Voyage to Sydney,Australia June 1962................Eventually the day arrived for our journey to start.Mike and his tiny girlfriend were there to say goodbye at Westbourne Grove.We called a cab and packed all our belongings into it ,including the baby-cot.We were not without some trepidation as we were still only nineteen years of age, one year of out of studying A-levels, and emigrating with a pregnant wife and two children.In those days it took six weeks to get to Australia on a boat so it was virtually a no turning back situation.I was very nervous but excited but Rosetta wasn't happy at all and was quite depressed again.
We took the train down to Tilbury dock with a lot of other hopefuls who had read the same brochures we had.I noticed there quite a few drunks going as well.In fact the train was held up for one drunken Scotsman going to Mt.Isa.I talked to him a lot on the boat,along with other guys who had been miners in Canada.
Anyway we boarded the S.S. Orion,a very nice P&O Boat built in the 1930s.It was about 35,000 tons and was well built and classy.Although it didn't have modern stabilising systems or air-conditioning,which we would find out in the tropics.However it was well kept and there was a swimming pool and other facilities on board.There were open deck spaces between the funnels and at the bow and stern.There were two classes and there were bars and ballrooms and recreation areas for games and films and the like.The entire ship was several hundred feet long with several levels of decks and two main dining rooms.It was all an adventure to us especially as the Australian Government was paying the fare.We were under age so we didn't have to pay the nominal ten pound fare per person.We settled into a couple of cramped cabins,one shared with a doctor and his wife.
(They moved of course and the steward was most unhappy with his remaining poor clients,not much chance of a big tip here.I can still see him staring at his ten shilling tip,in a state of disbelief and shock at our puny offering.It was in fact a quarter of what we had left to land with.We started life in Australia with one pound ten shillings,about three dollars.)
As the ship sailed,it was so exciting to watch the shoreline and the white cliffs recede into the darkness.Within a reasonable time we were passing Cape Trafalgar,of Lord Nelson fame and out in the bay of Biscay.Within a day or two we were off Gibraltar and on into the blue Mediterranean sea.
Malta.
Our first stop was to be Malta but we had a few days of cruising first before we reached Valetta.It was a pretty uneventful week and Rosetta didn't seem to be depressed at all.That was to change though.On arrival in Valetta we docked in the famous harbour,so quaint and historic.Malta was very similar to photos of North Africa that I had seen,mixed with an Italian influence.The ancient harbour was dominated by the fortress of Medina and one could not help thinking of Napoleon and The Knights of Malta,The Templars,or even St.Paul.
As soon as we landed we took a horse and
carriage up to the Cathedral of St.John.The Cathedral was of the renaissance
style and it was magnificient and opulent.After that we walked around town and
I noticed that the opera house had been bombed,amongst other damage.I chatted
with some monks taking a dip before siesta time and then down came the shutters
for a couple of hours.Rosetta and the kids seem to injoy Malta.This would be the
last time she came ashore,before she retreated again and I would visit other
ports by myself, until we arrived in Melbourne and she came ashore.
Greece.
The ship set off for Greece the next day and we eventually docked in Piraeus. Rosetta decided that she would not be going ashore so I headed off by myself. She was having one of her turns so to speak. The Port of Piraeus was in itself an interesting place,with street vendors and open air cafes.I in fact bought corn on the cob from a street vendor,the first time I had eaten it.There was a pretty extensive train service to Athens but they were pretty crowded.It was a short trip to Athens,and people on the train wanted to talk to me.I couldn't speak Greek but one chap spoke French so we were able to communicate.They at first thought that I was a German but I explained that I was British and that I was on my way to Australia.On arrival in Athens I walked around the downtown area;which consisted of a big square and many white buildings.Nearby there was a fairly large park,the Parliament,and the Royal Palace.It was a very warm summer day so I decided to walk to the Acropolis,passing through the Plaka on the way.There were many winding streets full of little houses and taverns,with music coming from them.There were many red tiled roofs,balconies and courtyards and this was a very old part of Athens or Thision.
I continued up a hill to the Acropolis itself and I was not prepared for the experience.It was all so beautiful and the feelings were full of good vibrations.I could feel the Spiritual Energy,just like my rock in the Cumbrian Fells back home.It was very strong and I thought this must have been holy place.I also had a feeling of "DejaVu" and this was a strange feeling for a Catholic boy to have in a Pagan Temple,dedicated to the Mother Goddess Athena.I walked through the sanctuary and in the passages between the inside walls and the outside columns.I imagined how it must have looked in it's glory days,with the statue of Athena and double Doric columns leading to the old treasury.I joined an English speaking tour and examined the entire plateau and the theatre below.This was one of those occasions in my life were I felt this strange "Divine Energy,"although of course I had no idea what it was at the time.
I later took the train back to Pireaus in order to reboard the Orion. Rosetta had spent the day aboard and seemed quite happy with that.After Greece,Rosetta's attitude changed to a more quiet state and she lost any desire to go ashore for visits.This was of couse a Bi-polar???? swing but I had no idea at the time. Rosetta was not coping again and nappies were left unwashed and the cabin was untidy.This is how she was when we first moved to London and now it had returned.I being unaware of her true mental condition,was at a loss.All I could do was spend time with the kids on the decks.Luckily I made friends with some young men on the boat;there were Hector and Diogenes from Greece and Charlie Darmanin from Malta.These boys helped a lot with the kids especially after they picked up ringworm and they had to wear anti-scratch devices on their arms. Some of the adult Maltese people told me not to let the Maltese Priest hang around with my wife, but he seemed fine when I was talking to him..
It's strange but after Greece I started getting spiritual again and became the altar boy for the daily mass,I even went to confession.This would be the last time I would do that though.I got along very well with both the English and the Maltese Priest and we had many discussions.
Arabia.
One morning I awoke to a most incredible smell,we were in Port Said,about to embark on our journey through the Suez Canal.It was very hot now and we slept on the deck,for comfort,but not for long.For soon we would be in typhoon areas.The journey through the canal was pretty uneventful and we didn't see much until we came to the Great Bitter Lakes,where there were many boats and sailing ships.Within a few days we were in Aden,now South Yemen.I went ashore with my new found friends,which meant using the ships launches.Apart from being threatened with a knife and nearly being robbed,the visit was pretty uneventful,so we returned to the ship.
The next day we sailed past the island of Socotra and into the Indian Ocean.The weather was now very hot,with the occasional storm,as the monsoon moved toward India.The kids still had their ringworm,for the medicine available was limited and the treatment amounted to splints,for preventing it's spread and that was all.Eventually it cured itself and we could move around more.
Sri Lanka...
We docked after quite a few days sail in Colombo,Ceylon,(Sri Lanka) and we were presented with another smell.This time it was from the
biggest pile of onions that you could imagine.I teamed up with Diogenes,Hector and Charlie and we went ashore ,by motor launch.We walked
through the central city area,with everybody wanting to change our currency,and strolled through the narrow lanes.We then took a bus to the
Cinnamon Gardens and Zoo,where we spent some time.Later we went up to the Mt.Lavinia Hotel for a visit.It was a lovely old hotel,with fantastic
views of the ocean and palm trees.We had been told that cigarettes were as good as currency,in those days.So we used them as such and changed
our money as well.
For some strange reason I had an urge to visit some religious places but I didn't know what or where or why.So with my friends in tow we visited schools,of all places.In these schools were Bhuddist shrines that we could visit.As it happens we ended up in a girls school,much to the amusement of the pupils.This of course caused a lot of confusion especially since I couldn't really explain why we were there.Some of the staff actually shared their lunch with us and we had some interesting little chats.I had this feeling of dejavu again and when I think back,it probably had to do with my previous lifetimes.I felt the same in Sri Lanka as I would when I first went to India,that I was in a familiar place,not a foreign country.I feel now it all had to do with the fact I was on the Indian sub-continent,the home of all the great Avatars of the past.
On the way back to the ship we decided to take a rickshaw ride back to the dock.We asked the drivers if we could race,they agreed and off we went.Our cash was short so we would have to pay in a mixture of money and cigarettes.The race started at a park at the top of a hill,leading down to the docks.It was a hot day and I wondered how it would go.Well they took off like rockets,running so fast that their feet were leaving the ground.We were laughing ,the drivers were laughing,and people on the street were laughing.At times the running drivers bounced so high that I felt sure there was going to be some kind of accident but they were always in control.Eventually we came to a bumpy stop and we paid off the drivers in money and English cigarettes.They weren't too happy that some were loose,but that is all we had.We then took the launch out to the ship,for the final long leg down to Perth,Australia.
As we headed into the Indian Ocean we ran into a cyclone,just in time for breakfast.Rosetta was feeling sick but I had no adverse affects at all.First of all I headed down to the bathroom,holding the safety ropes all the way.Once inside the bathroom I decided a bath would be safer than a shower,for the ship was rolling with the waves.The water in the bathtub looked like it was rolling to thirty degrees,so I didn't spend too long before going up to breakfast.I of course had to serve Mass first,for the spiritual feeling from Sri Lanka was still with me.
However during the voyage I had noticed that the passengers in cheaper decks were treated rather differently than the others upstairs.Most of the people at the aft were Greeks and Maltese,who I got on very well with.They were less judgmental and snobbish than the Anglo passengers and I switched to eating in their canteen.They had been ignored for most of the journey and only in the last week or two of the voyage did the captain sit and eat in their dining room.I thought this was very hypocritical,considering their conditions were worse than upstairs.Well the captain did come to dinner and when he was nearly finished I jumped up on a table and spoke to the Greeks right in front of him.I pointed out that he had not been down before and was only here now as we were nearing Australia.I asked where had he been when they needed their grievences answered?There was complete silence from the Greeks for they couldn't understand what I was saying.Then an Athenian jumped up and translated what I had said,immediately they started cheering and clapping and the captain left the dining room.I was lifted up in their shoulders and paraded around.Well that was the gossip of the ship and a committee was formed to handle the complaints.I attended but was sidelined in favour of a Priest and an Opera Singer.What does this young boy know after all?I wondered where they were before I stood on the table?The Australian wife of the Athenian invited me to join them and she complemented me on my courage.I really didn't think that I was courageous,I thought it was my duty to point the obvious out.
Anyway during the storm the crew were quite impressed with my sea legs,I think,for I had
two helpings at breakfast.The storm blew itself out and we sailed past the Cocos and Keeling
Islands plus Christmas Island,I think.We arrived in Perth on 11th,August,1962 and had our documents stamped,we
were now permanent residents of Australia and the youngest family of Commonwealth
Nominees,ever.We stayed in Perth a couple of days and I managed to get Rosetta to visit the city.In
fact she was feeling so good when we were in Adelaide and Melbourne,that she went ashore
also.In Melbourne we even went to see "Never on a Sunday."Rosetta was obviously having an
"up"episode and all
seemed well. Well in comparison anyway. I did get told off in the movie theatre for smoking though, which was a
surprise for me, coming from London.