Ellice Is. gained independence from the UK on the 1st of October 1978 and anew country called Tuvalu was born. Tuvalu means ‘eight standing together’ meaning the eight island & atolls that make up the country. There are nine islands, but at the time of independence, only eight islands were inhabited. Tuvalu is the fourth […]
I’ll never go abroad – which was a stupid comment that I made at thirteen, comes back to bite me. My first adventure abroad was just after I’d just turned sixteen in 1960. A family friend (a school teacher) asked me to accompany him in August to help shepherd a group of fourteen to sixteen […]
1960 reconstruction of HMS Bounty Being in charge of the our Pacific agent network, I had to visit Tahiti of course . . well, someone had to do this difficult task! Tahiti was originally called Otaheite, and once again it is thought the Portuguese were the first Europeans to visit the islands in 1606, but […]
In mid 1962, after two years at HMS Conway, I graduated. British India Steam Navigation Company, also known simply as BI, accepted me in August, as an indentured cadet (apprentice). House flag and funnel Once I’d been accepted I applied for a British Seaman’s Card and a Discharge Book I had the paperwork to prove that I […]
The crowds start to build Once again the Diamond Princess crossed the ‘line’ i.e the Equator. Of course this can’t be allowed to pass without a ‘crossing the line’ ceremony. The director of entertainment was the ‘hostess’, and managed to get the audience alive with anticipation of a visit from King Neptune. All those who […]
I’ll never go abroad – which was a stupid comment that I made at thirteen, comes back to bite me. My first adventure abroad was just after I’d just turned sixteen in 1960. A family friend (a school teacher) asked me to accompany him in August to help shepherd a group of fourteen to sixteen […]
The photograph was taken from within the Sydney building that I worked in the mid 1980’s. On this particular day we were having a lunchtime BBQ, partly to farewell the person in the Arab costume, (he is at the BBQ), he was being transferred to the Middle East. Between the building in which I worked, […]
Please don’t wish me Happy Holiday, because I am not going on holiday, but I will be in March, but then I would prefer Happy Easter. If you want to wish me anything this week may I suggest that it is Happy or Merry Christmas. If wishing me Happy Christmas is offensive to you, then […]
My next stop was to visit our agent in Apia, Western Samoa. Western Samoa consists of two main islands and several smaller islands. The island called Upolu is the main island where the capital Apia is located and Faleolo airport and the airline code for this airport is APW, if you plan to visit. The […]
My next stop was to visit our agent in Apia, Western Samoa. Western Samoa consists of two main islands and several smaller islands. The island called Upolu is the main island where the capital Apia is located and Faleolo airport and the airline code for this airport is APW, if you plan to visit. The […]
When I arranged our holiday in Vietnam for my wife and I, and our friends, we were all price sensitive, so I had to be careful of the costs. Flying out of Sydney we could fly with Vietnam Airlines or Qantas , but when I checked on the prices I realised that Vietnam Airlines had […]
Not so long ago Maureen & I planned a visit to Singapore to meet up with other Old Conways for a ‘Conway’ reunion. The reunion was mainly attended by those living in the Australasia area. I looked at the various airlines and their prices and decided on our old favourite (which was our favourite at […]
I was fortunate to attend HMS Conway, which was a training ship (see picture below) to supply officers for the merchant and Royal Navy – most us went in to the merchant service. The college began in 1859, and I attended ‘Conway’ between 1960 and 1962. During my time we lived in barracks because the […]
It was getting close to Christmas 1981 so what to do about a staff Christmas party? Christmas in Australia is our summertime, so we would not be interested in a log fire, hot mead and Ho Ho Ho.Ideas were bounced around from restaurants (very expensive) to a cash outlay to allow the staff to do […]
