Australia, my new home

In Bremen I handed back the car to the dealer, and talked Jürgen Siemering into coming to Australia to see if our two firms could do some business together. The second leg of my European trip was to be by plane. Going by car on my first round I had appreciated the distances in Europe. I could probably have covered the same distance by car in Australia without much trouble, but in Europe, with many more cars and a far denser population, it was far more strenuous.

I flew via Hamburg, meeting my cousin Jetty Oboussier and her mother at the airport, talking with them for over an hour. Then via Berlin to Warsaw. The flight path must have gone right over our home in Poland, but it was already too dark to see any details. It was a strange feeling to be so close to my childhood paradise and yet unable to see it. From Warsaw I took a plane to Lodz. As I had to negotiate for a taxi I noticed that my Polish, which had been buried for years, came up to the surface. It probably wouldn't take me long before I could speak it again fluently, as I did in my childhood. Unfortunately, I didn't get that opportunity.

From Warsaw I went to Prague, where I again had plenty of time for sight seeing, apart from business. I greatly enjoyed the old university town with it's ancient history. The last stop was Budapest. The taxi driver pointed out some houses which still showed marks from the shelling of the Russian tanks in 1956. He didn't leave me in any doubt where he stood politically. I felt very sorry for these brave people, who were suffering under a most oppressive regime, much more so than the Poles and Czechs.

After Eastern Europe I was to visit Bradford, where we had a sales representative, but as I came down with the flu I had to cancel that trip. Alison was quite pleased to have me home a few days earlier than anticipated. The family doctor was called, who prescribed me Alison's father's famous cough mixture. After a couple of days' rest my health was restored. When the time came for us to leave for Australia, Alison's parents and David took us to Heathrow airport, where we caught a plane that went straight to Chicago, where we were met by George Blome. This was a wonderful reunion with my best friend, and our conversation went deep into the night, in spite of the time difference. In San Francisco we boarded a Qantas flight for Sydney. When we heard the captain's voice making an announcement, his broad Australian accent brought tears to my eyes. Had I been so long away from Australia? I couldn't wait to be home again. I knew then that I had struck roots in Australia. After fifteen years in the wilderness, I had a home again. Australia was my home, our heimat, with Alison and little George making up my wonderful family. Alison also felt assured by this trip, that Australia was her home too.

On 25 August 1961 our Mark Gunter was born. Gerda, who was teaching then at PLC Pymble, came to look after George. As school holidays had just started, Mark couldn't have chosen a better time to come into the world. He was a bonny boy, and I thought he looked like

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