Struan 1962 - Adm.monash.edu.au

Australian Journey ...As 1 lay sur rendered on the velvet-covered cou ch grasping to comprehendthe peda gogical ped antry of the renowned Dr . Spooks, I was coaxed intoforeseeing my eventual self-annihilation due to hypertension jf I did not seekout a drastic change which wo uld better my rapp ort with the world at large.Al so under the visionary Doctor, in spite of my crippled mental state, I wasable to sense the further threat to my security an d stability from an outsidepractitioner, a Doctor Infid el Kastro, who would not have my welfare atheart. So I packed my family belongings, three males and one of the oth erkind, and pretty soon in the heat of a beautiful summer day, we were boardingan awesome mach ine at the San Francisco Intern ational A irport. Th e'change' prescr ibed by my good doctor was om inously awaiting my arrivaljust 7,000 miles across the 'innocent' blue .As we touched ground at some small aerodrome in a state oddly calledNew South Wales, the full significance of my change became apparent. Thewind was blowing, the air was cold, and the rain was falling. I soon learnedto live with this change because the weather resembled my arrival day forthe next three months. Getting back to that first day - We were put aboardsome "Friendly" government-owned airpl ane and taken to a small town inrhe middle of nowhere. We were told that this was the nation's capital andwas thus situ ated becau se two brawling cities had fought for the honour ofpossessing sweet Canberra, S0 she was put out in the bush for her own·protection. We froze here for six days before we were put on another flyingmachine and trans or ted to the southern end of this great island, an areacalled Victoria, where we continued to oe cola ana catcn new colas"'15"'e,..,.c"""a""'us "'"ethesepeopl e didn't believe in central heating. .- - - .-'Page Sixteen STRUAN, 1962