Australia, my new home

bombers which had come from there, and our bombers which had caused so much destruction, and the 'Battle of Britain' fought in this place. Then I remembered that I had once made some effort to go there to find work. Well, our ship was passing by the south coast of England and heading towards Australia. The Channel became wider and the land receded as darkness came over the sea.

I feared the Bay of Biscay, as it was known for its high seas and seasickness for us inexperienced travellers. I woke up to a slightly rolling ship. Was this going to be my test? I went quickly up on deck to catch some fresh air, but it was already too late. The long corridor seemed to be turning around, and when I reached the deck I had just enough time to lean over the railing and 'feed the fish'. After this I felt much better, and as we had been advised to keep eating and drinking, even though feeling sick, I went to the dining room and enjoyed a good breakfast. There weren't too many passengers around, but I was determined not to be defeated by sea-sickness. On deck I stretched out on a chair and soaked up the warm sun, getting a sun-burn, my first and last on the trip. The Bay of Biscay didn't live up to its reputation, though, the weather was fine and the sea was calm.

As our ship followed the Spanish and later the Portuguese coast, we reached the Western-most point of Europe, before we turned East again into the Straits of Gibralta. The 'Rock' seemed to be looming fairly high above the sea, as our ship went close by it. On the opposite side we could see also land in the distance, the North coast of Africa. What I had learnt in Geography I could see now with my own eyes. The others too became quite excited when we sailed past a particular point of a continent or a well-know place. It broke the monotony of the sea and became a talking point for some time afterwards. The voyage had turned into a tourist experience for most of us.

No sooner had we entered the Mediterranean, when our ship began to roll again. It was hard to sleep with this, and I waited again for daylight to go up on deck as I had done before. I noticed that I didn't feel as woozy as in the North Sea, but I tried to remain outside in the fresh air, to fight the sea-sickness. My favourite spot was right on top deck, holding on to the ropes and watching the ship climb the wave and then splashing down with the bow into the valley, with the spray coming right over us. Every now and again the propeller seemed to come out of the water when the stern was lifted up. This made the whole ship shudder and groan. Although we were assured by the officers, that there was nothing to worry about, many of us felt very uneasy and anxious.

Only very few people appeared for meal times in the dining room, but I was determined to ride it through. This storm was quite a frightening experience. The French called it the 'Mistral', apparently an annual occurrence in the South of France in Spring, reaching gale-force winds in the Mediterranean. The nurse who looked after my young cabin mate

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