Australia, my new home

intrigued us, and they became an object for our cameras. The noise and smell was very exotic. We could not forget that we were here in Asia.

The road began to ascend into the central mountain range. Kandy was a pretty old city, with a lot of temples and beautiful wide avenues, lined with palm trees or some flowering trees. It had been the capital of an ancient kingdom, until the British moved it to Colombo. We also visited a tea plantation and had lunch in a beautiful guest house situated in a large park. I enjoyed some hot curry whilst the others had some more conventional food.

After lunch the driver took us into the most beautiful and famous Botanical Garden where, he said, a lot of movies had been filmed. On one spot we saw a freshly planted tree, which the Queen had planted barely a week earlier. A large tree next to it had been planted by another British Monarch, who had visited Cylon years ago.

On our trip back to Colombo our taxi had to stop for a religious procession to pass by. Queer sounding noises coming from some pipes and drums (similar, I thought, to the noise of a bag pipe) came right by our taxi.

I was very pleased to have gone with the doctors and Sister Eva-Maria and Sister Gerda on this excursion. Even though it came to about DM30 per person, I wouldn't have missed it for anything. It was a memorable introduction to Asia.

On 1 May our ship crossed the Equator. The officers had prepared a proper 'Neptune' celebration, and practically everybody got anointed firstwith some evil-smelling soapy mixture, and then dunked into the swimming pool. We all had a lot of fun and the ball in the evening helped everybody to forget the discontent of a few days earlier.

Soon after this the temperature dropped. We came into a storm and came up against high seas again. During the day I would still go to my favoured spot at the bow and watch the flying fish or the dolphins racing with the ship. There was usually no one else there. I could enjoy some solitude for a while, away from everyone. Still being near the equator the moon looked like a boat instead of like a sickle. The waning moon would look like a cap, I was told.

The swimming pool had to be emptied, not only because it was getting cooler, but because of the heavy seas. I noticed several times how the water had splashed on to the deck when the ship was rolling.

Our first port of call in Australia was Fremantle. It was a momentous occasion when I stepped ashore. My first step on Australian soil. The date was 8 May 1954. My heart missed a beat, I was so excited! Walking past some shops through Fremantle I noticed some wonderful fresh fruit for sale. I bought myself 'a welcome-to-Australia' treat, fresh grapes and pears, which tasted better than anywhere else. What a wonderful sign of welcome to me, I thought.

At Fremantle some of us, including the Padre, hired a taxi and drove to

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