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Migrantweb.com Hostels Forum Hostels were used to accommodate new Australians. 1950's-1970's
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KevinH New Member
Joined: 01 Jan 2013
Posts: 3 Location: Cornwall, England
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 10:23 pm Post subject: Kevin 1963 South Australia. Glenelg |
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Hi All,
Great forum and a Happy New Year to All.
I was a child hence free on the 'ten pound pom' scheme and arrived in Australia at the age of 9 in 1963 with my parents and younger brother, plus also an Aunt, Uncle and their 3 children. We travelled on the Fairsky leaving September 1963 and went via the Suez to Perth and then Melbourne only stopping in the Suez and at Aden. A great adventure for a 7 year old.
Some of you may know of me if you were on that trip as I became ill during the crossing of the line ceremony with appendicitis. The ships doctor and captain called a meeting and due to us going into a storm the next day decided to operate that night. This probably saved my life as I ended up with peritonitis. They slowed the ship down and I was told dropped a sea anchor to stabilise the ship. They also slowed the engines down which apparently alarmed some other passengers - Sorry! If anyone knows of the other doctors (passengers) pass on my thanks.
We arrived at Melborne and then took the overland express to Adelaide and onto the hostel at Glenelg at the end of Adelaide airport, a great location for children who liked planes!
Good fortune came our way and my dad (a Waterman & Lighterman) got a job at the South Australian Harbours Board and unbelievably when walking back from the beach to the hostel an Australian lady pulled up and asked if we new anyone who might want to rent a house at Ethelton - WE DID, so we had a good and fast start to getting established.
For all the usual reasons we only stayed our 2 years and returned to England by the Fairstar.
I'm happy to expand and discuss this exciting adventure. My parents are both alive and I can also get their comments if any interest. |
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Robert (Bob) Taylor Moderator
Joined: 30 Dec 2011
Posts: 118 Location: New Zealand
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Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 3:51 am Post subject: |
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Hi Kevin, we also arrived on the Fairsky in 1960.
I'm in awe of your account re. The operation. That must have upset you and your family...wow!
Glad you all came through OK
Cheers, Bob. |
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kate fletcher Active Member
Joined: 02 Jul 2011
Posts: 63
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Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 9:09 am Post subject: |
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Hi Kevin
What a horribly dramatic sea voyage. I'm glad it had a happy ending.
It�d be fascinating to hear your parents� account of hostel life. Almost everybody on the forum was a child at the time of emigration. |
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Bluebird Active Member
Joined: 07 Aug 2012
Posts: 31
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Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 6:47 pm Post subject: |
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What a great adventure you had....so glad you were saved by the doctors!! |
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KevinH New Member
Joined: 01 Jan 2013
Posts: 3 Location: Cornwall, England
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Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 10:16 pm Post subject: Glenelg Hostel and other chat |
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Thanks for your comments, here is a little bit more info on the Hostel from my dad, Bill Hobbs (he is currently in hospital and this was a good topic to chat about today!).
Apparently we went to Australia on the "Nest Egg" scheme and on arriving in Australia were expected to find our own accomodation and work without government help. Due to my illness we were offered the Hostel route to ease our start to our new life.
We stayed at Glenelg Hostel for about 10 weeks as my dad had already made contact with the SA Harbours Board and was invited to apply for work on arrival, which he did.
When I asked dad about the Hostel his instant comment was "it was smashing", which suprised me, but he added it was considered the best in South Australia. Our "Nissen hut" accomodation had two rooms, one a small bedroom which I shared with my brother and the other the living room which doubled as a bedroom with a bed-settee.
I asked about the canteen, but the only bit he could remember was breakfast as he was out at work for the other meals and he thinks he had peanut butter sandwishes every day!
He didn't remember any particular people by name (he is 90 soon and it was awhile ago), but does remember a "Les and his wife", Les got a job in the Adelaide Hills (possibly at Mile End?) where he worked in a gun shop, they also bought a cat as they said "when you buy a cat you settle down"!
The hostel was also visited by 'high pressure salesmen', trying to sell houses, particularly at Para Hills, but dad seemed to be strong enough not to sign up! It wasn't near the harbour.
Travelling to work at the Outer Harbour along the Military Rd was tricky from the hostel as the buses did not start early enough to get to work at the right time, but dad met an Australian Con Krugger who gave him a lift until we moved to Ethelton.
One key point on the hostels was they seemed to be free (not sure for how long), but once you had a job you had to pay rent. This caused quite a few problems where people took on seasonal work (often not known at the time) and then did not have any work as you still had to pay rent out of your savings, and it apparently was not cheap.
That's it for now, I'll post more on other aspects another time and see what my mum remembers of the Hostel.
By the way I think you can still see the old location of the hostel on Google maps which I tracked down from its proximity to the airport. look up Warren Avenue at Glenelg at I'm sure its the bit of land on the north side between the road and the river. You can see the old road layouts and the Nissen hut foundations. The road between the river and the camp wasn't there at the time as we used to play up on an embankment there. |
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kate fletcher Active Member
Joined: 02 Jul 2011
Posts: 63
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Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 1:33 pm Post subject: |
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Going to Australia was the big adventure of my parents� lives, and I think they would probably have remembered that time with as much affection as I do. We were at Holmesglen (1958-1962) and it was very well run, to judge by accounts of other hostels on the forum, and as a child I had a very happy time there.
Even so, I�m still a bit surprised that your father remembers hostel life as �smashing� when it must have been a much more difficult experience for adults than for children, and it�d be interesting to know if your mother agrees with him. |
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CatherineManning Active Member
Joined: 13 Jan 2011
Posts: 18 Location: Adelaide, SA
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Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2013 11:25 am Post subject: Hostel Stories |
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Hi KevinH,
I'm really interested in your story as I'm involved in a research project looking at the migrant hostels in South Australia and it's been quite hard for us to track down people who came for a little while and then decided to return to their country of origin.
If you're willing to share a bit more of your story we'd love to hear from you:
[email protected]
You can find out more about what we're doing here: http://migration.historysa.com.au/research/callouts/hostel-stories
And we have a Flickr group here: http://migration.historysa.com.au/research/callouts/hostel-stories
Lovely to read your memories of Glenelg. There are a few pictures of that hostel on the Flickr link above.
Catherine _________________ Catherine Manning
Senior Curator
Migration Museum, Adelaide |
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