There were only four houses in the area which became Harnett Ave when we first came to Australia. The houses were fairly remote and set in the bush. First was Reid House, the oldest dwelling, made of convict hewn sandstone, next came Clitheroe flats which also had convict hewn sandstone blocks in the foundations and the large retaining wall which was beside the 'road' that went up the hill. There was a tennis court and then the Sommervilles' house and finally John's place where he lived with his parents Mr and Mrs MacK. and his two sisters Pam and Joan.
My parents were at least 10 years older than John's parents but they became good friends and spent many happy hours together.
John's mother, Ishbell was Scottish and had the most beautiful skin which my mother really envied. Ron, the father was tall and handsome and had been an airman during the war. John used to love wearing the navy blue captain's cap with the golden wing insignia.
They owned a much loved corgi called Susie who came on many of our adventures.
John and I were the best of companions. We loved playing 'mothers and fathers' and were always building cubbies. I remember one cubby that my father helped us build. In the bush, directly below the flats, two large rocks jutted out from the rock wall. We found an old door (you never knew what you would find under Mrs Bosique's verandah - everyone just stacked things there) and that, wedged onto the rocks, became the roof of the cubby.We found an old ironing board and that, covered with a blanket, became a seat inside. A large piece of canvass was hung from 'the roof' and voila! We had a front wall.
The neighbours all visited our splendid cubby and donated various bits and pieces such as crockery to make it more homey. There were lots of crevices in the rocks so we had plenty of places to stack these treasures. When I think about it now my blood runs cold - there were so many funnel web spiders in those sandstone fissures we are lucky we didn't get bitten. It's good that you don't worry about such things as a child or you would never do anything.
We had picnics in our cubby and I always had a vase of flowers in there to make it look pretty. We would go off adventuring in the bush and then 'come home' for a rest or a cup of pretend tea.
One day while out adventuring we noticed smoke billowing from under an overhanging rock which was like a cave. We decided that it must be a bush fire and that we would save the day and become heroes. We rushed up to Clitheroe to fill Aunty Helen's big old metal watering can and then struggled together with the can down the hill finally managing to tip it over the edge. Angry shouts erupted. We had managed to douse the campfire and the boy scouts who were about to have a cookout. The scouts came barreling out of the cave. We dropped the watering can in fright and ran to hide. And there we were trying to save the world! Luckily Aunty Helen's watering can wasn't touched so eventually we retrieved it and didn't mention the incident to anyone.
John was very kind. I had had a teddy bear which had come from India with us but one day I left him somewhere in the bush. We searched and searched, even my parents helped, but he was not to be found, so I didn't have a toy to cuddle. John generously lent me his gollywog and his little suitcase that we made into a bed for the golly. It was my birthday not long after and I received a doll from Germany so Golly could go back to his real home.
John had a wonderful blue pedal car. Both of us would squeeze in and career around the patio in front of his house with Susie running along beside us. Sometimes even she got to have a ride. It was such fun but whenever I now see one of those pedal cars I can't imagine how we both fitted in!
John was also really brave, I thought. If I had been playing at his place and it got late he would escort me home. The path was very dark with the looming bush all around and I was afraid of bogey men, but John protected me and always got me home safely.
We played Tarzan and Jane and made bows and arrows and swung on branches. We also explored the gullies and waterfalls around Reid Park and crept through the forbidden drain that ran under the park. We had been told not to play in the storm water drain, but we did, and had I not slipped and fallen, ending up covered in green slime, we would probably not have been found out. That day ended in tears!
One day as we were wandering through the bush we chanced upon some lovers. We took exception to their behaviour and John threw a stone which unfortunately hit the woman on the head. The man jumped up and furiously chased us through the bush. Luckily we knew the area well and hid behind an old wall as he blundered by. It was the first time I was so scared I thought I was going to wet myself. Eventually, after what seemed like hours, we emerged and slunk home - not mentioning the incident to anyone.
John and I planned to marry when we grew up and had even chosen the house, a pink and blue art deco extravaganza in Seaforth called something like 'Blue Pacific'. Eventually his family moved away to a beautiful large house with views over Balmoral Beach. We stayed friends with his family but he went to a different school, our interests and friends diverged and then finally we lost contact.
John and I had a wonderful friendship. It would be great if we could meet up again sometime.
Addendum to this story:
After writing about John I started thinking about his parents. The last time I saw them was at my mother's funeral in 2004. I knew where they had moved to so rang up on spec. Mrs MacK. answered and we had a lovely chat. Later Mr MacK. gave me
John's address in Queensland so I shall write and hopefully reestablish a
connection, even if it is only an annual Christmas letter. The MacK.s sounded
great. They are both in their 90's but living independently and very proud of their children, grandchildren and 24 great grandchildren. I shall keep in touch with these beautiful people.
No comments:
Post a Comment