US-222929
Originally uploaded by MagicTyger
A beautiful postcard received via PostCrossing from Hans in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
As an added bonus, the stamp of the Aurora Boreallis is amazing.
Hans runs a B&B called “Carpe Diem” in Provincetown.
Thanks Hans!
Yungaba May 1965
Originally uploaded by MagicTyger
This is Sylvia (Mum), Karen and Neil (me) in the garden at Yungaba not long after we disembarked from Ellinis.
Mum’s seven months pregnant here, with Kevin.
It was around this time that Karen and I caught chicken pox.
As a 23 year old mother of 3 in a new country, Mum can be forgiven for not smiling!
Mum writes:
The next day we saw the coast of Australia it was quite an emotional experience for me. It looked absolutely awesome. We were nearly there! Out first stop was Adelaide, where we only walked around the docks for a short while. There wasn’t really a lot to see. Next stop Melbourne; there were hundreds of people waiting to greet the ship, mainly because a lot of the Greek passengers left the ship here. This was very emotional watching people waving to their families who were waiting for them. There wasn’t going to be any reception like that for us when we arrived in Brisbane.
Sydney was the last stop before Brisbane. We went ashore and caught a ferryboat to go to Taronga park zoo, unfortunately it was closed. So the only wildlife we saw that day was a mother duck with her babies waddling behind her walking across the road in front of us. That also was the day we lost photos Bruce had taken since we bought the camera. He was changing the spool of film and somehow came undone. So we have no photos of our journey, only a few that someone else had taken.1 st May 1965 we arrived in Brisbane! There were lots of people to meet the ship, but none for us. Everyone was waving I was crying, and Bruce said just wave, pretend you can see someone”. We had actually arrived at the wheat wharf! We left the ship mid morning, and waited in a long line to have our documents checked. There were officials seated at tables in a big shed and in the corner of the shed at the back was all the grain. It was late in the afternoon when a bus arrived and took us all to Yungaba under the story bridge. There were 12 families that went to Yungaba, we were supposed to go to Wacol Hostel. However it was full, so this was just temporary whilst they made room for us. We were shown to the dining room where we were given salad bread & butter and a cup of tea. We were then shown to our accommodation. The men & boys were in a dormitory that already had single men staying there. The women and small children were shown to another dormitory on the first floor. By this time we were all very tired it had been a long and emotional day. The room had irone framed bunk beds. They all had rolled up mattresses with clean linen & pillows. We had to make these beds up before we could put the children & our selves to bed. There were no facilities to make a cup of tea, in the bathroom there was a wash hand basin 2 toilets & 2 showers. It was about 7 pm some of the men came to the dorm to sit with their wives and children before retiring. There was a large table at the end of the room with a few chairs. We were told later by the matron that men were not allowed to be there! This whole situation was not good. We had all been through such a lot to get here, everyone was quite upset. Still tomorrow was another day. We had arrived on May Day holiday weekend so a lot of places were closed. Neil and Karen were both ill with chicken pox, most of the children had it. It was very hard to look after sick children in those conditions. We had to let Karen stay in hospital for about a week because I was unable to give her the proper care she needed. Because of our situation we were moved to another room, which was in fact a cubicle! Everyone was complaining and not very happy. Bruce was the only one of the men that went and found a job after 3 days. It was at Paul’s milk factory.
I hope you don’t mind me disagreeing, Mum, but I think we might have gone to Fremantle first like most of the other ships. Adelaide would have probably been the second stop.
Here’s some more photos. Just click on the thumbnail for a larger copy. Have a look at the last one which we took last week, compared with the same view in 1965, 43 years earlier.
Clowning Around at Dinner Time
Originally uploaded by MagicTyger
Ellinis 1965.
Mum says it’s no wonder some people are terrified of clowns these days!
Karen, sitting on Sylvia’s (mum’s) lap doesn’t seem too impressed.
Acropolis 1965
Originally uploaded by MagicTyger
Early April 1965. Sylvia (Mum), Bruce (Dad), Karen and Neil (me).
Ellinis stopped in Piraeus, Greece on her way from Southampton to Brisbane.
Dad took his young family to see the ancient Greek ruins.
Mum writes:
We stopped at a few Ports. Piraeus, we visited the Acropolis which was amazing. It was the first time I had tasted Calamari. We then travelled through the Suez Canal, it was so hot. Some small boats came along side the ship, Bruce said they were called “bum boats”. The men that paddled these boats were Egyptians who were trying to sell their wares to the passengers. They would call up “hey Mactavish” they called everyone by Scottish names. The next stop was Port Said where we walked around the docks for a short while; Bruce was asked if he wanted to buy a wife! Of course he declined, showing me in all my glory along with two children! We made a quick retreat and returned to the ship. The next port was Aden, we stopped there for a few hours. This was very interesting; we visited the markets and also bought a camera. Most of the time travelling to these different places we were just amazed at all the different sights.
When we left Aden we were at sea for about 1 week, it was at the end of this week that Neil & I saw the dolphins! He was very excited but wasn’t too sure what they were.
Incidentally, once of my earliest childhood memories is looking over the side of the ship, seeing people coming alongside in small boats to sell things. Someone would pass a container down on a rope, the people in the boats would put merchandise in it, and the passengers would take what they wanted and leave money in the container.
When mum mentions Port Said above, I think it was actually Suez. Port Said is at the start of the Suez canal when you’re heading south, and Suez is at the southern end. That bit of knowledge might come in handy if anyone is in the market for buying an Egyptian wife 🙂
Aboard Ellinis, 1965
Originally uploaded by MagicTyger
Neil (me) and Karen (in the pram).
I don’t know who that is pushing the pram.
Mum tells me that most days aboard Ellinis, she didn’t have much to do except walk Karen and me around the decks. She was 6 months pregnant.
Mum writes:
We arrived at Southampton docks after a long journey by train from London. After what seemed an eternity we finally boarded the Ellinis. I had never been on a ship before. We were shown to our cabin, which infact was old crew’s quarters.
Those weeks at sea were a strange experience for me. We did have some fun times, but mostly it was hard work looking after two small children whilst being pregnant with a third. Also I suffered from seasickness. And was feeling very home sick.
Departure Day
Originally uploaded by MagicTyger
58 Mount Road, Bexleyheath, on 29 March 1965.
The day we left the UK for Australia.
Left to right:
Bruce Ennis (Dad), Sylvia (Mum), Karen and Neil (me). Harold and Anna (Grandpa and Gran) in the background.
Mum’s pregnant with Kevin.
One can only imagine what was going through Grandpa and Gran’s minds as their eldest son, only 22 years old left for the other side of the world with his young wife and kids
The house is next door to a pub called the “Polly Clean Stairs”.
Liz and I visited here in 1997. Unfortunately no one was home. But at least I can vouch that the place exists!
As a matter of interest, it was spring the day we left – as you can see from the buds on the trees. When we arrived in Australia in early May it was late Autumn. So we experienced summer in England mid 1964, and didn’t have summer again till the end of 1965 in Brisbane. That’s a long time between summers.
Mum writes:
On his travels in the merchant navy Bruce had been to many countries one of which was Australia. He had really only seen it through the eyes of a traveller. He was sure it would be a great place to live. At the time we were living in Bexleyheath in Kent in a small house the rent was 8.00 pounds. That was a lot of money in those days; he only earned 16.00 pounds working at a dairy delivering milk.
We decided to apply to immigrate to Australia, our application was successful. We left for Australia on the 29thMarch 1965. Having said that, in sounds so simple. Looking back to that time it was heart wrenching. I had never been anywhere before, Scotland was the only other place I had ever travelled to. Leaving all our families was very frightening; also I was already 5 months pregnant with our third child. This was a chance to start a new life and we would never know if we didn’t give it a go. So off we went not really knowing what was in store for us. Ten pound Poms!
We drove out to the Grain Terminal at Pinkenba today.
It’s not very picturesque. A bunch of silos at the mouth of the Brisbane River. There’s a strong smell of rotting grain, and muddy puddles everywhere.
But what’s important about it to me, is that it’s on this spot on 1 May 1965 that we arrived in Brisbane from the UK aboard Ellinis.
You wouldn’t think that thousands of migrants to Australia would have come ashore here. But this is where the Australian history of our family began, so it’s something special to me.
On that day in 1965, we sat around on the wharf for a few hours waiting for a bus. Although the ship arrived at about 9am, the bus didn’t come to get us till mid afternoon. Not a very pleasant introduction to Brisbane.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Pinkenba. There’s nothing very pretty about the place. It’s just silos, fuel storage tanks, wharves and the oil refinery. The roads are muddy when wet and dusty when dry. I’m sure many a new arrival thought to himself or herself “what the hell have I got myself into here!!!”.
The bus drove us down Kingsford Smith Drive to Yungaba. It’s about a 30 minute drive. I’ve read in other places that they used to have a welcoming committee on the front lawn with tables set laid out with tea and cakes for the new arrivals. I don’t know if they laid it on for us, but the place is quite picturesque.
This beautiful mansion is tucked under the Story Bridge. The bridge’s imposing form intrudes on the place from every angle. You can’t escape the noise of cars passing overhead. To get in and out of Yungaba you have to enter via a driveway that passes under the bridge. And to get anywhere else, you either have to drive over the bridge, or negotiate traffic coming off the bridge.
We stayed here 10 days in 1965.
During that time, my sister was quite ill, and stayed in hospital a few days.
I was ill too.
After a week and a half of sleeping in the dormitories at Yungaba, we caught a taxi out to Wacol Migrant hostel, and stayed in a Nissen Hut for a few weeks before finally being moved to a wooden relic from World War Two – our new home for the next 10 months.
When I think of all this now, I have a new admiration for my Mum and Dad. Coming to a new country, with no money, not knowing anyone, with two young kids, and one on the way. What a remarkable testimony to them that they made a success of it.
I’m so proud of them.
Here’s a list of all the people who left Southampton aboard Ellinis with us in March 1965, bound for Australia. There are 143 family groups.
Click here to download the passenger list.
