The rainbow never sets

activities. There was never a dull moment. It was here that I came across Australian wild life for the first time. Possums came to the hall at night, and we saw platypus in the river, echidnas, a large goanna and plenty of kookaburras.

In July our group hired a bus for an excursion to Canberra, the nation's capital. I still remember driving past the main shops with the colonnades (Sydney and Melbourne buildings) and then across a new modern bridge over what seemed a tiny creek way below the bridge, with sheep and cattle grazing on the slopes. Had we gone past Canberra? No, after a while we came past some large government buildings and hidden behind some trees was the impressive Parliament Building. We did the usual touring and sight seeing and ended up at the bottom of Red Hill. The road stopped there, and we had to walk up the unpaved, rather rough path up. On top we had a lovely view. On our right, where now the satellite town of Woden is situated, we saw a valley with dotted trees and one farm house. On our left were large houses with European trees, all very neat and in true suburban style. In the distance we could see the airport of Canberra. Black Mountain stood there in all its solemnity. As we were looking straight across Canberra we saw the War Memorial, which we had visited earlier. It all looked beautifully planned, and we were amused by the roads going around in circles and bends, none of them straight.

We stayed the night at a scout camp on the way to Cotter Dam. In the morning we couldn't get any water out of the taps. They had all frozen with icicles hanging from them. The paddocks looked like they were covered in snow, but it was just the heavy frost on the ground. I don't think I have ever been so cold in my life. Only a large log fire would slowly thaw us. On this trip I met Frank Lee, a student from China. We sat together and got on very well. He was new to Australia, as I was. He invited me to play tennis with him and his friends in Kingston on Sunday mornings. I greatly valued his friendship and the opportunity of playing tennis with a rather well-playing group. I'm sure my tennis improved considerably in the time I played with them.

Another group at the YMCA was a photographic club. They had a darkroom for developing, and as I got friendly with some of them during the Yarramundy camps, I was able to do some enlarging and developing myself. It took a lot of time, but was great fun.

At the beginning of August I left my job at Hardie Rubber Stores, determined to find one in the wool trade. I had saved up enough money to see me over a few weeks. Armed again with the torn-out pink page of the telephone book, I went from door to door of the Wool Buyers and Merchants seeking employment. This time the atmosphere was much more positive. Firms were making plans for the new season, and some said that they would think it over and suggested that I come back. One in particular looked promising: Victor Dekyvere & Co. I met Marcel Dekyvere, and when they heard that I was not expecting a salary like

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