Kookaburras, Cuppas & Kangaroos: Adventures of a Yorkshire Lass Down Under in the ’60s by S Bavey
Kookaburras, Cuppas & Kangaroos’ by S. Bavey tells the true story, mainly through letters sent home, of a 24-year-old woman’s solo three-year trip from Yorkshire England to Australia in the 1960s.
Excerpt:
Prologue
“They’re taking away my passport for a whole two years! Whatever will I do if I hate it there, or no one likes me?”
Travelling alone to the other side of the world was a daunting prospect and as the day approached, the butterflies in my stomach were getting larger.
“You’ll be fine, Liz. Elsie and John will help you to get settled. Staying with them will be like a home away from home.” Mum was trying to be reassuring, but my nerves had got the better of me.
It was February 1960 and I was emigrating to Australia as part of the ‘Assisted Passage Migration Scheme’. Created in 1945 by the Australian government to attract people to live and work there for at least two years, this scheme was more commonly known as the ‘Populate or Perish’ policy. You could move to Australia for the princely sum of £10.00 if you had someone willing to sponsor you.
My mum’s friend, Elsie Fawcett and her husband, John, who lived in Perth, Western Australia, had agreed to sponsor me and I could live with them while I got my bearings, so I paid my money and became what was known as a ‘Ten Pound Pom’.
My passport was taken away and would be returned after a minimum of two years in Australia. I felt extremely nervous about the length of time I had to stay ‘Down Under’ in order to qualify for the scheme, particularly since I was going to be living with people I had never met, starting with friends of my mum and later moving on to stay with relatives I knew from conversation only. What would become of me if I couldn’t get a job and my money ran out before I was allowed to have my passport back?
When firefighter Ryan Jordan returns to his small hometown of Chestnut Ridge to care for his elderly mother, he’s faced with unresolved feelings for his best friend’s younger sister, Emma Parker. Once a determined police officer, Emma has since traded her badge for a quieter life as a rancher, running her family’s farm after her father’s passing.
