Chapter 5
Leaving ‘East Hills Hostel
Rene eventually conformed just as others do in times of hardship. Her
and her family formed bonds with neighbours making easier each other’s circumstances,
but unknown to them, just as life settled into a routine there were changes
looming. Their lives were about to turn another corner; a pleasant modification
to their now happier existence was building by way of a succession of events to
change forever the future of their existence.
Late 1959, nearly two years passed since arriving into Australia. In this time the Scotsdon’s
ventured no further north than Bondi and
no further south than Heathcote. They
were definitely not associated to any portion of the honoured ‘jet-set’ and
when they learned about Ted’s plans to take them on a vacation a little further
afield they were elated. Where they went was of no concern, they were just
happy to know they were to experience their first real holiday in Australia. He borrowed a small tent from
Mr Sharp, loaded the car with the necessities he was able to accommodate and
squeezed everybody in around and over those items. Rene, Zoe, Tim and Don
gladly accepted any discomfort caused by the essentials carried; there was no
hullabaloo in protest because the snugness was overshadowed by the excitement.
They headed south towards a small town called Naretha, located about ten times further from the ‘Hostel’ than
they ever travelled before. Why this area was chosen for a holiday no-one knew,
and no-one really cared, they just wanted to get away from the mundane daily
routines and the ‘hustle and bustle’ of the ‘Hostel’ and take pleasure in
exploring other parts of Australia.
Ted nursed the car like a baby to minimize the risk of breakdowns, and as
the car was not capable of excessive speeds the travel was at a safe and steady
pace. Air conditioning was a luxury not available in the cars of low income
affordability; hence, paramount in stopping sufferance from heat exhaustion was
by the opening of windows. As a result the hot summer rush of air would burn
exposed skin and sting the red soreness as each trickle of perspiration oozed
from ones brow, but there were no complaints from the kids or ‘are we there yet dad’ irritations.
Everyone was overjoyed with the chance to holiday and no-one was going to spoil
the thrill by upsetting either parent.
The road along the ‘Princess Highway’ was hilly and narrow with lots of
bends and as a result of the past foul weather there unforgiving potholes the
size of craters. In general the road was in very poor condition and for the
driver a mental effort. The car found most hills a challenge and demanded many
radiator re-fills along the way to prevent the engine from overheating. Don was
in awe at the miles and miles of bush, interrupted occasionally only by the odd
house and spasmodic sightings of vehicles. On the climb of steep hills and on
the turn of bends at the top offered gaping sights of beauty; Wollongong and Kiama gave them their first glimpse of the coastline outside of
places such as Bondi. They were
astonished by the amazing scale of exquisite unpopulated land. None of them
could believe the greenery and sloping grassy hills rolling ever so gently into
the calm deep blue ocean was part of the same earth they inhabited to date. The
scenery through and after Kiama was
astonishing and symptomatic of the pamphlets perused in England; it was beautiful. The beaches proudly displayed fine
bright yellow sands together with spacious surroundings and unfaultable,
uncontaminated panorama giving the impression this area had been unoccupied and
untouched by humans throughout history. Ted was in awe and gasped;
“This is what it’s all
about, stunning isn’t it? What fantastic views.”
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