@michaeloz.bsky.social
OCD (Old, Cranky, Dangerous), opinionated, loves animals, history and travel, blessed with a wonderful family.
Captain Louis de Freycinet couldn't bear to leave his new bride Rose behind for 3 years, so he sneaked her on board and they had a wonderful adventure cruise honeymoon around the world to Australia in 1818, all expenses paid by the French Government.
Lovely!
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Lovely!
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
CAPTAIN SNEAKS HIS WIFE ABOARD A FRENCH MILITARY WARSHIP
Captain Louis Freycinet takes his bride for a three-year honeymoon cruising the Pacific.
open.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Captain Louis de Freycinet couldn't bear to leave his new bride Rose behind for 3 years, so he sneaked her on board and they had a wonderful adventure cruise honeymoon around the world to Australia in 1818, all expenses paid by the French Government.
Lovely!
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Lovely!
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Cook and Flinders get publicity, but actually it was Phillip Parker King who mapped the Australian coastline 4 times.
And, King was born in Australia- a local lad made good as an Admiral in the Royal Navy.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
And, King was born in Australia- a local lad made good as an Admiral in the Royal Navy.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
VOYAGES OF PHILLIP KING
Governor Macquarie reforms the troubled colony
open.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Cook and Flinders get publicity, but actually it was Phillip Parker King who mapped the Australian coastline 4 times.
And, King was born in Australia- a local lad made good as an Admiral in the Royal Navy.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
And, King was born in Australia- a local lad made good as an Admiral in the Royal Navy.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Why aren't state police arresting ICE agents who commit crimes? Surely ICE agents are subject to state laws such as assault, kidnapping and robbery? They should be arrested, like anyone else would be.
November 1, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Why aren't state police arresting ICE agents who commit crimes? Surely ICE agents are subject to state laws such as assault, kidnapping and robbery? They should be arrested, like anyone else would be.
Harsh penalties, such as two convicts being given 50 lashes for swimming in a river, caused anger and resulted in a violent revolt at Bathurst, which terrorised the colony.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
50 LASHES FOR SKINNY-DIPPING
But the 'Ribbon Boys' lead a rebellion.
open.substack.com
October 31, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Harsh penalties, such as two convicts being given 50 lashes for swimming in a river, caused anger and resulted in a violent revolt at Bathurst, which terrorised the colony.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Explorers saw coastal rivers flowed west from the coast into Australia and guessed there must be a great inland sea, so they searched for, but never found it. This is why:
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
JOHN OXLEY SEEKS THE "GREAT INLAND SEA'
But he was millions of years too late to find it.
open.substack.com
October 24, 2025 at 4:15 AM
Explorers saw coastal rivers flowed west from the coast into Australia and guessed there must be a great inland sea, so they searched for, but never found it. This is why:
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Two important facts about the Nobel Peace Prize and Trump:
1. The awards just announced were for 2024.
2. Nominations closed on January 31, 2025.
So Trump wasn't eligible for an award.
He can try again for 2025.
1. The awards just announced were for 2024.
2. Nominations closed on January 31, 2025.
So Trump wasn't eligible for an award.
He can try again for 2025.
October 11, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Two important facts about the Nobel Peace Prize and Trump:
1. The awards just announced were for 2024.
2. Nominations closed on January 31, 2025.
So Trump wasn't eligible for an award.
He can try again for 2025.
1. The awards just announced were for 2024.
2. Nominations closed on January 31, 2025.
So Trump wasn't eligible for an award.
He can try again for 2025.
When the British invaded Tasmania in 1804, they wanted to seize the land before the French, and make peace with the Aboriginal owners. That was never going to work, and it didn't. This is how it went tragically wrong:
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
INVADING VAN DIEMAN'S LAND
Aborigines near-exterminated in only 70 years
open.substack.com
September 27, 2025 at 1:06 AM
When the British invaded Tasmania in 1804, they wanted to seize the land before the French, and make peace with the Aboriginal owners. That was never going to work, and it didn't. This is how it went tragically wrong:
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Australia's only military coup wasn't about politics or principle - it was about rum.
Governor Bligh ordered the arrest of soldiers controlling the rum trade - but they arrested him instead. Read about it here:
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Governor Bligh ordered the arrest of soldiers controlling the rum trade - but they arrested him instead. Read about it here:
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
THE 'RUM REBELLION'
Australia's only military coup
open.substack.com
September 19, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Australia's only military coup wasn't about politics or principle - it was about rum.
Governor Bligh ordered the arrest of soldiers controlling the rum trade - but they arrested him instead. Read about it here:
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Governor Bligh ordered the arrest of soldiers controlling the rum trade - but they arrested him instead. Read about it here:
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Imagine a situation so awful that men wept when told they would NOT be hanged because it meant they would have to endure more floggings. That was Norfolk Island penal colony:
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
NORFOLK ISLAND: 'HELL IN PARADISE'
Penal colony with horrible history
open.substack.com
September 13, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Imagine a situation so awful that men wept when told they would NOT be hanged because it meant they would have to endure more floggings. That was Norfolk Island penal colony:
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
The Irish rebelled against the British authorities at Sydney, intending to seize a ship and sail to freedom, but were massacred by the soldiers in 'The Battle of Castle Hill'. Read all about it here:
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
THE IRISH ARE REVOLTING
Slaughter at Castle Hill
open.substack.com
September 5, 2025 at 10:34 AM
The Irish rebelled against the British authorities at Sydney, intending to seize a ship and sail to freedom, but were massacred by the soldiers in 'The Battle of Castle Hill'. Read all about it here:
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Matthew Flinders mapped and named Australia.
He explored more of the coastline than anyone before him.
He also recommended calling this continent Australia, not Terra Australis or New Holland.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
He explored more of the coastline than anyone before him.
He also recommended calling this continent Australia, not Terra Australis or New Holland.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
13. MATTHEW FLINDERS
He mapped and named Australia
open.substack.com
August 23, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Matthew Flinders mapped and named Australia.
He explored more of the coastline than anyone before him.
He also recommended calling this continent Australia, not Terra Australis or New Holland.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
He explored more of the coastline than anyone before him.
He also recommended calling this continent Australia, not Terra Australis or New Holland.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Peace or war was the choice most Aborigines faced when the invading First Fleet landed at Sydney in 1788. Some fought, some fled, some died of smallpox and others tried friendship. Either way, it ended badly.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
12. PEACE OR WAR? BENNELONG AND PEMULWUY
Two very different responses to invasion.
open.substack.com
August 15, 2025 at 2:55 AM
Peace or war was the choice most Aborigines faced when the invading First Fleet landed at Sydney in 1788. Some fought, some fled, some died of smallpox and others tried friendship. Either way, it ended badly.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
In 1788, an invasion fleet set sail from England for Sydney, led by Governor Arthur Phillip.
More than 1400 people depended on Phillip's judgement.
They survived deaths at sea, food shortages, terrible weather, indigenous opposition and crop failures.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
More than 1400 people depended on Phillip's judgement.
They survived deaths at sea, food shortages, terrible weather, indigenous opposition and crop failures.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
11. PHILLIP LEADS A GREAT MIGRATION FLEET
Botany Bay disappoints, so he moves to Port Jackson
open.substack.com
August 8, 2025 at 8:52 AM
In 1788, an invasion fleet set sail from England for Sydney, led by Governor Arthur Phillip.
More than 1400 people depended on Phillip's judgement.
They survived deaths at sea, food shortages, terrible weather, indigenous opposition and crop failures.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
More than 1400 people depended on Phillip's judgement.
They survived deaths at sea, food shortages, terrible weather, indigenous opposition and crop failures.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
The shipwreck of The Batavia off Western Australia in 1629 became one of the worst maritime disasters ever, with 110 survivors brutally murdered by others. Those responsible were hanged without trial. It's a fascinating story
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
8. BATAVIA 'HORROR'
110 people survived a shipwreck, only to be brutally murdered.
open.substack.com
July 18, 2025 at 10:21 AM
The shipwreck of The Batavia off Western Australia in 1629 became one of the worst maritime disasters ever, with 110 survivors brutally murdered by others. Those responsible were hanged without trial. It's a fascinating story
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
There was acrush of explirerscwho landed on Australia in the 1600s. Their names are on our maps, but they are forgotten. This is their story:
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
7. A RUSH OF OBSCURE EXPLORERS
More of the continent mapped
open.substack.com
July 11, 2025 at 9:38 PM
There was acrush of explirerscwho landed on Australia in the 1600s. Their names are on our maps, but they are forgotten. This is their story:
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Willem Janszoon is widely accepted to have been the first European to have landed on Australian soil in 1606, but the Dutchman was not impressed with what he saw. Why not? Read all about it here:
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
6. WILLEM JANSZOON - FIRST EUROPEAN TO REACH AUSTRALIA?
But he's not impressed with what he sees.
open.substack.com
July 4, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Willem Janszoon is widely accepted to have been the first European to have landed on Australian soil in 1606, but the Dutchman was not impressed with what he saw. Why not? Read all about it here:
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
We went tobEromanga, as far as you can go from the sea in Australia, and saw 100 million year old bones from Cooper, a giant sauropod weighing about 70 tonnes. It was special.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
EROMANGA: MEETING COOPER THE GIANT SAUROPOD
Where really BIG animals lived.
open.substack.com
July 1, 2025 at 7:23 AM
We went tobEromanga, as far as you can go from the sea in Australia, and saw 100 million year old bones from Cooper, a giant sauropod weighing about 70 tonnes. It was special.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Portugal mapped parts of Australia long before other Europeans, but did they actually discover Australia first? I investigate.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
5. DID PORTUGAL DISCOVER 'AUSTRIALIA'?
They did name it Jave la Grande
open.substack.com
June 27, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Portugal mapped parts of Australia long before other Europeans, but did they actually discover Australia first? I investigate.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Long before Europeans reached Australia, the people of the North were trading and fishing with Makassans from Java in Indonesia. This history should be better-known.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
4. MAKASSANS EXPLORE 'WILD COUNTRY'
Trading and fishing across 'Marege' wild country in northern Australia
open.substack.com
June 20, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Long before Europeans reached Australia, the people of the North were trading and fishing with Makassans from Java in Indonesia. This history should be better-known.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
For thousands of years, people sailed between China, Indonesia, India and Africa, so why didn't they discover Australia, the elusive sixth continent and largest island of Sahul? Or did they discover it, but the discovery wasn't recorded? I investigate:
substack.com/@michaelseco...
substack.com/@michaelseco...
3. HOW DID THEY MISS AUSTRALIA?
Thousands of years of trading links
substack.com
June 13, 2025 at 6:28 AM
For thousands of years, people sailed between China, Indonesia, India and Africa, so why didn't they discover Australia, the elusive sixth continent and largest island of Sahul? Or did they discover it, but the discovery wasn't recorded? I investigate:
substack.com/@michaelseco...
substack.com/@michaelseco...
How did the first Australians adapt to the sixth continent, once they began arriving about 65,000 years ago from Asia, as we saw in part 1 of 'Who Really Discovered Australia?' They established the oldest continuous surviving population on Sahul. Read on.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
2. SOCIETY BEFORE EUROPEANS ARRIVE
Complex indigenous societies adapted to the continent.
open.substack.com
June 6, 2025 at 2:37 AM
How did the first Australians adapt to the sixth continent, once they began arriving about 65,000 years ago from Asia, as we saw in part 1 of 'Who Really Discovered Australia?' They established the oldest continuous surviving population on Sahul. Read on.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
What's going on with America? Is this the end of the American Empire? I deep-dive into the global implications.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
THE DECLINE OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE
Are we there yet?
open.substack.com
June 1, 2025 at 8:48 AM
What's going on with America? Is this the end of the American Empire? I deep-dive into the global implications.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Who Really Discovered Australia?
Here's part 1 of my series which examines the search for and exploration of the elusive sixth continent and largest island. Interesting. Surprising. Fun.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Here's part 1 of my series which examines the search for and exploration of the elusive sixth continent and largest island. Interesting. Surprising. Fun.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
1. WHO REALLY DISCOVERED AUSTRALIA?
Hint: It wasn't Captain James Cook.
open.substack.com
May 30, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Who Really Discovered Australia?
Here's part 1 of my series which examines the search for and exploration of the elusive sixth continent and largest island. Interesting. Surprising. Fun.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Here's part 1 of my series which examines the search for and exploration of the elusive sixth continent and largest island. Interesting. Surprising. Fun.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Australia welcomes international students, but Trump harasses them.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
AUSTRALIA WELCOMES INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS, AMERICA HARASSES THEM.
Trump's stupidity harms America's competitive edge.
open.substack.com
May 29, 2025 at 3:56 AM
Australia welcomes international students, but Trump harasses them.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...