About my trip to Austraila

I am finally getting around to writing about my trip to Australia. As you may remember, my brother and I went to bury our mother with her sisters. My mother "came over" as a War Bride back in 1944. Can you imagine, being so young and leaving your family and traveling all the way to the United States? By ship? She did just that. Back then you had to take a ship to travel that far. She was all alone with strangers for a very long time. I know I could never do it. And to think, I complained about flying for over 20 hours!!!

The first day there we went to the cemetery to make the arrangements. Here is what it looks like.

Very crowded. The plots are placed right next to each other. Not like today where you have lots of grass between them. My maternal grandmother and grandfather (never met them) are buried next to two of her sisters, Melva and Verna. Here is a picture of the headstone for Melva. We are having a plate made that will go on top of the cement cover along with a plate being made for Aunt Verna.

The reason we decided to bury her with her sisters instead of her parents is that since she was the baby of 11 (9 survived infancy) she was pretty much raised by her oldest sister Melva.

After making the arrangements we were taken to the home of the childhood friend of our mothers. June Tonkin and her husband Keith. June and my mom were friends as little girls. June actually came to visit us in Seattle once so we already knew her. She has been a part of the Australian Family for as long as anyone can remember. Weddings, Birthdays, funerals, etc. They can remember June always being there. It was great to catch up with her. Keith made us some lunch and we visited for a few hours. We would see them again at the service.

The next day we got to tour around the beaches and the country side. Here is a picture of the beach near where our cousins live.

On Friday, Feb 8th we had a service for our mother. It would have been her 81st Birthday. That is why we went when we did. We got to meet our Uncle Bobby for the first time. Now when you look at this remember that I am only 5'4". Bobby was a jockey and horse trainer in his day.

After the service we all went to the home of our cousin Wendy. Her and her sister, Jeanette, live in the city. Everyone refers to them as the city girls. We stayed with them Friday and Saturday nights. On Saturday they treated us to a float plane ride around Melbourne. How awesome was That?

This is a picture I took from the plane. I was in the very back so I was able to get pictures from both sides of the plane. My brother was in the co-pilot seat and the girls sat in the middle.

After we did that we drove around Melbourne and then walked alone the river. Here is a nice view of downtown Melbourne.

Now this next picture. I like calamari. I like the rings only with some tarter sauce. These folks in Australia like their calamari like this.

I kept waiting for them to start moving around! Well, I hope you have enjoyed my little story. It really was a very quick trip.

Have a great Saturday.