Wendy's diary of voyage home to Australia, 1962

This post consists of excerpts from Wendy's diary, interspersed with a few photos. We left London by train from Liverpool Street station, for the ferry from Harwich to the Hook of Holland. Over to Wendy:
Monday 30 April 1962: Awake 6 am. Breakfast on ship [ferry]. Left by train from Hook of Holland to Rotterdam at 7.40. No trouble through customs. Couldn't get into our room at hotel until 12 MD. Walked around fine city for 2 hours then went to room and slept till 3 pm. Had sandwich in dining room then a tram ride ... excellent dinner. Kids to bed 8.30.

Left: Blitzkrieg Memorial, Rotterdam

  
Tuesday May 1: ... I packed up while John went to shipping agents. Had a chance for another look around Rotterdam - a fine city. Bought nuts, raisins etc. Had a good lunch then straight to ship [MV Morelia].  Doesn't look as ship-shape as Pretoria. Unpacked; sailed at 6 pm. May 2: ... In Scheldt estuary 10 am, finally docked at 11.30 pm. Fell into bed. Set alarm for 6 am for shore going. Children played marvelously well with Lego and dolls. May 3:... Fantastic trip into ANTWERP... A splendid city with lovely statues and buildings and huge cathedral. No time to see Rubens Museum. Bitterly cold and frozen to the bone. Back on board and knitted all day. Read to children, ironed and mended. Bed 9.30 pm.





 Antwerp, City Square


May 4:Out into Channel at 6 am. A foggy day on and off, damp, cold and calm. Children being perfect angels. Played in R's cabin while I did washing then all sat out on deck. I got on well with knitting. Both D and R fell off trapeze and on back of heads. No harm done. Read to them and did puzzle book most of PM. 8 PM: In Bay of Biscay. Quite a pitch but not too bad. Captain's welcome party. May 5: Rough. Ship bucking about a lot. Managed some knitting in the AM but sick at midday. David and John sick too. Rebecca the best sailor. Missed meals and went to bed early. Kids awake at 2 and 4 am.  May 6: A lovely day. Much calmer although ship still has a roll. Spent a peaceful morning washing, mending and reading to children who are still phenomenally good. A gala lunch for which I didn't dress then a walk around whole ship, then a good look at Portuguese coast: very rugged & lovely hotels & houses. Wonderful sunset. May 7: Another calm perfect day. Gibraltar 10 am. Sat on deck with kids who once again had a good day with only one or two boredom tantrums. Knitted all day. Enormous meals again. Another wonderful sunset. May 8: Another glorious day but a bit more windy... Sat in sun with children and read to them. Wrote to Mother and Jenny in afternoon while John baby sat. Captain's party & lots of insincere speeches, drinking & talking after dinner. Bed 11 pm. May 9: MARSEILLES. Hot, humid & hazy. Had a terrible time getting away from wharf & got involved with military loading. Finally caught a bus to city & walked down market streets - oysters, tortoises. Shops expensive, children & people shabby. Lunch at vast price in modest cafe. Back to ship by taxi.                                                      
Here is David protecting Rebecca with his toy pistol, on a sidewalk in Marseille

 

 May 10: GENOVA (Genoa). A clear fine day. Berthed about 9 am. Went ashore soon after 11 am & walked to the old city & window shopped until siesta time then had an excellent trattoria lunch. Then walked to city centre and spent hours looking for a 'gabinetto' - finally relieved R & self! Back to ship feeling mangled by 5 pm. Ashore again at 8 pm, returned `10 pm very tired. May 11: Another fine warm day. Went by organized bus up to Righi to have a good dinner at the Company's expense. A lovely view. Back to town at 3 pm, walking around & shopping. Back to ship by taxi quite exhausted. May 12:Set off with Billie Warren [fellow passenger] shopping in old city. Bought frock, shoes, Mother's jersey. Met John for lunch, then more shopping and back to ship for dinner. Off again after dinner to look for a newspaper. 

Statue of Christopher Columbus, Genoa

May 13: Raining heavily. Children played very well on deck until lunch time while I knitted and John worked. After lunch took funicular up to Righi where we had a wonderful view, then bus downhill, back to ship to feed children, then out to Crespi Ristorante with Billie Warren and Chief Engineer and pub crawl along waterfront (Black Cat and Golden Gate). May 14:Washing, ironing. John rushed into town for shopping.Took children for walk in sun around wharf. After lunch took funicular up hill to Marvonolo, had delightful amble through village on hilltop. Sailed at 9 pm, bed 10 pm. May 15: LIVORNO Cold, dull morning. Berthed at Livorno 8 am. Went by hired car to Pisa and Florence through lovely Tuscany countryside, even lovelier when the sun came out.  
          
                                                                                                      
                     Wendy & Rebecca stride by Leaning Tower


 Saw Leaning Tower and Battisterie, then on to Florence; saw Piazza della Signore. Had lunch, then down to Ponte Vecchio, back up to Duomo (cathedral) and marvellous golden doors; on to Piazza Michelangelo, Straw Market. Back to Livorno on autostrada. Bedded kids down then out to spaghetti dinner. May 16: Still in Livorno. Another lovely day. Left  ship about 10 am, walked through town to hospital, back to zoo - very neatly kept with animals in concrete cages but not much exercise space or logs to jump on or claw at. Back to ship for lunch then ashore again after lunch.                                                                                                         
Wendy & Rebecca, Ponte Vecchio, River Arno
                           

May 17: Sailing along Italian coast. Saw two islands in afternoon, through Straits of Messina at 11 pm. We saw red hot lava from Stromboli and later John saw Mount Etna on Sicily; I slept through that. Children played house in morning with cardboard cartons. Captain's party and get-together. Rather drunken, melancholy evening. May 18: John sat with children, made them a wigwam of rugs while I knitted striped jersey. Two ill mannered passengers spoiling voyage for rest of us. Typed letter home. May 19: Saw snow capped mountains of Crete in distance; passed many islands including Rhodes. A glorious day, calm and sunny. Saw many seagulls, porpoises. Sat in sun aft with children, read to them for an hour early and got quite sunburnt. ... May 20: Another gorgeous day. Sat on Port side, watched coast of Turkey.. Surprisingly little shipping or fishing activity. Wonderful moonrise over entrance to ISKANDERAM at 10 pm. May 21: Up at 7 am, two large barges alongside already loading trucks. Hung around all morning, learning German way to knit while awaiting passport inspection. Finally went ashore after lunch; three hours ashore in most interesting town, highly polished brass pots etc. We bought earthenware amphorae and a brass teapot. John gave me surprise ear-rings.

Iskanderam, Turkey (at the North-East corner of the Mediterranean Sea)








The above are merely excerpts; I've just quoted some highlights. Wendy's diary goes on to describe our passage through the Suez Canal, down the Red Sea, a brief stop to fill the oil tanks in Aden, across the Indian Ocean to Fremantle, and finally on to Port Adelaide. But this post is already rather long, so I'll leave the story suspended mid-voyage. She's described enough to explain why we loved sea travel on passenger-carrying freighters. We had our best voyage ever, our final one, at the beginning of 1964, across the Pacific from Sydney, through the Panama Canal to Jamaica, Vera Cruz Mexico, then up the eastern seaboard of the USA. I'll talk about that voyage in future posts.