CHAPTER 20

Striking new roots

In September of 1958 a nurse from England was expected at Bill & Jean Eckels. They had sponsored her and she came on the assisted passage scheme to Australia for two years. I wanted to meet her and went to the Eckels on the first weekend after she had arrived, but she was in bed with the flu. I still saw her briefly and said welcome to Australia, and that was it. My friend George wanted to go on a trip into the country of NSW during the October long weekend. His girl-friend was Renata Fabarius, my former fiancee's cousin, and he urged me to invite a girl and to come too. But I didn't really want to go.

"I haven't got anyone to take. I would only be a fifth wheel on the cart. No, you go by yourself."

"Why don't you ask that English nurse at the Eckels, she might want to come with us?"

"Oh, she wouldn't come." "You can always try." Well, more for George's sake I went and asked Jean whether it would be all right for me to ask Alison for the week-end drive.

"Why don't you ask her? I'm sure she won't mind." So I did, and after referring the matter back to Jean and Bill, Alison agreed to come.

Encouraged by this I asked her also if she would like to come with me to the wool ball on the Friday before we left. She again said "Yes".

At that time I had no idea that this was going to be the start of a lifelong romance. The wool ball was nothing particular, but our weekend was. We had agreed to meet up with George in Yass. I had to go to the office before we could leave and that gave George at least three hours' head start. Alison and I stopped for lunch on the side of the Hume Highway, somewhere before Goulburn. At about two we had caught up with George and Renata, and were heading towards Cootamundra and Young, where Renata's cousin Eberhard was working on a farm. We wanted to visit him.

The girls stayed in a hotel near Young, while George and I slept in his panel-van. On Sunday we were invited to a sumptuous lunch by the farmer where Eberhard worked. After that we made our way towards Bathurst. We camped the night under some trees near the main road.

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