Image Credit: Royalty Free Bicycle Illustrations by Ron Leishman  See previous blog on Mooloo School Days for the background to this story. Only those who’ve braved those washboard dirt roads between our rural property and the Mooloo school in the late 40’s will comprehend the bone shattering journey as we made our way to school and back home each day. When Eric bought bicycles for … Continue reading Mooloo School Days Revisited

At the end of the Second World War my father Eric purchased a 270 acre farm at Mooloo. This rural settlement was one of several surrounding the gold mining city of Gympie in the Mary Valley, Queensland, Australia. Eric needed to recover his health after those tough war years and anticipated a good rest cure while share croppers managed his land. The settlement name, “Mooloo” … Continue reading Mooloo School Days

Image sourced from http://www.nationallacydog.org/herding.html In my last blog I mentioned our part dingo, part whatever cattle dog called Sandy. Sandy was one of those indispensable animals a farm would not be a farm without. Actually there were three farm dogs we inherited along with the tractor, implements and an assortment of beasts and other machinery. One was an Australian blue heeler that developed a massive … Continue reading Majoring in Minors

I still remember my first glimpse of the Mooloo property we’d purchased. We’d laboured up the winding dirt track, which narrowed as we moved to the crest of the mountain in our Morris Oxford Panel Van. Through the back window panels my attention had been riveted to the left side of a road that seemed to my young eyes to disappear into an empty void … Continue reading Jump in Sandy!

We children soon tired of unpacking after moving to the Mooloo property in 1949. My Brother Barry and I began pestering parents Eric and Maude for permission to explore our two hundred and seventy acre new property home. With usual parental caution to be careful we were released from tedious work and were soon on our way to the initial grand tour. First port of … Continue reading Flicker

Maude darted a nervous grin at Eric as he climbed in behind the wheel. There was a lot riding on this trip. Their three kids were already complaining about being stowed into the back of the van, even though they’d provided cushions for them – they had to accept the old 1949 Morris Oxford van wasn’t the most comfortable mode of transport. They just hoped … Continue reading The Hills of Home

“Tonight we go to the big dipper!” Eric beamed with joy as his children whooped and danced around the room in excitement at this announcement. “We’re going to the big dipper! We’re going to the big dipper tonight!” The children sang as they danced. The family was visiting with Grandparents Adam and Fanny at their retirement home in Margate by the sea, a distant suburb … Continue reading Watch My Form!

Ever had an urge to return to your roots and check out the place where you grew up? I got that urge to make the trip 80 k north from the Sunshine Coast to the little city of Gympie, Australia some time ago. Gympie was a frontier town bursting with restless energetic miners in the early 1800’s prospecting for gold on their return from the … Continue reading Memories of Home

My parents tell me I was six years old when this event happened, which means the year would have to be 1942. We were residing in the old mining town Gympie, Australia where my Father Eric had business interests and was beginning to take an interest in politics. The town sits astride a river in the beautiful Mary Valley. By 1942 memories of a frontier … Continue reading My First Ocean Dip

The above image copyright to http://www.featurepics.com It’s funny how things seem to hide in the deep dark recesses of memory to be triggered long afterward by a ‘happening now’ event. Now I’m aware the further you get from early childhood events the recalled scene is sugar coated with an added element of mythology. However there are things which are so seminal in one’s experience they … Continue reading Brotherhood of Mankind