So far I have lived a thoroughly good life! In all respects.
I have reached the age of about 81 without any major problems, and lived a good life generally – not many disappointments along the way, and generally it has been a really great life. I have been in a lot of countries and been busy doing all manner of great things, which I have enjoyed.
I went to Australia soon after the war, and loved it! I also loved the journey out there, as I did on all the various sea journeys that I undertook, well, it was passive as far as I was concerned, but I enjoyed them all. Both the huge journeys and the small ones… I also loved seeing the various places I went to…. The Suez Canal, and the camel that spat on me when I was attempting to come ashore in Aden, Columbo was enchanting as was Singapore (I lived there for about a year later), and Australia was a dream come true!
I learnt to swim in the middle of the Pacific Ocean…. In the boat I was on, the Orcades, it was called. I used to go down to the engine room in that boat, and all the others I travelled on in my various journeys around the world. With the exception of the Dutch one, called the William Reus, in which I travelled from Singapore to Germany, in which we were not permitted to go anywhere apart from our section of the ship.
Arrival in Germany made a HUGE impression on me, it was in about 1952, and we arrived in Hambourg, and saw for ourselves all the damage that had been done on the working class area of the city (not the middle class sections of the city, that was unharmed), the masts sticking out of the water and the damage that had been done on the harbour…… It was an eye-opener to be honest!
England was also a mess…. The war damage was amazing to see. Bombed houses all over the place. I saw it from a new perspective, as I hadn’t seen much of such things in my life.
All in all, it has been a very enjoyable life so far, and I will write about it again, as I was involved in all manner of things in my life…..
OZTHOUGHTS 