With Terre Australe now on the French radar, King Louis XVI decided, despite France's bad financial situation, to settle Terre Australe. The crown recruited 8,000 settlers to leave for this mysterious landmass. The first group of 1,500 settlers were from Western France, leaving from the port of Nantes on March 26, 1778. Five more settlement parties left from France in the next year, from the ports of La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Le Havre, Marseille and St. Malo. Guided by sailors that had been on one or more of the exploration voyages, the ships made a few stops to pick up supplies along the way.
After Eight and a half months of travel, the first settlers arrived in Terre Australe on December 9th, 1778, founding the colony of Louisport in Havre du Roi. The settlers found the climate to be quite nice (aside from the occasional heat wave, it is Australia after all), but the soil to be sandy and the sun to be intense. The early Louisport settlers survived off of hunting, fishing and supplies brought on the ships until more fertile land was found at Bèrmatte twelve miles to the west. Wild animals like Kangaroos, Dingos and Wombats (please suggest possible ATL French names for these, not Kangourou) also proved to be a problem for French colonists.
70 miles north of Louisport, the settlers from La Rochelle landed at the mouth of a river, naming both the river and town after the place they departed from, founding the colony of Rochelle. The Rochelle settlers found large deposits of coal nearby, which'd become quite important in the future. In addition, the settlers found decent farming and ranching land, as well as experimenting with wine growing.
Meanwhile to the south, French settlers found a nice harbor with fertile soils and nice weather, and decided to found the colony of Elouara, taking an indigenous name for the area. The area below the Elouara Hills (French: Collines de Elouara) became the breadbasket of the Terre Australe colonies, producing large amounts of Wheat, Maize and Vegetables, as well as wool and meat products. Wood was harvested in all three colonies, as well as small-scale quarrying and mining. Small forts were founded to defend the colony, either from natives or other Europeans looking to settle (cough cough, British, cough cough).
The 10 (and a half) years between the founding of the Terre Australe colonies and the French Revolution back home was a time of getting off the ground and developing the necessary infrastructure to create a successful colony. Land was cleared, farms were settled and towns were founded further from the initial ports. In 1789, nine years after the
founding of Louisport, Louisport had a population of 1,200 people, with a Church, Dock, Mill, Market and small residential zones laid out in a simple grid pattern. Rochelle and Elouara were pretty similar. Other small towns were emerging, such as Noura (an aboriginal name), Dufresne (named for the explorer) and Lac Saint-Louis (a religious name). Two settlement parties arrived during this time, in 1783 carrying 1,200 settlers and in 1788 carrying 1,600 settlers. In 1789, ten years later, the French population of Terre Australe was around 14,000 people, using a 3.5% annual natural growth rate (pretty dang high, only matched by a few third-world countries today, as colonial societies bred like rabbits) plus the 2,800 settlers that arrived in that time. Of course, a wave (at least for that time period) of settlers were about to arrive, as big things were about to happen back home...
In 1789, ten years after the founding of the first French colonies in Terre Australe, France erupted into revolution. France had been in dire straightsmoney-wise for years by this point, and years of bad harvests had put the pissed-off peasants on the brink. In addition, new anti-establishment philosophies had been spreading throughout the cities of France. The Estates General were convened for the first time in 175 years, but the third estate walked out in anger and protest and started their own National Assembly. Finally, on July 14th, 1789, the Bastille prison in Paris was stormed, mainly to collect weapons and supplies but also to free prisoners as a symbolic "f you" to the elite. Louis XVI attempted to flee, but was caught at the town of Varennes and returned to Paris as a prisoner. The Monarchy grew increasingly unpopular in and around Paris, until He was executed January 21st, 1793 (Antoinette was executed on October 16th, 1793). After that, France was caught in both wars with much of the rest of Europe and having a civil war, plus mass executions under Maximilien Robespierre.
The news of the revolution reached Terre Australe in 1790, but not much detail came. The opinion of the colonies on the revolution leaned toward the royalist side, since these settlers had strong loyalties to the crown and were by and large devout Catholics. After the news of the execution of the king came in, the colonies remained loyal to the deposed and decapitated king and viewed the government in Paris as illegitimate. This antirevolutionary sentiment was also felt in much of northwestern France, which resulted in several uprisings, such as in the Vendée (check out the timeline Vol de la Vendée as well) and inBrittany and Maine. These uprisings were brutally crushed, with hundreds of thousands being killed and tens of thousands fleeing. Between 1793 and 1800, over 16,000 royalists fled to the French Terre Australe colonies, largely taken on British ships, as Britain supported the revolt (OTL British convicts went to South Africa, not a Draka reference). While some settled in the existing colonies, most settled on Île Dufresne, founding the colonies of Cathelineau, named for the Vendée rebellion leader andNantes, named for the city of that name in Western France, as well as settling in smaller towns and villages on the island. I'll get to Napoleon in Part 5, as well as touching on what the British are up to and more exploring and colonization.
During the wars between France and pretty much the rest of Europe, a general named Napoléon Bonaparte rose through the ranks of French generals, eventually pulling off a coup and becoming the most powerful man on the face of the earth, then having a fall as dramatic as his rise, dying on St. Helena island in the south Atlantic, but let's start from the beginning.
Napoleone di Buonaparte was born to a minor noble family from Corsica in the Summer of '69 (1769), and moved to Mainland France when he was nine years old, but always spoke with a thick Corsican accent, of which he was bullied because of. Despite his Corsican background, he was accepted into France's top military school and became a lieutenant in the French Army, just in time for the revolution. He joined the revolution and became the leader of France's Army of Italy. Napoleon, through his military genius won the Italian campaign against the Austrians, and decided to invade Egypt afterword. He invaded Egypt in order to cut off Britain's Indian trade, and captured Malta along the way. While in Egypt, he found out that he had an opportunity to overthrow the Directory and become the leader of France, and so he pulled off a coup d'état and became the French Emperor. After he came to power, France went back to war with pretty much everyone ese, but conquered Spain and captured Vienna, then going on to capture much of continental Europe except for one: Russia.
So, in 1812, France invaded Russia, making rapid advances and capturing Moscow, but the Russians weren't concerned one bit, as they had a key ally that was about to come to the aid of the Russian Bear: Winter. During the winter of 1812/13, French troops froze by the thousands, and Napoleon had to retreat (another egomanianc with a funny hattried the same thing over a century later, with the same results). After that, things started to fall apart for Napoleon, and he was exiled to the Mediterranean island of Elba in 1814, but later returned and regained control of France, only to lose it again (Waterloo being a famous battle) and be exiled to another island, only this time it was Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, over 1000 miles from any land, later dying there in 1821, being just a man who used to rule the world.
Despite his attention being mainly on Europe, he also had colonial ambitions. In order to discourage any British claims to the region, he sent a group of 2,000 settlers from Provence and his native Corsica to the Rivière du Cygne Noir in 1801, founding the colony of Port Napoléon. While they found the soil to be quite sandy and bad for grain, they could grow Grapes, Olives and Lavender, which became crops traded with the eastern colonies and France in exchange for grain. Napoleon would have founded more settlements, but he was busy with fighting in Europe.
Now, to backtrack to before the revolution, as I forgot to mention that there were French expeditions to explore more of Terre Australe before the revolution. In 1785, King Louis XVI ordered admiral Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse to explore the Pacific Ocean, as well as exploring more of the coast of Terre Australe in order to find more prospective settlement sites. So, he took off, exploring regions such as Hawaii, Alaska, California, East Asia and Polynesia, before stopping in Louisport for supplies. He took off and explored the south coast of Terre Australe, discovering that Île Dufresne was in fact an island, as well as finding places such as Havre Martinière, Golfe de Lepaute andGolfe de Lamanon, all named after members of his crew. He later arrived back in France in 1789, just as the revolution was getting underway.
After the American Revolutionary War (which still happens BTW), Britain needed a place to dump it's convicts. They had considered Terra Australis, but found out about the French colonies on the continent. Patagonia was also an option, but it might piss off the Spanish and was very dry. New Zealand was too far at this point, and while Canada was an option, American Loyalists were already flooding into Upper Canada (Ontario). So, in the end, they decided to settle in between the Dutch Cape Colony and Portuguese Mozambique.
So, on May 13th, 1787, the First Fleet departed from Portsmouth with supplies, sailors and hundreds of British convicts. After months at sea and with a stop in Rio de Janeiro for supplies, the First Fleet finally arrived at Port Natal on October 27th, 1787. Over the years, thousands of British convicts were dumped into Port Natal, as well as other South African penal colonies like Algoa and Charlottetown.
Just a brief update on the ATL British Penal Colonies in South Africa.
The Napoleonic Wars actually didn't have a huge affect on Terre Australe (aside from the new colony on the west coast), since Terre Australe is too dang far away from Europe (or frankly any other region of the world) for fighting to take place. During the 15 year period from 1800-1815, 8,000 settlers arrived in Terre Australe, 6,000 if you exclude the settlers Napoleon sent. The French population in Terre Australe grew from about 34,100 in 1800 to about 61,100 in 1815, and with the increased population pressures inevitably came settlers looking to make the daring trek acrossThe Austral Alps (French: Les Alpes Australe). Explorers looked for routes across the hills, following Aboriginal paths and seeking sites for possible settlements and farms, as well as any natural resources. In 1807, the town of Borel was founded as the first town on the other side of the hills (technically it's on a plateau in between the hills, but close enough). Despite this new town, the French remained rather settled around the three original colonies, as well as in the areas of the two Dufresne colonies. Speaking of colonies...
After the Napoleonic Wars were over, the French went back to colonizing Terre Australe. In 1820, the Terre Australe colonies had a population of about 72,000, growing by around 3% per year on natural growth. In early 1821, the French sent 6,000 settlers, largely from Northern and Western France to Havre Martinière, arriving in September and October of that year, founding the city of La Martinière on October 9th, 1821, and the city of Coréau to the southwest on October 22nd, 1821. The bay had a similar oceanic climate to much of France (with the exception of the occasional heat wave), so the adjustment to their new home was rather smooth. Farms sprung up along the rivers and on fertile patches of land, while cattle and sheep roamed the pastures around them. Further up the Birèrung River, Gascon settlers from around Bordeaux started vineyards, and over the next few years wine became the region's greatest export (for the time being). Another fleet of 3,000 Frenchmen arrived in 1827 to te Martinière colony, and by 1830 over 10,000 Frenchmen lived around the bay.
Fearing British settlement around Golfe de Lepaute, as the British had settled in New Zealand in the early 1820s (earlier than OTL, since the Brits didn't have Australia in this timeline), 2,500 settlers were sent to colonize it, and Charlesville was founded on July 18th, 1828. The Mediterranean climate was familiar to some of the settlers (1/3rd had come from Provence), so they were able to adjust, although some summer days were almost unbearably hot (up to 42 degrees Celsius/108 degrees Fahrenheit). The major crops grown were typically Mediterranean, such as grapes and olives, although grain was grown in some areas and cattle and sheep grazed in others.
Aside from the recruited settlers, 8,500 Frenchmen arrived between 1820 and 1830, as well as over 1,500 from other parts of Europe, dramatically growing the European population of Terre Australe to 118,000 by 1830.
The French had virtually colonized the entire Southeastern coast of Terre Australe, as well as Île Fresne and part the Southwest Coast. However, the coast north of Port Morlaix was still uncolonized, ripe for a British penal colony. In order to secure French control of the region, King Louis Philippe I sent 4,000 French colonists to the northern coast of Terre Australe, arriving on September 29th, 1832, founding the town of Philippeville. Some of the colonists moved further south and founded the town of Méouar. The warm and sunny climate proved quite good for the growing of tobacco and cotton, while corn and to a certain extent rice were the main food sources. Further north, Caribbean sugar growers wondered if they could grow sugar on the northeast coast of Terre Australe, so they set up their own private colonization effort, founding the town of Amalia, named for Louis Philippe's wife. Turns out that sugar could grow on much of the northeastern coast, and before you knew it massive sugar plantations appeared up and down the coast.
With Europeans not being willing (or arguably able) to work under the hot tropical sun and African slavery going out of style, another source of labor was needed. As a solution, various different South and East Asian groups were imported to work as either indentured servants or very cheaply paid employees on plantations, the largest groups early on being Tamils, Cantonese and Melanesian (Blackbirding). Europeans also settled in the sugar colonies, but not to work in the fields. Philippeville and Méouar also saw Asian laborers come in, but not to nearly the same extent, and the population remained mostly European.
By 1840, the population had grown to 180,000, due to a high birth rate and the arrival of about 21,000 new settlers (13,000 Frenchmen, 5,000 Other Europeans and 3,000 Asians). The amount of European immigration had remained rather low because unless you were willing to travel to the other side of the world to live pretty much the same life you had back home (the vast majority of early settlers were farmers), you probably wouldn't decide to move to Terre Australe, but that was about to change, as something big was about to happen...
The British Empire during the 19th century was the world's greatest superpower. As the old saying went, the sun wouldn't set on the British Empire, and the Brits would make full sure of it. The Brits had been trading with the Maori for a while before, but they finally decided to found a penal colony on the North Island, in order to deter French settlement, choosing a small isthmus with large harbors on either side, founding the colony of Auckland on January 26th, 1827. Two years later, on February 4th, 1829, the second colony of Wellington was founded at the other end of the North Island. In order to secure the South Island, the Brits founded Christchurch in 1833. New Zealand was locked down as a British colony by these three colonies.
However, the Brits weren't quite done yet. Patagonia, the southernmost region of South America remained uncolonized by any European power or the nations of Argentina and Chile, so the Brits decided to colonize the strategic Cape Horn/Tierra del Fuego region. The British colony of Patagonia was founded on April 7th, 1836, with the establishment of Port Desire. The early colonists struggled, since the climate was very dry and quite cold, but they found that ranching could work. The second colony, Sandy Point, was founded on June 29th, 1841, and became a major port for ships traveling around South America. Ranching, especially sheep became the major industry in the colony, and much of the population ended up being from the Scottish Highlands, Wales and Ireland, although that'd change later on. The border between British Patagonia and Argentina was set to be the Rio Negro/Black River and the Limay River, while the border with Chile was set to be the Estero Reloncaví/Reloncavi Sound, with the island of Chiloé being part of Chile.
With the Colonial population in Terre Australe approaching 200,000 people as of 1840, the French government back in Paris decided that some better organization was required. So, as a result, the following colonial provinces were created.
The province of La Pacifique was created around the original three colonies, with its borders along the 148th parallel east, Tongalle River, 141st parallel east and 30th parallel south, pretty similar to OTL New South Wales.
The Province of Martiniére consisted of all lands south of the Tongalle River, pretty similar to OTL Victoria.
Île Dufresne is basically OTL Tasmania.
The Province of Lamanon had it's eastern border with Pacifique and Martiniére, its northern border at the tropic of Capricorn (wherever that would turn out to be, as no Frenchmen dare venture into the hot, dry, dangerous wasteland called the Outback by OTL Australians) and its western border at the 130th parallel east.
Aloüarnia (Aloüarnie in French) is pretty much OTL Western Australia, its only land border being the 130th parallel east (OTL Western Australia's border is the 129th)
Orléania (Orléanie in French) had it's southern border at the 30th parallel, its western border at the 130th parallel and its northern border also being the Tropic of Capricorn
Des Tropiques was all the land east of the 130th and north of the Tropic of Capricorn.
The provinces, wanting to increase their own colonial populations started to subsidize travel for settlers wishing to go to Terre Australe, so that they could at least hold a finger to countries like Brazil, Argentina and of course the U.S. in attracting European (or other) immigrants. Then again, they may not have had to, as the next update or two will show...
It's the 1840s, and while Terre Australe is thriving, things aren't going so well on the Emerald Isle. Most Irishmen were poor peasants who were second-class citizens in there own homeland. As the amount of land the average Irishman had shrunk over time as massive Anglo-held estates spread across the country, they increasingly became dependent on one small but really nutritious crop to survive: the potato. In 1845, the potato harvest failed across much of Europe, but the Irish were hit the hardest. Between 1845 and 1849, about one million Irishmen died, a number that is hard to comprehend that one million people just like you and me starved to death in just five short years ("The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic." - Joseph Stalin (an expert on the topic of mass death, as his regime killed tens of millions), while around one million more emigrated.
The new provincial governments of French Terre Australe, while hearing about the deteriorating conditions in Ireland from previous Irish émigrés, the Terre Australe provincial governments didn't find out about it until early 1846 when French ships showed up with Irish immigrants who told them about the mass starvation. The provincial governments, looking to start a humanitarian effort AND increase the population, gladly took in the devoutly Catholic Irishmen, and said to the Frenchmen that the Irish could be transported to Terre Australe cost-free. The word made it back to Europe, and Irishmen flocked on to ships that'd transport them to France, and then on to clipper ships that'd transport them to Terre Australe in about three months, a short amount of time for the mid 19th Century. In 1847, over 9,000 Irishmen arrived in Terre Australe, compared to about that amount for 1840-46 combined. 1848 and 1849 each saw about 7,000 Irishmen arrive, totaling 32,000 Irish settlers in the 1840's. Many Irish were attracted to the cooler climate of Île Dufresne and the southeast, as about 85% went to the provinces of Île Dufresne, Martiniére or La Pacifique, although some settled on the frontier. In addition, about 15-20% of Irishmen died on the ships, mostly given burial at sea as, you know, dead corpses spread disease. Other Europeans arrive as well, totaling around 11,000 in the 1840s and the French totaled around 16,000 during the 1840s. The population in 1850 had grown to 300,000 people, and another significant event was about to happen.
While the French remained largely concentrated around the Havre Martinière, some French colonists explored out into the plains and hills around the bay. Once the Irish showed up in the 1840's, they settled on the frontier away from the bay (although some settled in the emerging towns and cities, like Marnebec and Grandmont). Hearing about a large river to the north, the French colonists organized several expeditions to find the river. One of these expeditions just happened to run into gold at a site about 80 miles northwest of La Martinière (OTL Bendigo). The site, which they called La Fortune quickly grew as more people found out about the gold. Eventually, word got to Europe, and in 1851 about 31,000 Europeans (of which 23,500 were French) showed up, followed by 39,000 in 1852 and 37,000 in 1853. Prospectors searched around for gold, and other gold sites were found at Ballerêt andEnnis (named by an Irish settler after his hometown back in Ireland). Gold was found in the other provinces as well, most notably in La Pacifique at Ganaboula and Belle Plaine. Within three years, the population of Terre Australe (a name is coming soon) had grown from 300,000 to 430,000, and would only continue to grow due to the high birth rate and drastically increased immigration.
This update was surprisingly annoying, because I'd typed a few more paragraphs, only for the website to freeze and lose it all. Anyway, here are some things I'd like to cover in the coming updates:
Culture of Terre Australe
Infrastructure (Railroads, Telegraphs etc.)
Various different immigrant groups (Asians, Italians etc.)
Interior Exploration
West Coast Colony
More Towns
With the French Terre Australe colony comprising an area several times the size of France itself and a rapidly growing population, new means of transportation were needed for getting people and goods around the colony. The first railway in Terre Australe was constructed from Louisport to Bèrmatte in 1847, followed by connecting Louisport to Ville Dufresne (to distinguish it from the island/province) the following year. It was a challenge connecting Louisport to Elouara and Rochelle due to the rough terrain (hills, cliffs, wide bays etc.), but three years later, the line was complete. Meanwhile, La Martinière was connected to the goldfields of the region as well as the growing secondary cities around the bay throughout the 1850's, making La Martinière a major transport hub and making the goldfields more easily accessible. In the north, Méouar and Philippeville were connected in 1859, but bigger projects were to come...
The First one launched was the Louisport-Martinière Railway. The distance of over 500 miles and the largely unsettled frontier with varying landscapes would make it challenging, but construction commenced in 1856. Largely using Irish workers, the railway first split into two at Borel (one going to Louisport, the other to Elouara), and then continued to cross the mountains and into the rolling hills and vast plains of the frontier. Along the way, numerous towns were founded, such as Clermont, Gondegai, Montvert, Miléoua, Angèratte, and Balouge. After seven years of construction, the railway commenced in 1862, connecting what would become the two largest cities in the colony.
The colonists wasted no time in making sure to build a northern line as well. In 1860, while the aforementioned line was still being built, the provincial governments ordered the building of a Rochelle-Méouar line. The region had started seeing French settlement in the late 1830's, which only sped up after the potato famine and gold rushes. Towns that already existed like Port Gaillac, Yambe and Baline were connected along the way, and by 1865 the line was up and running.
Charlesville requested a rail link to the growing national network as well, so the new Martinière-Charlesville railway began construction in 1863. The line already existed up to La Fortune, so from La Fortune the line ran across the plains to Mattecoupat, where a line was built to Gondegai as well to get a shortcut for people traveling from Charlesville to Louisport, then ran across more plains until crossing the Tungalle River (the river mentioned in part 10) at Pombéruc, and then crossing the coastal hills and coming into Charlesville.
Over the years, several names were proposed for the French Terre Australe colony, but the name "Antipodea (Antipodée in French)" gradually became the name for Terre Australe. Coming from The Antipodes, one of the European terms for the south pacific due to being on the opposite side of the world from Europe (even though the antipode for Louisport/OTL Sydney is actually in the North Atlantic near The Azores), and the name "Antipodea gradually became the name for the French colony and Australia became the name for what we call Oceania in OTL.As such, I have renamed my timeline "Vive l'Antipodée: A French Australia Timeline".
While the east coast of Antipodea was booming, the west coast remained a lightly settled backwater. Of the hundreds of thousands of Europeans that had gone to Antipodea over the years, only around 10,000 of them had gone to the less fertile and drier west coast. By 1850, the European population of the west coast was only a little over 20,000, most of which was concentrated on the Plaine Bonaparte. Other small villages had sprung up over the years along the coast, like Mandge (quite similar for the French word for "eat", which is mange) and Nouvelle-Toulon, surrounded by fields of olive trees, lavender, vegetables and vineyards. Early visitors remarked how different the speech here was to that on the East Coast, with one traveler remarking in his journal that "It's almost like a different language over there". However, in the early 1850's, new Emperor Napoleon III sent thousands of political opponents to penal colonies, and the largest one was on the west coast of Terre Australe. Between 1850 and 1860, about 12,000 Europeans, including 4,500 political exiles and convicts settled on the west coast. The new penal colony of Tricolore became the furthest north French settlement on the west coast (although the French government also sent farmers over as well so that, you know, the exiles and convicts wouldn't die). By 1860, the population of the west coast had grown to just under 39,000, almost doubling in one decade.
After the success of the Amalia sugar plantations, the French looked for more places along the northeast coast to grow the sweet, lucrative crop. They found that for the most part regions around rivers had the most fertile soil for sugar, so plantation towns along rivers like Bèrbarre, Mérouquitche,Hortense, Coutéringe and Baie Trinité, with other smaller towns popping up. With Europeans being unwilling (or arguably unable to) work under the hot tropical sun from dawn 'til dusk, the French imported workers from South and East Asia. While the first workers were Indian, Chinese and Melanesian, the labor pool eventually diversified, as the French started importing workers from the Spanish Philippines and from Japan as well. Most of the workers came as indentured servants on five to seven year contracts to pay off their voyage, but the conditions weren't much better than that of slaves. The working hours were long, the work was hard and the plantation owners would often use umm... harsh punishment for minor "offenses" (flogging for laying down after working for six hours straight under the hot sun), although laws were eventually passed forbidding overly harsh punishment.
As for what happened after their indentures were up, it was varied. Some returned home, some continued working on the plantation for higher pay, some moved into town and some started their own small farms. Many workers had family back home that they'd work to bring over after their contract was up, as they for the most part came alone. The Male to Female ratio early on was 3:1, so many would go back home and look for wives to bring to Antipodea. Each ethnic group would largely stick with their own and form ethnic enclaves in Antipodea (except the Filipinos to a certain extent, as the common religion between Frenchmen and Filipinos led to some Frenchmen and Filipinos marrying and having biracial kids). Europeans moved to the northeast coast as well, mainly to work in sugar mills, ports or towns. Mineral resources were discovered as well, which diversified the economy beyond just sugar and drew in more migrants as well. The Northeast Coast developed a distinct culture and identity different from the rest of the country, as the culture took in European, Indian, East Asian, Aboriginal and Pacific influences and mashed them all together.
Over a half-century since colonization began, and Antipodea was still divided in two, a smaller west coast colony and a much larger east coast colony, separated by over 1,000 miles of desert. Previous communication and contact between the two colonies was maintained by ships sailing along the Great Australian Bight. However, the colonists wanted to connect the two colonies overland, so that's what happened. The provincial government of Lamanon recruited two dozen men, lead by local explorer Pierre Hernandez (his dad was born in Spain). The expedition party, which included two Aboriginal guides, a Priest, local survival experts and Hernandez's wife set off in November of 1847. They first trekked 165 miles to the north at the tip of the Golfe de Lamanon, at which he founded the future town of Hernansville, and then turned to the west into the great unknown...
After leaving Hernansville, the terrain quickly transitioned into dry steppe, and fresh water was hard to find. Figuring that with the water being scarce, Hernandez sent all but six of his crew back home, which proved to be a good choice as over 800 miles of desert lay ahead. Up until Chédounes the coast was dotted with large bays, but afterwords the coast was largely straight with large cliffs. Over the next several months, the crew trudged west across the wide expanse, until reaching more habitable regions and finally arriving in the town of Quingelin in May of 1848, becoming the first Europeans to cross from Eastern to Western Antipodea by foot. Despite that, it'd remain decades before the two were connected by railroad.
Despite the attention being paid to the gold rush, much of the settlement actually came from farmers wanting to take advantage of the abundant land. The mild oceanic climate of much of the Martinière province was familiar to Western Europeans, and many European crops could grow just fine in Antipodea. Farming communities like Arnamboule, Rennes (named for a city in Brittany), Auxerre (named for a city in Burgundy) and Linse were founded during the 1850's, as thousands of European (largely French, but also German, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Irish etc.) farm families poured in to grab whatever land they could. Between 1853 and 1860, an average of 23,000 Europeans (or 161,000 in total) arrived in Antipodea. Coupled with natural growth of 2.75% a year, the population of Antipodea in 1860 had grown to 680,000 (still well behind OTL Australia, which had about 1.1 million by 1860, as Frenchmen don't have as much of a tendency to emigrate as Brits do).
In 1845, the population of British Patagonia was only 2,600 people, split between Port Desire and Sandy Point. The cold, dry climate and lack of fertile land discouraged settlement of the region. However, the voyage of the Beagle increased European attention on the region of Patagonia, and the British realized the strategic potential of controlling the Cape Horn. With the famine in Ireland, 12,000 Irishmen (as well as 2,500 other Europeans) arrived in Patagonia, founding the new towns of Sligeach, Port Fitzroy and Ceanainn. The Irishmen who arrived mostly became ranchers or fishers, as not many crops could grow in the cold and dry conditions. However, sailing up the west coast the conditions went from dry to very wet, and the Brits soon recruited farmers from Germany and Scandinavia to settle in the valleys and fjords. The most notable Nordic colony in Patagonia was the town of Aysen. Between 1850 and 1860, over 12,000 Germans and Scandinavians arrived in Patagonia, along with 14,000 Brits (English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish) and 2,000 other Europeans, growing the Patagonian population to 51,000 Europeans in 1860.
Pierre Hernandez returned to Charlesville a hero, but he wasn't done yet. He decided that he'd want to be the first person to cross Antipodea from bottom to top. He did some smaller expeditions, reaching as far as the rich opal fields of Coubapiti and then turning around. Then, his next expedition reached the center of the continent, at a site Hernandez appropriately called Le Centre. Knowing how to get through half of the continent, Hernandez decided that he'd go from coast to coast on his next expedition, a journey of at least 1,300 miles (2,092 km) across empty steppe and desert. The expedition left Hernansville, which by then was a port town home to around 300 people, on the 12th of August in 1854, so that they could arrive up north in the beginning of the wet season. They crossed the explored areas rather fast, traveling to Le Centre in about six weeks. After that, however, is where the struggle began. The land was dry, they didn't know where water was and often took detours to find it and the Aboriginals in the area were sometimes unfriendly (sometimes they were friendly, though, and helped the crew get water). It took a month to travel just 200 miles from Le Centre. However, as they went further north it got wetter and water was more readily available. However, it was VERY, VERY HOT and the animals were incredibly dangerous. The crew started the journey with 18 men, but they were down to just seven now, as many had given up and gone back home and two crew members, Patrick McIntosh and Benoit LaRoche had passed away on the journey. The crew was treated to torrential downpours and amazing thunderstorms, as they arrived in November of 1854, in the wet season. Finally, on December 2nd, 1854, Pierre Hernandez took a bath in the Timor Sea, thus becoming the first person to cross Antipodea from south to north, and then becoming the first to cross from north to south, leaving the north coast on March 4th and returning to Hernansville on May 29th, to much fanfare. Pierre Hernandez would pass away in 1914, going down as the most notorious explorer of the Antipodean interior.
By 1865, with the completion of the Philippeville-Trinité railway, the entire east coast of Antipodea had been connected by railroad, and with the spread of the telegraph to Antipodea, the east coast had become connected by this new invention. However, both Île Dufresne and the West Coast remained unconnected to the east coast by either (well, good luck building a bridge to Île Dufresne). With the new routes across the interior being discovered, the French decided that it was time to connect the coastal colonies by rail, a transcontinental railroad down under. And thus, on April 27th, 1867, the transcontinental railroad began construction in Charlesville. The jaunt up to Hernansville was quick and easy, taking only about two months to build the 180 miles needed to make that connection, and then the real challenge began...
They first built across the rolling steppes in between Hernansville and Chédounes, which became a good-sized rail town (a few thousand residents, but still it's a huge city when compared to the desolation surrounding it), a distance of about 270 miles (240 as the crow flies, and yes I am American so I use the old imperial system, convert it to metric if you so desire). The came crossing the Nullarbor, the near-empty plain in between the habitable zones on the south coast. They built about 300 miles to the cliffs of Incullier (tried to not make it sound like "Enculer", which means "F**k" in French), then running on the bottom of the cliffs for 110 miles to Gandathe. From there, they followed the coast for about 350 miles to Espérance, the easternmost town in the west coast colony. The final step was to build the last 275 miles to Quingelin, thus connecting the east coast and west cost railroads.
