crusty philtrum
Vintageologist
Re: The Well part LVII...Crusty Philtrum
Yeah, we went to a place called 'East Hills' on the outskirts of Sydney when we arrived in 1971 and stayed briefly in a 'hostel', which were those round tin huts, exactly as you describe. Then we were transferred down south of Sydney to a place called Wollongong, and went to the tin-hut hostel just north of there in a little suburb called 'Fairy Meadow' (yeah, i know, i know...!!!) I was 15. At that time, the Free/Deep Purple/ Mannfred Mann tour came down here but i was unaware and missed it !!!
I went to school for a year at Dapto High School, a southern suburb of Wollongong. Wollongong was a huge industrial town based around the steelworks at Port Kembla. Dapto is well-known for it's racing track, esp. for greyhound racing and the trotters.
Ya know it's funny you mention the thing about the accent....i was very self-conscious and got mocked a few times for using English words rather than the local equivalents, and for my different pronounciation of words, so i worked very hard to drop any 'English-isms' that would draw attention to me. Funny, nowdays it's very cool to talk that way. I also got called 'Suntan' as i was very white compared to the Aussie kids....I didn't enjoy school here in Oz very much at all, and got out as soon as i could and got a job at the Post Office as a Telegram Boy....hehe.....
I loved that job, out and about on a pushbike all day (all weather, too!) delivering telegrams, and the Post Office had these weird regulations....you could grow your hair as long as you liked, but you could only grow a beard during your holidays, not on the job. So of course i grew my hair down to my bum. telegrams are long obsolete now, but back then they were THE way to get a message delivered fast, other than the telephone of course. There was a music shop just a few doors along from the Post Office, so it wasn't long before i bought a locally made amp, a Diason, and then not too much longer, i got them to get me a 100 watt Marshall....the full stack. They weren't available here so it had to come out from England, took a year to get here, but people used to visit me just to sit in my room and cower in the shadow of it !! Hahaha! The music shop sold about another 4 simply because of me showing mine to people. It wasn't long before it was doing active duty on stages up and down the NSW south coast.
My folks moved to Melbourne in the late 70's but i stayed in NSW, then started to travel widely, including up and down the QLD coastal areas working in circuit bands. I came down here occasionally with bands and would go visit my folks. Eventually i moved down here in 1991, and have been here ever since. Best place in the world. I have always lived over on the east side, which i love, but the last time i had to move (2002) things were getting tighter and the only place i could find that i could afford (I rent) was this place here in Yarraville, in the inner west. Yarraville is now a very upmarket area, but as usual, i am on 'the wrong side of the tracks' in an industrial area, noisy and dirty.....but then again....it may be just like me, hahaha!
Yeah, we went to a place called 'East Hills' on the outskirts of Sydney when we arrived in 1971 and stayed briefly in a 'hostel', which were those round tin huts, exactly as you describe. Then we were transferred down south of Sydney to a place called Wollongong, and went to the tin-hut hostel just north of there in a little suburb called 'Fairy Meadow' (yeah, i know, i know...!!!) I was 15. At that time, the Free/Deep Purple/ Mannfred Mann tour came down here but i was unaware and missed it !!!
I went to school for a year at Dapto High School, a southern suburb of Wollongong. Wollongong was a huge industrial town based around the steelworks at Port Kembla. Dapto is well-known for it's racing track, esp. for greyhound racing and the trotters.
Ya know it's funny you mention the thing about the accent....i was very self-conscious and got mocked a few times for using English words rather than the local equivalents, and for my different pronounciation of words, so i worked very hard to drop any 'English-isms' that would draw attention to me. Funny, nowdays it's very cool to talk that way. I also got called 'Suntan' as i was very white compared to the Aussie kids....I didn't enjoy school here in Oz very much at all, and got out as soon as i could and got a job at the Post Office as a Telegram Boy....hehe.....
I loved that job, out and about on a pushbike all day (all weather, too!) delivering telegrams, and the Post Office had these weird regulations....you could grow your hair as long as you liked, but you could only grow a beard during your holidays, not on the job. So of course i grew my hair down to my bum. telegrams are long obsolete now, but back then they were THE way to get a message delivered fast, other than the telephone of course. There was a music shop just a few doors along from the Post Office, so it wasn't long before i bought a locally made amp, a Diason, and then not too much longer, i got them to get me a 100 watt Marshall....the full stack. They weren't available here so it had to come out from England, took a year to get here, but people used to visit me just to sit in my room and cower in the shadow of it !! Hahaha! The music shop sold about another 4 simply because of me showing mine to people. It wasn't long before it was doing active duty on stages up and down the NSW south coast.
My folks moved to Melbourne in the late 70's but i stayed in NSW, then started to travel widely, including up and down the QLD coastal areas working in circuit bands. I came down here occasionally with bands and would go visit my folks. Eventually i moved down here in 1991, and have been here ever since. Best place in the world. I have always lived over on the east side, which i love, but the last time i had to move (2002) things were getting tighter and the only place i could find that i could afford (I rent) was this place here in Yarraville, in the inner west. Yarraville is now a very upmarket area, but as usual, i am on 'the wrong side of the tracks' in an industrial area, noisy and dirty.....but then again....it may be just like me, hahaha!
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