The freight ship was a big old battered veteran of the sea but I had no fault to find with her. I dumped my stuff in my cabin, which was actually one of the crew’s, and went on board to settle into ship life. In those days most freight ships had room for about 12 passengers if their crew were willing to bunk up for extra pay. They didn’t charge much so were often the cheapest method for long-haul trips.
The photo I gave to my mother before I set off to Australia…when there’s six of you you have to make sure you’re not forgotten!
I was at sea for about six weeks and had my 20th birthday while watching the endlessly deep and rolling blue of the ocean crash against the mighty iron bulwarks of the ship.
From Mombasa we travelled down the African Coast calling in at all the towns and ports I had heard so much about growing up. Dar es Salam, Lorenzo Marks, Zanzibar, Pemba, Baira, Durban. Zanzibar was one of my favourites- owned by middle eastern Arabs it was an exotic island with spice markets, mosques, a sprawling sultan’s palace and surrounded by clove plantations. I spent many happy hours exploring there.
We continued down the coast taking on goods and chattels along the way including, at Baira, two live rhinos in big box crates that lived on deck. They were bound for Melbourne Zoo but nobody had thought about providing any shade for them. Unable to escape the beating African heat, these poor buggars got so sunburnt that eventually their skin started peeling off. Rhino skin is in plates and half the plate would burn while the skin between and underneath would start festering. In addition, because they were deck cargo, and right next to the wharf whenever we docked, some unscrupulous Africans would see them and come in with knives and pangas to take a slice off their horns. We couldn’t stop it- there were too many of them. Luckily one of the passengers was the director of veterinary services for Tanganika. He and I took to each other because we were both interested in animals and I helped him tend to these rhinos. We used up all the antiobiotics on the ship and then used up the large amounts we purchased at each port en-route. The rhinos did eventually heal but by the time they got to Australia they had funny patches of white skin all over them and their horns were only a 3-4 inch stubs. They were sorry looking creatures indeed. Nevertheless we were thanked by the Zoo for saving their valuable animals because I think they knew that both rhinos would undoubtedly have died if we hadn’t been there.
One of the other passengers on the ship who also drew my attention was a young Jewess travelling with her mother, an expat Russian. She was the only young girl on the ship so I felt biologically obliged to make a play for her. Unfortunately there were two young navy cadets also on the ship about the same age. We three testosterone charged boys spent most of the trip vying for her favours and in doing so I made one of my bigger mistakes when trying to impress a girl.
By the time we reached South Africa it became clear that despite my natural charm I was at a distinct disadvantage compared to the uniforms of the other two. We decided to all spend a day at the swimming pool in Durban where I hoped to impress her with my skills in the water. In fact the pool was one of the few in those days that had a 10m diving platform. Shielding her eyes against the sun and staring up at the platform the girl remarked:
“Goodness what a high board, I’ll bet not many people go up there”.
A 10 metre platform in Greater Yarmouth swimming pool- it’s a long way up!
The cadets agreed wholeheartedly and so of course I thought I had found my chance to get one over them. I immediately ran up the ladder to the 10m platform. About three-quarters of the way up I began wondering if this was such a good idea. As I stood on the end of the platform staring down at the rippling blue of the pool very far below I definitely began entertaining second thoughts. I”d never dived off anything so high in my life before. But the thought of now having to humiliatingly climb back down that long ladder was unthinkable so I took a deep breath and leapt.
I dived off alright but I made the mistake of not holding my hands together tightly. As I hit the water one of my arms slammed right over my back, badly dislocating my shoulder. The pain was so severe I thought I was going to drown as I struggled to regain my senses. I kicked my way furiously to the surface and clambered out in some pain to be met by the concerned girl and the grinning cadets. The pain was increased exponentially during the rickety, bumping three-mile cab ride back to the ship and then as the ship’s doctor manhandled my shoulder back into place. The only consolation was that I got quite a lot of attention from the girl after that- injuries trump a uniform it would seem. However, I was not at all convinced that the prize was really worth the price that I paid.
Also on the ship was an old lady whose son owned a big station in central Northern Territory. We got to know each other quite well and when she found out I had about three months to kill before I started college she suggested I go and take a look at northern Australia and stay with her son. I was keen to see what I thought of as “the real Australian outback” so she telegraphed her son from the ship. But when we docked in Adelaide there was a message from her son saying he couldn’t have me because he was going on an overseas tour. However he had made arrangements with his neighbours on “Napperby Station” to have me for the three months instead.
I wasn’t too concerned and looked forward to my outback adventure with some excitement.
I knew I would have to get some clothing before I went up there and one of my mother’s friends in Adelaide, whom I was staying with, suggested I go to a chap called RM Williams who had a little shop in Percy Street, Prospect selling country workwear. I found my way to his place which looked just like an Indian duga shop- a dark little place with all the clothing piled high on the shelves that surrounded the shop. The man himself was there (this was quite some time before he became a household name in Australia) and when he knew I was from overseas he started chatting to me about his bush experiences and what I could expect. He obviously knew the Northern Territory quite well and we had some good chats as he sold me jeans with leather pockets and blue denim shirts. He also made up a few boots for me, including some cuban-heeled black kid leather riding boots which I was very impressed with. My final purchase was an impressive 10-gallon akubra with a curly brim of which I was very proud.
Feeling prepared I boarded a very small plane and flew to Alice Springs.
himalayan epiphany 