Over the last couple of months, some of our Anne & Gilbert cast were challenged to go technology free to understand more about life in the 1800s.

Amelia Murray
I started off my morning bright and early as I thought they would back in the day, at 7:00am I arose from my bed and opened my blinds. I then decided I felt like reading so I scavenged around for a candle and read Deenie in the candlelight for about half an hour. My tummy soon started rumbling so I headed to the kitchen and was a bit stumped with what to make for breakfast. I decided to cook porridge on the stove and have it with banana and honey on the veranda, it was delicious!

I then meandered on down to the piano and started practising for Elsie and my duo next Friday, I got carried away and was there for about an hour. My legs got really restless after that so I hopped into my running clothes and hit the road. When I got back I had a nice long bath (I thought about how people would wash back then and soon realised a hot bath was probably not even around).

Sadly I had to make my bed but did that pretty quickly. Because it’s a school day I did some of my maths (Linear equations, fun right ). By the time I had done all of that it was 11:00 and I had a French call so my time in the 1800s had come to an end.

All in all, I actually enjoyed this a lot, it was a great way to think of things to do and just slow down.

Elsie Steele
It was very hard to find some time to live like they did in the 1800s, as school is all online and I’m having a homework overload at the moment. I’ve realised that I’m using electronic devices a lot more than usual, due to online schooling. Instead, I’ve gone 180s-style for a while over the past couple of days, instead of doing it in one go. This is how it went:

Last week, I made a simple vanilla sponge cake using non-electric scales and cups to measure the ingredients. I went off devices for most of Saturday, and I’ve been playing board games a lot recently with my family. I go for a walk or a cycle ride (I know they wouldn’t have had bikes back then) without any devices every day, and yesterday I made some traditional oat and raisin cookies. I always read before bed, and occasionally I’ve done it with a candle or tealight to light up the pages. I’ve been playing the guitar absolutely loads recently to keep myself entertained, and even though they probably didn’t have guitars back then, I’ve been playing it a lot.

Amelia and I have been writing letters to each other instead of texting all the time. We’ve written 22 letters each so far! We started when school stopped, and are hoping to continue until it starts back again on the 9th of June. It’s a great way to keep in touch and exercise, as we usually walk over to each other’s houses to deliver them in the post-box every other day.

It was interesting to see how much I’m using technology recently because of online schooling, but it was really nice to get off any devices and have some downtime without them.

"True friends are always together in spirit." - L.M.Montgomery

Ky Rowse
I woke up at around six o’clock which is kind of my usual time and had decided to read a book in my bed with no light but a candle to get a good feel of life in the 1800s. So, I had set 10 hours of life in the 1800s for today.

To start my day, I had eggs on toast for breakfast and my family and I went for a ride to the train station and caught the train to Richmond (I imagined it as a steam train). There we went for a long beautiful ride along the Yarra River.

After around 10-11 km we decided to head back through a great scenery of many trees and the awesome houses just in front of the Yarra. Dad decided to ride back home, but I was exhausted so along with my Mother we took the (steam) train back home.

After we got back from the ride, I made some delicious biscuits to have a picnic and share with my family. I also found myself sketching and writing Mother’s Day cards for my Mother and Nan. I did a great sketch of trees, animals and food, all things in sight, pretty random.

I had a fabulous day getting out and about in the 1800s and look forward to hearing about everyone else’s experience.