My Aussie beer experience in 1965!

[MinZaPint]

I am a fan of @Bealman s Bus stop thread which often has a reference to Aussie beer VB in particular. This brought to mind my own experience albeit a long time ago, at the tender age of 21 (55 years ago) my parents decided to move from south London to Dorset as at the time I was between engagements as they say in theatrical circles (unemployed) I decided to follow my bed not to mention my mums cooking. Several of my friends had or were signed on to P&O boats and I thought I would give that ago, they wouldn't take me on as deck crew (glasses) and I finished up as a Utility Steward (Dish washer) and off we went on a £10 pom trip to Aus. On the boat we could buy trays of canned beer and Fags for 10 bob for a carton of 200!
So off we went on the "Iberia" since described as "the worst ship in the fleet" long ago turned into frying pans in Taiwan or somewhere, it kept braking down and while wallowing in the Indian Ocean owing to a major fire in the engine room (it looked quite dramatic through the engine room door!) a heavy roll saw me in the working alleyway buried in a stack of toilet rolls that had been stored there ( I could have made a fortune now!)


On the way we docked in Colombo in Ceylon as was (now Sri Lanka) and I joined a group of the lads who had decided to go to Mt Lavinia site of the former Colonial Governor's house on a dramatic headland.


And a pic of 4 of us on the beach, the middle 2 feature in the story later, I'm on the right wearing my "Buddy Hollies"


The building is now part of a hotel and buried in the middle of it, the stables and ballroom which is used for wedding etc. are still evident we stayed there in 2003. The areas in the pics have been built over and the lovely beaches were local lads bought fresh pineapple and coconuts for 6 old pence.
Anyway on with the story, we obviously docked in a lot of places including Melbourne on a SUNDAY in 1965. Ron and his pal invited me to join them as they had arranged to meet a couple of pals who were living there. On the Dock awaited a Wolseley 1500 with the 2 locals to be greeted with "Sorry lads its Sunday and all the bars and restaurants are closed (bit like today really!) but we'll take you up on the headland where there's a wonderful view", somewhat discontentedly we set off and the view was terrific, then they opened the boot which was full of "Swans Emu bitters" oh joy. We settled down to enjoy quite a few of them. The lads said as we told you there's no restaurants open but we could go to the dock workers café, no beer we're afraid. Hungry off we went, I looked at the board to see T bone steak and veg for the equivalent of 7/6 and thought I'd better give it a try, up came a plate covered in a pile of veg no sign of the steak, I thought what do you expect for 7/6 and tucked in to find that the T bone actually covered the entire plate leaving no room for anything else, super yummy!
Well sorry folks but I did get to the beer in the end!
Stay safe and keep well, all the best David

[Bealman]

What a great story, David! 

Yeah, even when I arrived here in 1974, pubs were still shut on a Sunday. However, they would serve "bona fide travellers." Basically that meant you could drink as much as you'd like, but only if you were driving.

Crazy!!!

After a couple of weeks, though, I discovered places like RSL clubs were open on Sundays.

Thankfully the six o clock swill had gone by 1974, and pubs stayed open until 10pm.

Ironically, that came back again to some extent at the local bowling club in the last couple of years, in the form of happy hour between 4 and 6pm!

Sadly, it's all academic at the moment, of course.

Great story, David - got any more? I'd love to hear them, especially in these awful times. 

George

[MinZaPint]

Thanks George, that helped going back through happier times, I can find some more stories but at the moment we're making the most of this marvellous weather to get out in the garden, might help to get the weight down! That pic of me is the slimmest I've ever been, having gone through the Suez canal working next to a steamy plate washer I had to put 2 new holes in my belt. Good to see you having a good time with the ducks and making the best of your moonboot.
Keep safe and stay well
Best wishes David

[JonHarbour]

Great story... I was born in January 1965! My Mum and Dad moved to Australia in 1959/60 - my Dad programmed the first commercial computer in Australia and paid for my Mum's first car with the pay!

[Bealman]

Cool! was it a Holden?

[JonHarbour]

Given he programmed it for Ford, i think it was a Ford!

[Bealman]

Maybe one of those cool 1960's Falcons!