, would have worked extremely hard to survive on their newly purchased block. Life would have been full of hardships.
Firstly, the land was covered with scrub, including huge eucalyptus trees, and the clearing of the scrub would have been slow heavy work. It could take months to clear just an acre or two.
A water supply would have been necessary, hence dams needed to be dug. Fences were built to keep dingoes and kangaroos out and the sheep in. Construction of a dwelling was also necessary.
Droughts as well as other seasonal problems, added to market and financial recessions, would have caused worries at times. Everyone on the farm worked in these early times. Children, often from the age of six or seven, helped milk cows, carried water for domestic animals, washing and vegetable garden, gathered firewood, tended farm animals and kept pests away from crops. The heavy household chores of cooking in primitive conditions (including bread-making and butter churning), and hauling the family wash from outside coppers, all added to the heavy workload. No doubt the Simshausers would have experienced plenty of these tasks.
At the time there was no electricity, no telephone, no cars nor roads and no machinery. We take these modern conveniences for granted but how different life would have been without them. For all, it would have been a backbreaking and sometimes heartbreaking way of life.
