Migrantweb.com Hostels Forum

[aussietrekker]

I lived there for 8 months in 1964 as a 9-year old, and remember almost everything like it was yesterday. Would love to hear from anyone else who stayed there in the 60's.

[stormfour]

HI
I lived there in the 60s for 18 months we landed in Dec 1963,Oh My God it was hot and we were taken from the ship by bus to the hostel,and every body stared at us when we went into the dining hall for lunch,and while we were eating someone dropped their tray and every body cheared,I remember crying and my Dad telling me it was ok they were just having fun!!
I remember the Rec where we all used to go to listen to music and dance and the wooden bridge going over to the back beach and the scary old grandstand where we used to play all the time,used to scare the c... out of me.

[aussietrekker]

We must have been there at the same time.
The old grandstand was supposed to be haunted.
I used to love it when everyone cheered when a plate broke!
What else do you remember?

[stormfour]

I remember a concert all the kids put on and it turned out to be so good we were invited to do the same show at the Brooklyn Hostel.
Where you there when the hostel managers son got killed when he was run over by the school bus,that was really sad,he was only about 6 years old.
I remember too the petrol tank right at the back of the toilet block exploding that was horrific,I thought the whole world was blowing up.I remember ordering school lunches and collecting them in little brown paper bags,and there was always a piece of madera cake with the sandwiches,people used to warn us not to order camp pie O.M.G I never really found out what that actually was.
I went to Seaholme Primary School whilst on the hostel a bus used to pick us up every morning and bring us back in the afternoon,I quite liked that school.
Ok Give back some more memories!!

[Phyl]

Enjoying your memories.
Can you remember who the manager was whose son was killed? That is so sad.
The petrol tanker sounds horrific.
I think on all hostel everyone cheered if a plate etc. dropped and broke.

_________________
Kind regards,
Phyl

[aussietrekker]

The manager was Mr. Laurence, and his son's name was Mark. I never knew till now that he was killed. That's dreadful. He was the friendliest little boy and had snowy white hair like his Dad. I remember Mum telling me a couple of years later that she'd heard he committed suicide. If he did, well there's a possible explanation.

Most of the kids went to school at North Williamstown Primary. We went to St. Mary's, and our bus also dropped off kids to Williamstown Girls' and the Tech. We used to sing non-stop on the bus coming home each day- mostly Beatles songs.
Seaholme bus went in the opposite direction. I remember a few kids who went there- Kenny and Angela Hanslik (who lived in the street behind us in Ireland), Linda and Gillian Eaton, Neville Dennerley and three brothers including twins.

The lunches (they called them "crib bags") weren't bad. I mostly ordered peanut butter or roast beef. Don't remember camp pie. I used to love the marble cake, and thought it was dinky how they sealed them in little plastic bags.

I had lunch with my brother and sister last week, and they both remembered going on the bus to the Tarax Show, it was a bit special. I remember another bus trip to Channel 7 to Video Village, and my name was drawn for that as well.

There was great excitement among the kids about a concert at Christmas, maybe that's the one you were in. But we didn't make it as we moved a few weeks before it happened. We built a house in Altona, so Dad wouldn't have far to go to work in the refinery. A few families went to Altona, lots went to Laverton and some to Werribee or Melton. So we'd occasionally run into some of them later on, or we'd end up at the same schools or workplace.

I will start a new thread for the numerous families I remember- that might jog your memory a bit.

[stormfour]

Yes the manager was definately Mr Laurence,as soon as as saw the name it came back to me,I was stood near the bus the day the little lad got run over,he actually fell behind the bus as it was backing up,it was awful.and his Mum had just arrived back at the hostel in a taxi after a days shopping and saw all the crowd around the bus.
I have to say though I have the worst memory for names,our family name was Myers,and there was Jean and Isobelle Hermit I remember really well as we still see them now,I also remember a family called Myerscough they had 2 little girls,Jill and July.
I remember playing on the monkey bars in the park near the kindergarten that was just before you went over the bridge,and the rec room that was across from that,we used to listen to all the beatles records there.
Yes a lot of families went to Laverton,my Mum and Dad had some really good friends there but again I cant remember the names,I will ask my sister she may remember

[aussietrekker]

I remember names remarkably well even after all this time but those you mention are not among them. I remembered Myers, but not any specific family members. But we must have crossed paths, as I went to the youth club in the rec every week....perhaps I'd recognise you in a photo. You would have lived in the next row from us, backing onto Carol Simonds who lived opposite us. Did you come from England or Scotland? Who were your neighbours?

I can't believe Mark Laurence was killed like that. I didn't know till today. I want to tell my Mum, but she died in 1981.

I used to go straight off the bus each day to the office, to see was there any mail. A nice lady named Mrs. Lewis used to give us the letters and there was great excitement to get a letter from the old country. We used to send and receive blue aerogrammes, as overseas mail with a stamp was an expensive luxury, reserved for sending photos and a card at Christmas.
I remember when the aerogrammes' price went up, from tenpence to a shilling.

[Phyl]

What a terrible accident,they would never have recovered from their tragic loss. I don't remember the Laurences We were in N.S.W. at that time and though I knew many managerial families in Vic. the Laurences are not familiar to me.
_________________
Kind regards,
Phyl

[stormfour]

I have a few photos we had taken on the hostel I will get them posted on here ,I have a couple with us still dressed in our concert stuff ( oh dear) but I will put them on anyway,I know my sister has some photos too,My parents are now both deceased and they had a lot of photos I will try and round them up,I cant remember who our neighbours were but after I have spoken to my sister I may have a bit more info ,she is older than me and I must say got out a lot more than I did then.
I remember going to the office for the mail,and really getting exited too when we got the blue aerograms,my Mum used to always open them the wrong way though,I remember too my auntie used to send us money orders on our birthdays and at Christmas,I used to get ninepence a week pocket money then and I used to spend it on a bottle of orange tarax and a packet of crisp,I would then go to the swings near the shop and sit on a swing till I had finished ..those were the days.
We came from Wigan in the north of England we were also friends with a family by the name of Griffin who also came from Wigan,there was a lot of them,Doreen,Nora,Mary, Eileen and the Mum and Dad were Doreen and John,they had a son too but I dont remember his name.They were not on the hostel very long as they went back to England they were so homesick.
Yes it was a very tragic accident for the Laurences,as a kid you dont realise how much,until you grow up and have your own children,I cannot imagine going through that at all.

[aussietrekker]

Oh I LOVED Mrs. Griffin! She was great value, always jolly and full of cheek!
When we arrived at the hostel, her daughter Eileen was on crutches, don't know what happened, but she seemed to be on them forever.

I also got ninepence pocket money, but it went up to a shilling when I turned 10 in June. I remember buying liquorice blocks for 4 a penny, Eucalyptus diamonds, White Knights, ChooChoo bars, Jersey toffee, a mystery bag of mixed lollies for 3d, or a lucky dip for 3d ,or 6d if you were rich.

The hostel shop was so primitive. It was a giant shed on stilts with steps up, and the shop was at one end and the rest was empty. It was run by a Hungarian pair, Mr.and Mrs. Salamon who lived in Sunshine. Mrs. Salamon was very abrupt and didn't smile, and was always on a short fuse with the kids. I thought she was an old dragon, and was always happy when I got my lollies and made a quick exit. I found out later that they had a profoundly disabled son, and that explained why she was always miserable around the hostel kids, many of which were very badly behaved.

There were two playgrounds, the one near the road next to the shop, and a bigger one near the kindergarten.

It didn't matter how many years went by- we still managed to open the aerogrammes the wrong way. I still have some old relics from Ireland in three pieces...and they were received in my twenties!

We came from Bangor in County Down. It's a seaside town about 20-30 minutes from Belfast. Another family named Hanslik left on the same day- they lived in the street behind us and their Dad and mine worked in the same factory. We were on the same boat going to England, said our goodbyes as we went on separate flights, but ended up in the same hostel.

[stormfour]

Every body loved Mrs Griffin,I still have contact with Doreen Nora and Eileen,Doreen and Nora both live in Browns Plains in Brisbane and Eileen is still in England,the reason she was on the crutches is because she fell off the top bunk on the ship on the way over and broke her ankle.
Yes I remember the grumpy lady in the shop,would never have known her name though,I didnt stay in there long enough to find out,I always thought they lived in that long space at the side of the shop !!! just goes to show what I know.
I remember too people used to buy peroxide as they were told that if you put it on mossie bites it would stop them from itching but all it did was foam up,good value though!!
I remember getting a pogo stick for christmas and jumping all over the hostel on it,I must have looked like a wallaby,I wasnt big enough to be a kangaroo,I went every where on that stick,I wore out the bottom of it and my dad had to get me another one.
When we came back from living in Brisbane we lived in Sunshine for a while,I was working then and I used to catch the train every morning with my sister to go to the city,then we moved to Dandenong ( ugh) awful place,we now live in Berwick which is also in the South Eastern suburbs.
I would love to have gone to that reunion night,how do you find out about these thing?
Hi Phyl,glad your enjoying all this,
whilst on the hostel,there was someone going around cutting up peoples washing that was hanging out to dry,things like....cutting the cruches out of knickers and the ends off bra cups maybe a leg off a pair of pants,things like that,and many many years later on her wedding day,MY SISTER confessed to doing it with a mate,I think I wet my self I laughed that much.

[aussietrekker]

LMAO!

We never used peroxide, just those mosquito coils, I thought they were a lovely smell.

Have worked in both Sunshine and Dandenong many moons ago.
I ended up back in the western suburbs in 1986, when I married Bruce from Altona. We live in Geelong nowadays.

Carol McKeeman organised the one and only reunion in 1988. It was held in Werribee Park. It was a blast. There's nothing to stop us from organising another one- I'm game if you are. All Carol did was put an ad in the local paper. My Dad told me about it so we went along.

It would be awesome to have it at the hostel site. It's now the Technopark, but it's worth looking into. There's also a new walking path at the back where the creek is (and grandstand was).

[stormfour]

Yes I am certainly game,up for anything I am,probably have to centre it more on your side of the city than mine ,who knows though,people could be spread all over the state by now,I suppose we would have to wait for some RSVPs to come back before going ahead and organizing a venue,but hey I will be in it for sure.I will contact the Griffins too who knows they may just turn up!!

[stormfour]

I have remembered something else,at that time as you all know there was always problems with Mods and Rockers and most of the kids on the hostel being British were Mods,but in Williamstown the local hoods got together and crashed into the hostel one night to bash all the kids up,but somehow the word had gotten back to the hostel and all the Dads were waiting at the front gate for them,and soon sent them on their way,my Dad being a big burly rugby player was hot to trot,but it all came to nothing really,tell you what though none of the hostel kids were welcome in Williamstown for a while Oh yes in deedy those were the days