Jyväskylä Finalnd

Jyväskylä Finalnd
Originally uploaded by MagicTyger

A postcrossing Postcard from Sirpa, a travel agent who works in Jyväskylä

Thanks Sirpa!!

A good impression

A good impression
Originally uploaded by MagicTyger

It looks like Dad made a great impression on the interviewer.

"Recommendation: A"

"Medical Arranged"

"Excellent fellow (Scotch origin) with wife and children to match. Suitable for A/P under C/N. Conditions explained".

The First Step

The First Step
Originally uploaded by MagicTyger

The greatest journey starts with a step.

This is the form that Mum and Dad completed in order to apply to come to Australia in February 1963. They were 22 years old at the time. I wasn't even a year old, and Mum was pregnant with my sister, Karen.

Click on the thumbnails below to see any of the 32 pages in the application.

If you were a Ten Pound Pom, you can order your own set of documents. Just go to the Australian National Archives (http://naa.gov.au/) and follow "record search" links.

Possum Visitor

Possum Visitor
Originally uploaded by MagicTyger

This little visitor decided to visit us at night and scavenge left over food from our deck.

We've sometimes caught them grabbing pieces of birthday cake when no one was looking.

Those eyes look almost like LED's don't they?

US-241375

US-241375
Originally uploaded by MagicTyger

A Postcrossing Postcard from Kara in Jacksonville Florida.

Manatees are an endangered species that were hunted almost to extinction and are now protected. There are only 1,000 of them in the wild.

Thanks Kara!

QE2 Postcard from Rob Lightbody

Postcard sent to me from Qe2
Originally uploaded by MagicTyger

A postcard I received Rob Lightbody while he was on his QE2 Mediterranean cruise in August 08.

I'll never get to cruise on QE2 myself, so someone sending a card to me while they were cruising on her is about as close as I'll get.

Thanks Rob, for letting me vicariously share a bit of history with you.

Italy

IT-22568
Originally uploaded by MagicTyger

A postcrossing postcard from Leonardo Bellotti in Italy.

Leonardo is a photographer who makes his own postcards as well.

Thanks Leonardo!

Drenthe

NL-96851
Originally uploaded by MagicTyger

A postcrossing postcard from Silvia in Drenthe, in the east of Holland.

Thanks Silvia!

Old mates

Old mates
Originally uploaded by MagicTyger

I finally managed to track Bob down the other day.

He was surprised to hear from me after such a long time, and came round for a while on Saturday afternoon.

It was strange looking at him for the first time in 33 years. Age has changed us both, but I could tell it was still the same old Bob I knew in the 70's.

We reminisced about our school days. I'd completely forgotten that we both went to our first rock & roll concert together in 1975: Skyhooks at Festival Hall in Brisbane. He also came to my 13th birthday party that year and still remembers kissing Leslie Hillhouse when we played spin the bottle.

I got onto Google Maps and showed Bob some of the streets in the town where he lived before his family migrated to Australia. I'm hoping he'll bite the bullet and go back there one day soon. When we were kids, he always said he'd do it, but he never did.

Bob has taught me that friends can change your life. Not through heroics. Just by being friends.

So when you look at it like that, friends are very important.

Migrant Ships

Here is a partial list of Ships that brought immigrants to Australia between 1950 and 1971.

This list is not complete. If you have any additions, or better links, please let me know.

Achille Lauro Akaroa Angelina Lauro Arcadia Asturias (2) Aurelia Australis Britanis Cameronia Canberra Castel Felice Cheshire Chitral Dorsetshire Ellinis (2) Fairsea Fairsky Fairstar Flavia Georgic

Himalaya Iberia Maloja Mooltan New Australia Northern Star Ormonde Otranto (2) Orcades Oriana Orion Oronsay Orontes Orsova Strathaird Stratheden Strathmore Strathnaver Southern Cross Ranchi