Today I made myself some toast with cheese and jam and was immediately reminded of a long car trip with Dad and Mike to Western Australia. As part of the Soldiers Settlement Scheme Dad had been allocated a property at Jerramungup but before he accepted it we had to check it out.
The distance was about 2442.5 kms or 1517 miles and 1200 kms of that was unsealed. Long sections were corrugated or had potholes filled with “bulldust” which was like talc and if you didn’t spot the slightly pink colour of it and hit the hole the result was a bone jarring “whack”. We were in a 1954 Vanguard, Spacemaster and I don’t know if any cars at that time had Air Conditioning but ours certainly didn’t. Because of the dust you couldn’t have the windows down but even so it still managed to find its way inside the car and we were travelling in December, the Australian summer.
What has this to do with bread and jam? Well, Dad was keen to get to Jerramungup as soon as possible so the only stops were unavoidable ones and more often that not lunch stops didn’t fit that category. I sat in the back along with the food supplies so it was my job to make lunch as Dad drove along. The easiest lunch to make that way was cheese and jam on bread. One day though Dad fancied sardines on bread but while I was balancing all the bits and pieces on my lap Dad hit a pothole and the oil from the sardines spilt onto my nice new pants. I cried. Dad decided maybe we could stop for lunch then. Back home when Mum asked how the trip had gone Dad told her I “got a bit moody one day”!
You didn’t know that about Nana, did you?
There was no caravan, camper or tent, I think there might have been camp stretchers but don’t remember.
Musings of a Retiring Person 