Migrantweb.com Hostels Forum

[souwesterly]

Hi there

I�ve just come across this site and so I thought I�d add my name to your every-expanding list of migrants.

I am Chris Lea (now aged 62) and my wife of the time was Brenda (now aged 60).

My wife and I migrated from Britain on the SS Aurelia, leaving Southampton on 10th December 1967 � just seven days after we were married. We arrived in Sydney in the latter part of January 1968; stayed overnight at a ghastly �concentration camp� and then caught the train to Brisbane.

To therefore be decanted at Yungaba Migrant Hostel was a dream � what a lovely house � even if we did only have a kind of bedroom cubicle to ourselves!

Because I came to Australia jobless and homeless, it took something like three months before we managed to get settled � and then we moved out to a flat in Wooloowin. I�d got myself a job with Lytton Industries selling typewriters � terrible � but it was work! I soon moved on�.. I think they were based in Wickham Street or Ann Street.

For those with delicate sensibilities, please look away now. At Yungaba, privacy was limited and our (single) bed springs creaked and twanged terribly!! So we�d put the mattresses on the floor and there our daughter Sharon Carol was conceived � she was born at the Royal Brisbane Hospital on 28th October 1968.

Some while later we moved out into the sticks (well, it felt like it to us!!) to Station Parade, Woodridge from where we seemed to spend most of our leisure hours at the Gold Coast � when you could still park free on the beach!

A few years later I took a job with Addis and moved up to Townsville � I loved it but my wife felt very much �away from home� and reluctantly (on my part) we agreed to return to Britain and to separate. So, sometime in 1973 we flew away from paradise.

One day I hope to return if only just to look around � there�s a little thing called money (or lack of) in the way�.. I'd migrate back to Brisbane (or Townsville) tomorrow if I they'd let me.

I�m sorry to say that I have no contact whatever with those who came with us in 1967/8 � but if any of you are out there then please make yourself known!

Cheers

[Len]

Welcome Chris, great to have you here.
That was an enjoyable read and I hope you get the chance to have your re-visit. If not, then I hope you at least manage to get in contact with some of your old mates.

[souwesterly]

Hi Len
Thanks for your welcome � great! � but nowhere near as great as that provided by the Good Neighbour Council in those days.

We�d only been there a few days when a family arrived by car and we were told that they were taking us out for the day. Terrific � for new Poms like us � we�d hardly got over the shock/excitement/horror/fun of the six week trip out � and here we were being taken out for the day. It was only a meander round the suburbs; a look round the city centre and tea back at their place but a wonderful eye-opening and warming welcome.

Anyway Len, before I start spouting pages of memories � does anyone want to hear of them

I won�t get personal � my memories will be confined to our experiences of our new life in Brisbane as seen from Kangaroo Point. Since it was the site of our first �home� together as a married couple; our first decent meal on dry land for ages; our first city; our first experiences of the Australian climate; my first job, etc, etc, I�ve a lot of abiding memories if anyone else cares! Accuracy would now be dimmed by a further 40 years of living��.

On the other hand, you Len, and others, may also know of other migrant websites that would be useful or interesting to link to.

Let me know � and I quite understand the words �shut up� !!!!!!!

[Phyl]

Hi Chris,
Welcome to the forum. I would love to hear all those memories of your time in Brisbane. We are so lucky to have this site ,Len is a great chap and memories are what makes the forum interesting ,so for my part ,fire ahead .
_________________
Kind regards,
Phyl

[Len]

[souwesterly]

Hello Phyl � and Len (again!)
I�m so pleased that my memories may give someone a bit of pleasure � mind you, you haven�t read them yet!

[souwesterly]

Off I go again�..!

But I�ve just had a horrid thought � what happens once I�ve unravelled all my memories??!!

Yungaba � our first Australian residence.
It was (and still is, I hope) a lovely old unprepossessing white-painted colonial house hidden away among its tree-filled garden almost under the Storey Bridge.
We�d been met at the railway station and herded into a bus � which must have been sitting in the sun with all the windows closed for hours.
It was like a real oven inside � and there some bloody reporter from the Brisbane Courier Mail interviewed and photographed us (as the sweat streamed off us) � while all we wanted to do was to get somewhere cooler. I remember him asking �What did I think of Brisbane?� Considering that we�d only arrived in the city some ten minutes before, it was a somewhat inane question!

The bus eventually pulled up outside the hostel and we were all astonished�..after the Nissan huts, dust and apparent destitution we�d seen in Sydney, we�d been expecting something of the same, but this was a shock and a delight.

We were gathered together like new pupils and given a welcoming speech and a list of do�s and don�ts and then issued with keys to our rooms (cubicles).
These tiny bits of privacy were simply partitioned sections of much larger rooms � the partitioning was just wooden boards perhaps three quarters of an inch thick and perhaps eight feet high.
I don�t remember the small details except that, as I said before, we were given single beds despite almost all of us being couples. Mind you, in view of the heat, perhaps that wasn�t a bad thing.

It was the heat of Brisbane that we noticed first � this was January, so it was quite considerable. Having been advised of the availability of showers there was a mass stampede to try to cool off � and there I received another shock.
I quite literally bumped into an old �enemy� from my school (Godalming Grammar School, for those who care!) of all places! He�d been a couple of years senior to me and used to bully me at school (well, juniors in general, I think) and I hated him. And there he was � like a bad dream!!
But we�d both grown up and my wife and I soon got on with him and his wife � who had left England pregnant with twins. By the time she reached Brisbane the lump was quite considerable��I wonder how they got on, because once they moved out of Yungaba we never saw them again? His name? I've no idea.

In the first few evenings we walked around the dusky gardens at Yungaba, enjoying the hot earthy scent � until we fell foul of the mosquitoes!! Bloody things!!
And why is it that every mozzie net has a hole in it?
We also met our first cockroaches � damn great things well over an inch long.

By day, the garden was a different place and we just loved the big floppy black and white butterflies � twice as big as anything in Britain. I think they�re Common Crow or Oleander Butterflies � whatever, they were lovely.
Not quite so lovely were the hugely leggy yellow and black spiders (possibly the Banded Garden Spider) which sat in the centre of their extensive webs. My wife was NOT impressed!

I really can�t remember what they fed us � except that to me it was excellent and plentiful. I do know that some dishes were totally new to us � we had curry one evening � not something we�d ever had in Britain. In Brisbane it was enough to send us all to the showers yet again!!

Showers � yes � our lifeline!! We�d left Britain with six inches of snow and temperatures well below freezing. Then we�d ploughed our way down to and across the equator and then across the Southern Ocean. With a good breeze blowing across the ship we never really noticed the heat�.until we actually arrived in Australia. Fremantle was hot but very dry � Sydney was cool and cloudy � Brisbane was plain hot and very humid!
So we showered whenever we could � two or three showers a day�..until I suppose we began to get acclimatised.

And so we settled in to begin our new life in Australia. We had to start somewhere � I had to find a job and then a home to rent � and Yungaba was good enough for the time being.

More soon��..

[souwesterly]

I�m back��

Once we�d explored our temporary home we started to look around.
One of the first places that we went to was just a walk away � the Woollongabba Cricket Ground � because I knew that there was a Test match being played. It was the third Test of Australia v India (which Australia won by 39 runs, by the way). We went and sat on the grassy slope at the Gabba, surrounded by mountains of empty beer cans and although I don�t remember the play I do remember being able to cheer for my new country!!
On the way back my feet (still in typically �British� shoes) were cooking and so I took my shoes and socks off. I regretted it later because my soles were quite badly blistered by the hot pavements � an unusual place to suffer from sunburn!

So we needed some proper Aussie wear � flip flops; shorts (and long white socks); t-shirts, etc. My wife was fine with her summer dresses but even she needed some Aussie-style clothing.
So we walked over the Storey Bridge and into the big new city. The view from the bridge was worth the walk � and the breeze was WONDERFUL!!! So cooling! It was worth the exercise�.although it paled somewhat after the first dozen trips.

Clothes � and washing. At Yungaba there was a communal laundry where there were several huge tubs with gas cookers underneath � and several equally huge rinsing tubs with cold water.
We fell in love with Australia again because clothes, once put on the line, dried in hours � not days, as in chilly, soggy Britain!

We all enjoyed a great laugh at the expense of two young lads who�d migrated singly along with us all. Having had the basics of the laundry explained to them they unloaded all their dirty washing and they were left to get on with it.
Some hours later it was discovered that they had filled two tubs with their laundry; added detergent; turned on the gas cookers and then gone out for a few hours.
When they returned to rinse out their clothes, everything had boiled well and was now a rather mucky shade of grey/green � ideal for camouflage but not much use otherwise!!!

The two also were the first to suffer severely from sunburn. They went to the beach somewhere and sunbathed until they were cooked. By the time they returned to the hostel both their backs were covered in blisters.
There�s isn�t a lot you can do to ease the pain of sunburn � I do know that raw tomatoes were used but I don�t know if the pain lessened.

Speaking of sunburn�..now we looked the part, we decide to brave the wilds � and explore. So one of our first explorations was to go on a boat trip up the river to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary��a lovely day out and a scenic ride too. We sat on the top deck of the boat for the hour or so �cruise� both there and back and had a lovely day with the local wildlife.
We soon realised that we were getting red and not a little sore but by then we were nearly home � and in the privacy of our cubicle we stripped off. My God � we were BRIGHT red � but not all over, obviously.
My wife, having been wearing a strap-topped t-shirt was completely cooked to half way down her back and down to her bust (with the exception of thin white strap lines. That was bad enough but I was worse. My legs looked like striped barber's poles or something. My feet and calves were still snowy white. Then I was bright red up to the top of my thighs and then I turned white again. It took months and months before I became more evenly tanned all over (well, nearly!). I hate to think how many times we both peeled before our skins became acclimatised.

Realising that I�d probably need to drive, I decided that I�d better get my Australian Driving Licence.
Already having a UK licence, all I needed to do was to read the Highway Code (I spent 10 minutes at it), answer about 20 questions and get something like 16 right and then take a sight test � and I was in. My new Aussie Drivers Licence � and no car � damn!

I�d left Britain as an office clerk but I�d always wanted to be a Sales Rep��not for their reputation but because I liked talking to people and I rather fancied the �out of office� lifestyle. So having no experience I was hard put to find a job.
I suppose that at least I soon got to know Brisbane (and how to catch a tram!!) as I tramped from interview to interview. But finally it paid off and as I said before, I started by selling typewriters (and adding machines) � well, I had to start somewhere!

And then we moved out of Yungaba � and onwards in our life in Australia.

In retrospect, our few months at Yungaba made all the difference to our lives. If we�d have been more or less �dumped� in Australia, life would have been very uncomfortable, but we were fortunate.
Our location was excellent - and unforgettable. The accommodation was good enough but not so good as to let you want to stay forever! The support � employment; accommodation; advice, etc, was first rate and invaluable.

So I owe a very big �thank you� to all those involved, so many years ago. I�d do it all again tomorrow if I could.

I apologise for not having included other people in my memoirs. The trouble is that I�m terrible with names and faces and without my old letters I simply can�t recall people. The only ones I can think of were a fairly elderly couple (he sold up an engineering business to come out to Australia) and a young teacher who came over on his own and who went to work at Beenleigh.

Ok folks � that�s about it � for now, at any rate.
There may be more but that will depend on my getting some old scrapbooks back from my daughter. I used to write copiously to my mother and she had the forethought to collect all my letters (and copies of those she wrote to me) and paste them into scrapbooks. My letters filled two big books � and if I can get them back I hope I�ll be able to add to these entries. We�ll see�..

I do hope that I haven�t been too long-winded or boring. Memories can be so dull, as seen from other people�s perspectives � but I hope I�ve managed to convey even just a few people back in time�..

I�ll keep in touch but don�t expect miracles from me!

Bye for now

[Len]

Wow Chris, I�ve had to book a day off work to read all that, it�s brilliant.
I�m over whelmed, don�t know what to comment on first. A lot of the things you�ve mentioned do ring bells for me.
As kids �10 � 12 year olds� I remember sunburn was a bit of a problem for us - and not only us, think most newly arrived migrants got sunburnt at some point. Not like theses days, were we�re told � sun is bad for ya, but then..... think I�d still take my chances.

If you�d like to add more of your experiences then please do. They are not boring at all, would say..... very interesting, especially to those who have had similar experiences.

[Phyl]

I have to say Chris I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about your memories . They are not boring at all and I had a giggle or two as I read.I do hope your daughter gives you the scrapbooks so we can enjoy some more of your adventure. Pity you couldn't return to Australia, as you say you loved it.
The sunburn was certainly a problem for most people coming to Australia . Most were warned but who takes notice? So most did learn the hard way.
We are at the moment expecting guastly weather this weekend .Galeforce winds ,rain ,sleet,snow etc. Ah well that is winter in NZ.
Thankyou for your memories . Many people coming to this site will have so much pleasure reading them.
_________________
Kind regards,
Phyl

[souwesterly]

Hi Phyl

I�m SO sorry to hear that your winter isn�t being nice to you!!
We, on the other hand, are just starting a bit of a heatwave over here � should be up into the low 80�s (25-27C) over the next few days. Unless they�ve got it wrong again!
PS note � no � all correct! Up to 81F in our garden today � not bad.
Cor, it's lovely to be having better weather than someone else!!!

It seems odd to be writing (�talking�) to someone from NZ � I don�t think I�ve knowingly ever had the pleasure before.
And to think, if it wasn�t for World War One, I might have been born in NZ.

My mother�s grandparents decided to emigrate to NZ back in 1912/13 or thereabouts. They went out from England on one of the big Cunard liners (but no-one can now recall which one) with intent to settle around Rotorua, for some reason.

Anyway, having arrived in NZ, the First World War suddenly loomed up. My ancestors immediately decided that they should be on hand to fight for their country (well, so the legend has it!) and they caught the next ship home. Who knows - perhaps the Maoris rather than the Kaiser made them return!! And so I missed out on being an Antipodean!

Anyway, thank you, both, Len and Phyl, for your comments � ain�t it nice to be appreciated!!

And Phyl�..assuming that I outlast my mother, I WILL return. Subject to the laws of inheritance, I should then have enough to be able to spend at least, what, a week out there!

I also promise to do my best to dig up those (sometimes best) forgotten memories and put them into words if I can. I�ll get my little grey cells to work at once!

Sunburn�..it�s a funny thing, isn�t it? We all want to get brown and tanned and yet, as you comment, it�s terribly bad for you. How can something that feels so good be so bad???!!! On the boat coming out we were at least able to acclimatise to some extent but a migrant ship is hardly the place to spread out on the sun deck � there never seemed to be room except at night or in dull weather. My wife got her legs badly burnt when we were somewhere near the equator and had to spend several days with her legs elevated to help the swelling go down, but thereafter, we were ok.

But without the cooling cruising breeze and with too much time on our hands in Brisbane (for a while), we made the most of the sun and paid the price. It�s not so much the quantity of sun � it�s the strength, isn�t it?
Yet oddly enough it took only a few months before us New Chums were reaching for pullovers as soon as the temperature dropped below about 75F.
It was those who flew out from Britain whom we pitied � from freezing to boiling in next to no time!

Off track for a moment � I vividly remember, some time after we�d moved into our flat, that Brisbane had a really chilly spell and on one occasion, the overnight low went down to 42F. We froze!!! And then spend days wrapped in every warm item we could find � and still felt SO cold!! 42F in Britain? A spring day!!

Right � got lot�s more to do. Thanks for your time etc.

And to coin a phrase�..�I�ll be back�!!