Exotic journey to new life

THERE are countless reasons why a decision to make one’s home in Australia is a great decision.

The merit of that decision grows year by year and very few of those who make it ever regret it.

My wife and daughter and I came to Australia in August 1971 and have lived here since then. I think I have also told you that a job with the University of Queensland is what brought us here. It was just about the best thing that ever happened to us.

Looking back it is hardly surprising the actualities of our first arrival (into Brisbane), and our first impressions of the place that was to become our home, remain vivid in our minds even after nearly 47 years.

With one exception I have refused to keep a diary over all those years. The exception is a most detailed account of that first journey to Australia. I had promised my mum and dad that I would give them the full bit on every aspect of our journey.

When we, with some trepidation, told them what we intended to do, my dear old mum said nothing for a few long moments.

Then, she said that she had just two questions to ask me. The first was “Are you running away from something?” No, I told her, we are not running away from anything or anybody. The second was “Do you think you will be better off in Australia?” I said “Yes”. She said “That’s all right then”.

She never asked us another question as to why we were making the move. She just supported us and made sure I had plenty of clean shirts ...

My dad asked if we realised how many home matches we would miss while we were away.

We flew out of London Heathrow in a Qantas Boeing 707 on August 25, 1971 London time. The aeroplane was packed throughout the seven successive legs of the flight. The food was excellent and we ate more than our fair share despite being far too excited to really enjoy it.

The first leg was from Heathrow to Frankfurt followed by Frankfurt to Rome. I was thrilled by the prospect of visiting so many countries despite the fact that our visits were confined to a glimpse of an approaching runway, from a very cramped economy class seat, and a hasty pretend-casual walk back to the plane for the next leg of the adventure, “This flying is a doddle; anybody can do it !!!!! ”

From Rome we went to a very exotic place; Bahrain! We had breakfast at the airport. This was ridiculously daring for a couple of Poms whose most exciting breakfast venue had normally been a Motorway Cafe in the middle of England.

It was then off to Calcutta which was soaked by floods and even more daring. The next stop was Singapore, the old airport, where I spent much of the time having a good, old-fashioned sneezing fit!

We then made our first Australian touch-down in Perth where we did all the formalities imposed on arriving non-Australians. It was all very easy and we felt very comfortable with the whole process as we formalised our entry into our new home country.

Finally, we flew to Sydney and were amazed to realise how huge was our new home. We had arranged to spend four “recovery days” at a hotel in Sydney before making an ill-judged journey to Brisbane by train; just for the fun of it. We again realised how big the country was...

Met at Brisbane Rail station by my new University of Queensland boss my earliest memory of our new home was a sign on a Coronation Drive bench saying “Prepare To Meet Thy Doom”. We were ready!!

❝ My dad asked if we realised how many home matches we would miss while we were away.