NEW DIGS AND FLAT MATE

In January 1963 I was starting my second year at ASOPA (Australian School of Pacific Administration) where I was studying to be a teacher for the Territory of Papua/New Guinea. I had shared a flat with my brother and SIL during 1962 but they were returning to TPNG in1963 so I needed to find new digs and a new flat mate. My friend Val, who I met at ASOPA, was also needing a new place. However, she had returned home to Broken Hill for Christmas and the end of year break so I went hunting for a place for us to live close to ASOPA.

I found this lovely old house which had been converted into 5 flats inside for 10 girls. It was a girls only place. The landlord and his wife lived downstairs. I shouldn't call them flats. We had one big room  with two beds and a dressing table and a small desk to share. We shared a bathroom and the kitchen downstairs was divided into 5 cubicles where we could cook and eat our meals. It sounds pretty awful when I describe it now but back then when young and first years away from home we rather enjoyed it. Luckily, Val and I got on well and we are still friends today even though she lives in South Australia. The big advantage was it was only a few bus stops away from ASOPA and it was a fairly easy walk too. Our room was upstairs on the right with the window open. Val is waving from the window.

This is the view we had of Sydney Harbour. The street was Middle Head Road, Mosman.

Sydney Cove and Circular Quay in 1963. The AMP building was the tallest tower then

Every Friday evening I would go home to Loftus a southern suburb of Sydney for the weekend. It took me two hours on public transport. I would stuff an overnight bag full of my dirty washing for the week, and squeeze in any books that I needed for assignments and catch a bus to the ferry station. Then it was a pleasant glide across the harbour to Circular Quay, where I would catch a train to Sutherland and either change trains for Loftus or ring my Dad to come and pick me up. No mobiles then. I would use a public telephone and hoped that it hadn't been vandalised. If I didn't have change I would yell down the ear piece and my Dad could hear me. Later I used a code of three rings and then Dad knew to come and get me. My darling Mum did my washing for me while I either studied or went out playing hockey, or having fun with my friends and going dancing with my Italian boyfriend.

 In hockey, we won the North Sydney B Grade competition.

 One weekend my brother and his family came to visit to say goodbye as they had to return to work in TPNG. I had one last cuddle of my little nephew Michael.

 I also got to meet Ann's other two children (from a previous marriage) Liz and David. Today, Michael lives in the Caribbean, David lives in Victoria, Aus. and Liz lives in England.

My brother, David, Ann and Michael returned to TPNG by ship. Liz and David lived with their father during school term and with David and Ann during school holidays.

WHEN I WAS A CEO

In 1962 My brother and I were both studying at ASOPA (Australian School of Pacific Administration) in Mosman , Sydney. He was doing the Patrol Officer's "long course" and I was doing a Cadet Education Officer's course.(Which meant a teacher training course for the Australian Territory of Papua New Guinea and the Northern Territory.)  It is funny now to think I used to be a CEO, it sort of means something different now. During that first year I shared an apartment with my brother (David) and sister in law (Ann) because my home was too far away on the southern side of Sydney to travel every day. In October Ann gave birth to Michael.

My parents and brother have passed away. Ann still lives in their family home in London but spends many months in St Lucia in the Caribbean where Michael lives.

At this time I was studying for end of year exams but managed to squeeze in loads of fun with other students. We participated in parties, sports events, puting on a review and all the other high jinx that students get up to. At the end of the year most students went to their far flung homes but I went to Queensland's famous Gold Coast for another holiday like I did the summer before.

Helen, Pam and Ron at a lookout on the Gold Coast in Dec1962

This time I went with Helen and Pam. Us three girls were offered a lift from another student, Ron, whose home was in Queensland. He had a VW Beetle. We all squashed in with our luggage and we drove all the way from Sydney to the Gold Coast on one day. It seemed to take forever but we had lots of laughs on the way.

The view from the lookout of the Gold Coast in 62.

Ron went to his parents place and we had booked a hotel. We spent days sunbaking, swimming, surfing and exploring other beaches.

 One day we went on a tour offered by the hotel, it was to Stradbroke Island. We went by launch but when we got there we had fun in a speed boat.

 We also had water ski lessons.

 And the hotel staff made us a barbecue lunch. We couldn't believe the size of the steaks.

Some days we had lunch by the pool at the hotel. It was so warm and casual there but at night we used to get dressed up for dinner, a concert and dancing. One evening a young boy band entertained us. There were eight year old twins, Robin and Maurice and their older brother, Barry. They were very good, any wonder as they grew up to become the famous Bee Gees.

Pam, me and Helen

Some nights were theme nights, hence the Hawaiian outfit.

All too soon it was time to squash into Ron's beetle and drive back to Sydney where I spent time with my parents before returning to college. But first I had to find a new place to live closer to ASOPA because David and Ann were returning to TPNG (Territory of Papua and New Guinea.)

COLLEGE GIRL

At long last I had been accepted into teacher's college in 1962 at ASOPA (Australian School of Pacific Administration) where we were trained to teach in the Territory of Papua/New Guinea or the Northern Territory. We studied the same subjects as the NSW teachers' colleges but with extra subjects to help us to understand about teaching native indigenous children and to understand their culture.

My First Year Class at ASOPA 1962

 I really enjoyed my time at college. One of the fun things we did was go skiing in the term holidays. It took about six hours to get from Sydney to Falls Creek Ski Resort camp. We hitched rides with the students who were lucky enough to have cars. Now I had bought a colour slide camera, which were all the rage for the next 10 years. So now I have boxes and boxes of slides to sort and scan. So here are some from our ski trip in 1962.

We stayed in the Bogong Ski Club Lodge

 In those days Falls Creek only had one T-Bar lift and one tow rope. Today it is a posh resort with many lifts and runs. Many students had never seen snow or skied before, which resulted in some hilarious moments. I could ski a little from the times I went with my high school. Not many of us had proper ski outfits and even those were nothing like today's high tech ski clothes.

 This is the view I had from outside the lodge overlooking the car park in the middle of the shot. We had to carry our bags from there up the hill to the lodge. I was glad that I had packed a light back pack.

Some days the weather wasn't too good but it didn't stop me.

Our PE lecturer took us tobogganing at night.

After cooking our own dinner in a communal kitchen we played games in front of the fire.

A PLACE AT LAST

In January 1962, I was offered a place at teacher's college at last after trying for 3 years to be accepted. However, it wasn't an ordinary teacher's college. It was called, "The Australian School of Pacific Administration" (ASOPA) and it had a colourful history:
In 1941 It was an Army Education Service teaching soldiers. After the war it became the Army School of Intelligence. In 1945 it was the School of Civil Affairs training officers for the Australian New Guinea Unit. All this had been done at the Duntroon Military College in Canberra but in 1946 it became a civil institution and it moved to Sydney and was renamed 'The Australian School of Pacific Administration."(ASOPA). It was a place to train people to help in the administration of the Northern Territory, Papua /New Guinea and other Pacific Islands. My brother went there in 1956 to train as a Patrol Officer for P/NG. In 1954 teachers were being trained for service in the territories. At first teacher training was done at Bathurst Teachers College but in 1958 it moved to ASOPA.

The school was housed in a collection of old army barracks buildings from the Second World War.

The Library

It didn't matter that the buildings were old because the setting was fabulous. The school was located near Mosman on Middle Head, a headland jutting out into Port Jackson also known as Sydney Harbour. The view from the lecture rooms and the lawn was beautiful.

Even though I lived in Sydney, I lived a long way to the south of the city and Mosman was on the northern side of the harbour. It took me 2 hours to travel by train and ferry or bus to get to college. So I moved into an apartment with my brother, David, sister in law, Ann and new baby, Michael. David was on a year's study leave from Papua/New Guinea. He was at ASOPA too learning to be a District Officer.

The apartment block was an ugly sixties box but it had a nice view over Manly another north Sydney beach suburb.

Beside the academic study we had to do weeks of Practice Teaching, I was very nervous my first time in front of a class.

I had great fun socialising in the evenings with the students at beach parties in walking distance from the school. We had come from all corners of Australia and most of us were living in apartments or boarding away from home. I was lucky to go home on weekends but most of the others couldn't return home until holiday/vacation time.

Even lecturer's joined in the fun. I remember that mug. We had to make them from Bamboo in woodwork lessons. (Just in case we were posted to a jungle village where there weren't any shops to buy mugs hee hee)

My mum and dad were happy that I was studying to be a teacher. They had encouraged me to apply to go to P/NG even though it meant me leaving home for at least 3 years and living in another country. My dad had to sign an expensive bond contract which stated that I had to give 3 years service to the Australian Govt in P/NG to pay for the training.

I was happy. At last I was at teacher's college . I didn't particularly want to go to P/NG but if it meant I had to do that to become a teacher well so be it. I may as well try to enjoy it. I treated it like a new adventure and a new life. And so it was!

IT STARTED TO HAPPEN

1962 was a good year for me. I had made a big mistake in 1960 and messed up my life but I tried to make amends and start a new life for myself and in 1962 it started to happen.

Firstly my old school friend asked me to go on holidays with her and more importantly I was accepted into Teacher's College after applying for three years.

In January 1962, when I was nineteen and living in Sydney, my friend Margaret and I went on holidays to Surfer's Paradise on the Gold Coast in Queensland. In those days it was everyone's dream to go there on holidays.

We saved up and bought a coach ticket and off we went for a week's fun in the sun. The coach took all night to get there from 6pm to 6am. I couldn't sleep in the coach, it was uncomfortable and I was excited.

We surfed, sunbaked, enjoyed the 'Beachcomber Hotel's'  accommodation, food and entertainment. One evening we were entertained by a young boy band. Eight year old twins Robin and Maurice and their older brother, Barry. They were very good, any wonder as they grew up to become the famous Bee Gees.

We had a great time but too soon it was time to board the coach for Sydney and my new life at Teacher's College.

The Christmas Parties Have Started

On Saturday we had an end of year lunch with our ASOPA friends. We are a special group because we are some of the past students from the Australian School of Pacific Administration. (ASOPA). We were studying there to become teachers for the Territory of Papua/New Guinea and the Northern Territory of Australia in the early sixties. We came from all over Australia to ASOPA situated in Sydney. By the time Papua/New Guinea became independent in 1975 most of us had returned to Australia but to all different states. In 2002 exactly 40 years since we were in our first year at ASOPA we had our first reunion. People came from all over the country to Pt Macquarie in NSW for a 3 day reunion. It was great fun trying to recognise one another and catching up with forty years of life. In 2005 we had another reunion in Sydney and visited the old buildings of ASOPA. In 2007 we had another reunion in Brisbane but this time we included all students from the 40's to the 70's (when the school closed). Since then those of us who live in Brisbane continue to meet regularly for lunch.

ASOPA was a collection of ex Army unimpressive buildings but located in a fabulous position on Middle Head jutting into Sydney Harbour.

The buildings are still there but are unoccupied and falling into a bad state of disrepair.

I took this photo in 1962

I took this photo in 2005 when we all returned for a nostalgic visit and we were sad to see the buildings were in a worse state than we were 40 years on.

The sign has changed too. It is good to see that the Harbour Trust are going to restore some of the buildings.

This was the magic view of the harbour in 1962. We used to sit on the lawns in break times and soak up the vista.

In 2005 the view was nearly as good except the trees had grown in the way.

Dennis and Ros were at the lunch.

At ASOPA, Dennis was one of the youngest but one of the few to own a car.

Richard and Josephine were at the lunch.

Richard was posted to a very remote village in the Territory of Papua/New Guinea. (TPNG.)

This was the transport in and out of the village. Josephine was the only white woman for miles. Don't you love the sunnies?

Bill now lives near Melbourne but he flew to Brisbane and joined us for lunch.

Bill enjoys athletics and won gold in the Pacific Games. He recently participated in the Masters' Games in 800 metres hurdles. I think he might be the fittest one of us oldies.

Joseph and Kathryn came to lunch in their green campervan called Kermit. They have just returned from a 7 month trip around Australia.

Joseph grew up in TPNG and returned to teach there as a very young man.

Colin came to lunch. He is single so he borrowed Katherine for this photo.

Here Colin is enjoying one of the many parties we had while at ASOPA. (Dont know why he is still single, we all loved him)

Of course Bill and I never miss a lunch at the Swiss Restaurant. I had a seafood crepe.

My first week teaching in TPNG. I stayed for 7 years and they were some of the best years of my life.