As I get closer to my grave I think often of other times in other places. Memory being what it is, I remember the good times best, not the misery and heartbreak that happened along the way. And so it is that we all have the 'Good old days'.
As a child I remember the freedom I took for granted and the relaxed and friendly attitude of the law enforcement people when I got caught out in some of my nefarious activities. Not criminal in any way, just illegal, and often dangerous to me and to my friends. This fact did not stop the adventures, merely changed their direction, and made me more careful. I knew, and accepted the fact, that I had to wear the consequences of my acts of adventure and defiance and did so with as much good grace as I could muster.
Tresspass was not such a crime then as it is today and I often ventured where I was not supposed to be. Near my home town was an Air Force Training centre for budding pilots and when the war moved away from our shores this became a storage facility and a rubbish dump for surplus war materials, spare parts and excess or obsolete radio and communication equipment. A treasure trove for adventurous kids, like me, for instance. for a while my little group of kids had the most wonderful billy cart with wheels from the tail end a Wacket trainer planes. There truck loads of these wheels dumped in a massive pit ready for burning. Nice rubber tyres and tubes, right size holes for axels on our carts etc. The law saw things differently and one day we were caught at the tip by Air Force Police. The rotten sods sneaked up on us and poked their rifles in our faces and generally frightened the daylights out of us. We then spent about four hours in the Air Force jail as we were held until the law could question us individually. We lost those nice wheels from our billy cart, but somehow retained the home made radios we all had. Such is life for a kid.
Another time I was involved with a service club and we wanted to organise and run a Family Fun day on a nearby copra plantation which had a little sea cove as a boundary. We needed a big bar-b-que plate to cook on as we expected a few hundred people to be there on the day. No gas barby, just wood fire for cooking. Being in Madang PNG at the time we thought that the shipwrecks might provide us with a piece of steel we could use.
And so it proved to be. Eight foot by four foot from the thinner part of the hull of a wreck in Madang Harbour. It took eight of us to lift it. We set it up well ahead the day and several of us tried it out. Absolutely magnificent, once it was hot. We did find that this took about an hour so made some adjustments to the plans for the big day. We cooked for 1200 people on the day which was fine and warm and trouble free. A wonderful time was had by all.
I wonder could it be done today with the same sharing of joy and excitement between different cultures as we had that day.
Add your comment
Comments
1 - 16 of 16
-
Strange how we all reminisce about the 'good old days' as we get older. None of us would go back to those days, although we were happy then. Life has changed far too much to return to hard work and small monetary rewards. Like everyone else, we older people like to have good things around us and the money to acquire them.
many thanks for your visit and comments. Much appreciated. -
Thanks for sharing your journal entry....it's nice to read about real folks and a change from the stories on here: SW. I think I will hand around your page and do some more reading.
-
wonderful
-
-
Sadly those times have gone forever. The everlasting pursuit of the almighty dollar has created dangers where none existed before. if I hurt myself on any of my adventures, it was just too bad. Now, some lawyer would sue for compensation. I prefer the Good Old Days. Thank you for visiting, please call again.
-
-
Wonderful write
Wonderful stories Bob, giggles I come from a big family and your stories reminded me of my older siblings and my parents reminisces lol. We had some wonderful times when we all lived at home with Mom and Dad. The older I get the more I look back, guess I should still look forward but I had such a happy childhood and miss my parents now they are gone. We never had any money Bob but we were rich in so many ways, yes those days are gone I'm afraid, shame!!
Cherry
xxx
-
-
Thank you Cheryl and I am pleased if i brought you memories of happy days. Life was slower and there was no great lust for money as there is today. We had time to enjoy what was there, whether nature of human relationships.
-
-
Wonderful Share.
I enjoyed your story. Brought back memories of my own and what kids get up to, not criminal as you say but illegal. Cooking for 1200 on a makeshift BBQ splendid...ingenious, and a good time was had by all! -
-
Thank you again dear friend. memory is wonderful as it lets you remove the miserable things from your life and enjoy the goodies. Life was much easier in one way as the constant pressures of today were absent, but it was also a hard time as a lot of the labour saving devices we take for granted today were not invented then. I was never short of something interesting to do, legal or not.
-
-
I really enjoy this story or memory as i would call it. Nice work.
-
-
It is from memory, you are right there. I had a great time in PNG but would not go back again. Too much has changed and the people I used to know are no longer there. Many thanks for you comment nad for sharing my memories.
-
-
Loved this article you wrote. It tells an extremely interesting story that really had me rivited to my seat. Having snuck onto that airforce site and been jumped upon by the law of the force must have scared the living hell out of you alright, especially when you were made to spend so much time in the clink while they questioned you. A short period of time to a kid is like an eternity when he is in trouble and unsure. I remember when i was very young, we used to go onto peoples properties mushrooming. It was great fun while it lasted. Don't know if that is possible today. You maybe shot for it. Anyway. I had never gone to read someones journal pieces before and i am glad that i did. This is a story in itself which i hope you will write in the future. Would love to hear more of this adventure. Great stuff, Bob.
-
-
Welcome to my ramblings Lee. I'm glad you liked this one. I still shudder when I think of those Air Force guys pointing guns at us kids. But mostly it was fun, even when the nice policeman took away our billy cart. I am constantly remembering new ones as something triggers my memory.
You like this one ? There are tow more as Journals and a few on Storywrite. Lizzie and Bed Ford plus The thrill of Motor bikes on Journals and Caving- when commonsense was absent; Fully Charged; The value of Life; Transmission Tower; Untrained Wonder Workers; on SW. There is more to come but that should keep you occupied for a while. I really appreciate your comments and thank you for taking time to read my rambling.
-
-
Great memories Bob not unlike many of my own in particular the scavenging for treasure on someone elses property public or private.
A very entertaining write amnd well worth the read.
David -
-
David, we all have memories and stories to tell. Many will be similar as we are often kindred spirits even though we live so far from each other. Distance is naught to spirits.
Thanks for your visit and comments. I am pleased that my story struck a chord with your memories.
-
-
Wonderful,
Absolutely wonderful my friend.
You are certainly bringing back memories of a bygone era whereby kids took the "consequences of their actions." Unfortunately in this modern era it is a "blame everyone else but me" culture that kids are growing up in. Sometimes I don't blame the kids because they're doing what they've learnt from their parents who live in a "gimme, gimme, gimme" society with no giving back.
No doubt if you went back to those shipwrecks today, you would probably be charged with stealing, but hey ho! that's modern day life *groans and reaches for Baileys bottle*
-
-
Lawrie, I was born at the right time for me. The freedom we enjoyed did have its responsibilities attached, no one minded. hen I think back I believe that as we renounced our responsibilities we lost our freedom. The two go together.
Those shipwrecks are slowly disintegrating. Not much left above the sea now. Rust is eating away 2 inch thick armourplate to the point where anyone can pick a hole in it with an ordinary screwdriver. About ten miles inland is an old Japanese wartime airfield. It still has about a dozen Jap planes sitting there among the tall grass, shot full of holes, but largely intact.
I shall not return to PNG again. I have some wonderful memories from my time up there, but PNG now has the highest crime rate in the world. A change of attitudes as occurred, like much of the world today 'wants' are treated as 'needs'. I want - you have - therefore - I take. Justice is blind, as always.
-
Adding your comment:
1 - 16 of 16
Recent Journals
-
In 1932 Henry Ford made the last 'Lizzie". The following year, I think, he made a lady out of Lizzie by getting rid of the canvas top and detachable side curtains and put wind up windows into an all steel body. My first car was a 'Lizzie', not an 'A Model' , but a 'B' Model. It had four cylinders and an up
-
In the 50's motor bikes were the favoured mode of transport. Big ones with 500cc motors at least. Money was, of course, a serious problem. I didn't have any. However that was only a temporary hurdle which was soon jumped. I was offered a 500cc single cylinder Royal Enfield motor bike for the princely sum of t
-
The whole world knows of the bushfires in Victoria [Australia ] but how many know of the massive flooding in Queensland ? [also Australia ] 62% of the state is affected by flooding. Growers of sugar cane, bananas, and table vegetables are suffering as much as the farmers, cattle and sheep producers in Q
-
Agriculture ... horticulture ... farming generally. In Australia, as in any country, the farmer depends on the weather for the success of his enterprise. Even those who have the benefit of irrigation still depend on rain being there to fill the storage dams and reservoirs. All farmon Apr 6 2:58 AM, In Climate change, Life, My own personal thoughts. 800 words. → 2 comments, Add one?
-
A slight change in my focus has occurred. Nothing major, just a venture into the realms of fiction. Most of my stuff is real life or based on real life. This is different. What a bummer, I have to make up my characters, their habits, mannerisms and physique; then make them act real and sound real when I ron Apr 5 11:51 PM, In My own personal thoughts. 300 words. → 7 comments, Add one?
-
I write poetry, reasonably well with rhyme and rhythm; I need to change and expand. I know that. Doing it is another matter. I also write stories, not great but readable. Both types of writing are from life or nature. Where do I go from here and how do I go about getting there ? Questions I can't answer at
