My earliest memories of my childhood in New Zealand are the day my sister was born, and the first time I wore glasses. I was so excited that I could actually see things clearly for the first time in my life. I had a very happy upbringing in country New Zealand.
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As I got older, I wanted to see the world, so a girlfriend Gayle and I moved to Sydney in 1956 and looked for work.
Our next adventure took us hitchhiking to Brisbane. It was quite safe in those days for girls to hitchike. From Brisbane we worked our way up to Cairns and worked there before heading to the Cape York Peninsula. We arrived in Darwin in September 1957.
In due course I met and married a man who looked like Paul Newman, and we had three daughters. He travelled to visit family in Perth in December, 1974 and the girls and I were planning to fly to New Zealand on Boxing Day to visit my family. But that trip didn’t happen. Cyclone Tracey hit Darwin in the early hours of Christmas morning.
My daughters and I sheltered in our car which was parked under our house while the cyclone raged, swinging from one direction to another, destroying everything in its path. We lived moment to moment. We had to; there was nowhere to run.
When it became light, there was no sound. I was too scared to let the girls out of the car because I kept thinking ‘What if we are the only people left?’
There was a danger of the cyclone regenerating, so no one was game to go far. We walked up and down the street we lived in and managed to find some of our possessions, but there was nowhere to put them, so we left them where they were. Our house and everything in it was gone.
My husband George returned from Perth and we left Darwin six or seven days later. We had to apply to return to Darwin as there was no housing. We returned, but it was never the same.
My marriage failed, and I was itching for a fresh start. My youngest daughter and I left Darwin in 1982. We drove to Cairns, then on to Brisbane, Sydney and finally Canberra.
I moved to Binalong in 1986 and have volunteered for the Binalong Volunteer Rescue Association for many years which has now become part of the NSW Fire and Rescue.
It has been a long journey from New Zealand to Binalong, but it has certainly been an interesting trip. I have seen so many changes in the world, but people remain the same.
Living in Binalong has taught me about community and it is a wonderful place to belong.