The Far Side of the World, Pt 5

November 1974, and Tony Reavley's having a bit of well-earned quiet time after his trek across the Australian outback with a drunken amnesiac named Chapman Sando Walsh. He's destined for New Zealand as the southern hemisphere's summer begins.

Tony's previous letters: November 1973, December 1973, early April 1974, late April 1974, June 1974, August 1974 and September 1974.

03-11-74

Auckland, New Zealand

Greetings from Auckland and journey's end. A good deal has happened since I last wrote and it's difficult to know where to begin, but I'll start by returning to our month's stay in Melbourne. Shortly after I last wrote, we moved into a flat with Hazel, an English girl and friend of Dave's. We had a room to ourselves and the luxury of sleeping in beds again with clean sheets, pillows and blankets. We shared the food bills by splitting the costs three ways and to earn our keep we helped Hazel with a few odd jobs. Baz helped renovate some antique furniture and I painted the toilet walls a hideous ochre colour. Hazel seemed quite pleased with the end product but I was less enthusiastic when I discovered my hair had received a top-coat as well. As it wouldn't wash out, large chunks had to be cut off with the scissors.

Dave kept popping in at odd times each day to see us and kept Hazel's fridge well-stocked with cans of "Fosters"; Australia's national beverage. Not so good as the Banks's Mild! Dave was quite an amazing character and the story of his life would fill a book. Hazel was one of his three known mistresses; there were probably more, and a good deal of his time was spent keeping each one happy and contented, rather like an Eastern potentate. He seemed to enjoy his complicated lifestyle even though it meant continually extricating himself from awkward domestic situations! We would have left for NZ earlier but Dave kept promising us that he could loan us a car. After 18 days patient waiting and subtle coaxing we found ourselves the proud but temporary owners of a Holden Torana - only 2 years old with 32,000 miles on the clock. The car belonged to a friend of Dave's - another woman, naturally - who was abroad, and if she'd known two Pommie bastards were careering round Victoria in it during her absence, she'd have probably thrown a fit.

We used Hazel's house as a base and took three 2-day trips out to three National Parks. Used our tent to sleep in and stopped just one night for each journey. At Wilson's Promontory, 145 miles away on Victoria's superb coastline, we saw our first wild kangaroos, emus and koala bears. The latter live entirely on eucalyptus leaves and rarely leave the trees but we were fortunate enough to spot a koala clambering down a tree one morning as we walked along a remote path through the bush. We kept still; the bear approached and stopped at our feet, just a yard away. It sensed we were there and scrambled slowly up a nearby tree, where it sat looking at us about ten feet up. Also saw and heard the "laughing jackass", or kookaburra; a large kingfisher-like bird renowned for its eerie and somewhat frightening call. Baz was firing away on the camera and we are hoping we should have some memorable shots.

We finally left Melbourne on 17th October in an attempt to hitchhike 560 miles to Sydney for our flight 2 days later. By the same afternoon we'd managed 200 miles and had crossed the state border into New South Wales. We ground to a halt here, however, as unseasonal rains had flooded the creeks and the road was flooded in several places. We were told it could be days before they re-opened, so regretfully we took the overnight train for the remainder of the journey. Slept on our foam mattresses on the compartment floor and after a rather uncomfortable night, we arrived in Sydney the following morning. Stayed for one night with a millionaire's daughter whom we'd become acquainted with on a previous trip to Norway! Had our own room each, and the house had its own laundry, swimming pool and balcony, perched high up on a hill overlooking Sydney's famous Harbour Bridge and the opera house.

The following day we caught the 5pm French UTA flight. A superb meal was served and as the Kiwi next to me was more interested in the duty-free booze, I ended up with two lots of roast duckling, peas and spuds, ham salad, chocolate cake, biscuits and cheese! We arrived in Auckland after 3 hours at 10pm as the New Zealanders are 2 hours ahead of Australia. We managed to book in at one of Auckland's YHAs and our first task was to find a flat. Jobs here are plentiful but flats are difficult to find. Eventually we ended up [with a flat which] consists of a toilet, separate shower, a large bed-sitting room and a small, compact kitchen. Between us it costs £17 ($30) a week, which is expensive, but remember that wages are higher here. It's clean and quiet and close to the sea, about 2 miles from the city centre. We have a superb view over the harbour with the Auckland Harbour Bridge dominating the background. We have wall to wall carpeting, a TV and a good fridge and it's easy to keep the place clean.

The following day we went to find out about jobs. Teaching jobs are available and one was offered to me at $93 a week (£53), far more than I could expect to get in the UK. The job would have lasted 8 weeks until December 20th and I would have been paid for 10 weeks (2 weeks holiday pay); however, it was in a rough Maori area and the daily 15 mile bus journey would have been a drag. Also had visions of being out of work at Xmas so decided reluctantly to turn it down. Eventually we went to the good old reliable standby, the City Council, and the same day landed jobs as "garden labourers". We get £41 for a 40 hour week which is more than double the wage I earned when working on the council at Bewdley! We started last Tuesday (a sad day) after 1 year, 14 weeks and 4 days without working. Baz is on a cushy number which seems to entail sitting in a council lorry for most of the day, riding around Auckland doing sweet FA. I'm on a 3 man gang grass cutting. Our job is to go around cutting where the tractors can't, i.e. very steep banks. The mowers are heavy, temperamental and difficult to handle and when I return to the flat each evening I feel as if I've been wrestling with an alligator! I've just finished my first week and am now "recuperating".

Give my regards to everyone, and don't run in heavy shoes during the day - remember I'm underneath you trying to get some sleep!

All the best

Tony