Backbencher

Lecture two was entitled Geography: Taylor & Cumberland. Taylor and Cumberland were two of the top geographers in Australia and New Zealand. The lecture started out with Dr. Isern showing us photos from some of his trips. We were able to see photos from Queensland, North Ireland Bush & Paddock, Cook Straight, and Central Otago. Threw the photos that we saw we were able to get a better idea of what the land really looks like. After we went through the photos Dr. Isern talked about the different areas in Australia and New Zealand and the different types of land. In Australia there were three different areas, like, East Australian Highlands, the Interior Basin Lowlands, and the Western Plateau. The Highlands are covered with eucalypt forest, the Interior Basin Lowlands are at a low altitude and have lots of grass land, and finally the Western Plateau is full of volcanic and metamorphic formations. Then we proceeded onto the geography of New Zealand. In New Zealand there are only two different areas. They are Felden and Arden. The Felden area is an area that is suitable for agriculture and the Arden area is not as suitable for agriculture. Then Dr. Isern taught about the Tussock Grassland. The Tussock Grassland has evolved over the years. Here they use fire to control the plant growth and maintain the land.

Griffith Taylor was a geographer at the University of Sydney. Taylor had a theory entitled environmental determinism. In this theory he stated that the humans must conform to the land. This idea of his was at first denounced, but later the people saw that his theory was true and they went along with it. The next person that we learned about was Kenneth Cumberland. Cumberland had a theory about soil erosion. He said that when humans messed with the land it would only hurt the land. But when he found out about the Tussock Grassland he found that his theory was weak.

This lecture really brought some new things into light for me. It showed me that other people also burn the land to renew the vegetation. When I was younger I always thought that my uncles were nuts when they did that. Then my dad taught me why they did it. Now I see that even people thousands of miles away do the same thing that we do. So now I am starting to think that maybe us, as Americans, are not as crazy as I once thought. Also in the Western Plateau they built cob and rock houses. Which reminds me of Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe. In 2005, he was on location and he was helping build cob houses. After seeing that episode and then learning that in Australia it enabled me to realize what the people were living in and what their homes were made out of. In a way it kind of gross. They had to use their feet to mix different ingredients in it. It has straw, clay, and some other things. Like I said, this lecture has really opened my eyes to what things are like in Australia and New Zealand!