Open Writing

"My welcome to Australia consisted of being sprayed with decontamination spray.''

Derek Smith recalls arriving in Australia at the age of 17.

Derek writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au

Derek Smith

I was only 17 when I decided to leave England and migrate to Australia.

I flew out after my path was smoothed by competent Australia House staff. My widowed father was to follow by ship. I had few preconceived ideas about Australia. I was not naïve enough to expect kangaroos in the streets. I should have been alerted to the vast change when we reached Darwin. It was, as usual, a barmy mid thirties in winter and me in English wool.

My welcome to Australia consisted of being sprayed with decontamination spray.

In Sydney I discovered homes with open fires—fires in Australia?

I had nowhere to stay, no friends or relatives and little money. My meagre savings were still in an English bank and would take many weeks to arrive. I was fortunate to find lodgings in a boarding house with other boys my age. They lent me money and told me how to find a job. And that was easy. From the CES* on Wednesday morning to an interview Thursday morning I began work on Monday. The job with AGL was at Meadowbank just a one station ride on the red rattler*.

I did a lot that first year—went up the pylon and Sydney's 'tallest' building, the AMP, took a Manly ferry ride. Long before Christmas I realised why the same homes with fires also had ceiling fans. I had still not seen a kangaroo and was secretly disappointed there were none in the streets.

*CES: Commonwealth Employment Service
*Red Rattler: an old train

© Derek Smith