Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

During the late Nineteen Fifties my family visited our maternal Grandparents in Melbourne Victoria. We also met my mothers Uncle Andy and Auntie Vic who also lived in Melbourne. I remember having our photo taken on the front lawn of their home in Caulfield. Their dog was a giant black cocker spaniel named Wiz.

Our Uncle Andy had recently retired and invested in a business venture at the beach resort of Dromana on the Mornington Peninsula. The business was a surf ski hire venture located right on the beach.

We travelled to Dromana Beach with our family the next weekend. Uncle Andy hired his surf skis and paddles on a time basis to beach goers from a boat shed located on the magnificent beach front.
I remember having the job of changing the large clock face dial placed on the beach so that the people hiring the surf skis would know when their “time was up”. And when it wasn’t too busy, I would get a turn on a surf ski with my brother and sisters.

Uncle Andy would spend his Summer evenings at the local camping ground to make the most of his time at his new business venture. Our family decided to stay overnight that weekend, so we went to the camping ground where he was staying. I had never seen a tent as big as the one that he was staying in. When I went inside the tent I could hardly believe my eyes. I remember him saying to my father that he always enjoyed the comforts of home! Inside the tent was a double bed, a dressing table complete with drawer and mirror, and a two cupboard wardrobe!

We stayed outside that night sleeping “under the stars”. That was the first time we had gone camping as a family. I was ten years old.