Dad's Open Air Man Cave
Our backyard was Dad’s open air ‘man cave’. At the western end, elevated above the rest of the yard, was the chook pen, stretching the entire width of the property. It bordered a neighbouring quarter-acre, where a choko vine spilled over our shared fence. The neighbours didn’t like chokos, so they threw them back over. The chooks liked them though. That’s all I knew about the neighbours. The cranky “Choko People”. Their back yard was so overwhelmed with bush that we couldn’t see their house. I imagined them living in some kind of glowing, orange gingerbread cottage hidden deep inside. Many summer’s Sunday the chokos made their way to the barbie. Chokos didn’t really taste of anything. They had the consistency and appearance of watery green apples when cooked and were just something charcoaled to put on the plate to help it look Sunday abundant.
We had eight chickens, all Australorps, and we were never out of eggs. Australorps are an Australian creation, first bred in in 1925 to be family friendly prolific egg layers. Ours were fat and healthy, and spoilt with all the food from our garden and what dropped off the fruit trees and vines growing inside and around their enclosure. A family friend gave my sister six bantams. My sister wanted the bantams to free-range, since they barely left the compost pile when they first arrived. Dad warned her that they would be picked off by something if left to free range – a snake, a fox, a goanna, cats, dogs, birds of prey. He also didn’t want them trashing his veggie patch. But she insisted free ranging was the best life for the bantams. Dad obliged, to teach her a lesson. He did that sort of thing. The next day they were gone. All six. In her grief my sister ran away from home. Dad found her sleeping that same night, in the chook pen with the Australorps.
One day, an Australorps stopped laying. Dad decided it was time for chicken soup. We hadn’t given our chooks names, but we all said, “No, Daddy,” nonetheless. Dad went ahead and killed her. We stubbornly hid in the house while he chopped off her head and plucked her feathers, just like he’d done as a kid growing up in the high lands of Guyra, NSW. He made chicken soup out of her, and we refused to eat it. He never killed another chicken after that.
In the middle of the chook yard were two mulberry trees, one black, one white. You have to be keen and generous when planting mulberries because they can take up ten years to produce fruit. When you own your house, you can wait. Dad planted them when I was a toddler. Those two mulberry trees provided summer shade, cool temperatures, and a vitamin-and-mineral packed stained fermenting mess around their dripline for the chooks, who, in turn, gave us purple eggs. Only yoking - they were big and orange.
Birds, possums, and flying foxes enjoyed the mulberries too but there was still plenty left over for smearing our faces, mouths and tongues with sweet purple fun, and to make jam and mulberry pies with. In winter the trees shed their yellow leaves to allow the sun’s warmth to warm the chook yard. It was the boring, less-sweet white mulberry, the fattest of the mulberries, that fascinated me most. It had silkworms that would wrap themselves inside a single strand of silk, weaving it around and around for an entire kilometre. They emerged as moths hunting for a mate with a lovely big bum to join with theirs during mating, after which the female lays 300-500 eggs, then dies. Meanwhile, the male would fly off in search of another bum to hitch up to. Orb spiders loved the mulberry tree too, for the fruit flies. They wove ornate, suspended, sticky, wheel-shaped webs which sparkled in the morning dew as the sunlight refracted through them.
The chook yard ended at a rocky outcrop: the only place Dad couldn’t grow anything. It had a sort of spiritual presence, reminding us that we live on a rock of a planet with maybe a meter of topsoil sustaining life—a thin layer that can take a thousand years to form. I’d grind different-coloured sandstone into powder, smearing it on myself as “paint.” I’d sit there in my make-believe dome, surround by the smells of things growing, and soil turning, and compost brewing, and watch Dad enter his quasi-religious state of oneness with his vegetables.
We had apple trees we never ate from because fruit flies always got to them first, leaving their wriggling offspring inside. We’d toss the worm free bits into apple and choko pies. There were peach trees we could eat—big, yellow, and peachy—along with plum trees for jam. My favourite was our passionfruit vine growing over the chook year fence. Few fresh fruit eating experiences were as sensorial as exploring the passionfruit. Putting a whole passionfruit between your teeth so the little flesh bound seeds oozed into your mouth with a slurpy, squeezy splat. Like sweet caviar. Each passionfruit was a surprise, depending on how ripe it was, where it was sitting on the vine, and its size. Somehow, slicing them open to see how full of pulp they were and licking the top to see if it was that special perfect sweetness, was just not as much fun as the surprise amuse bouche explosion method.
Southwest of the rocky outcrop were Dad’s four compost bays, standing beside the cracker-night fire pile and a towering mound of mushroom compost. Dad would buy spent mushroom compost and portobello mushrooms, gather spores by slicing off the tops, and bury them back in the compost to keep it dark. We were never short of mushrooms: fried mushrooms for weekend breakfast; raw finely chopped button mushrooms in a vinaigrette dressing for dinner, mushrooms in the beef stroganoff; and raw whole mushrooms in our lunchboxes and for afternoon tea when we came home from school.
Dad was a master composter. While I spent weekends playing netball, he’d drive to Wallacia to collect cow manure from local cattle farms. He maintained two types of compost bays: a two-bay “rapid” system, which he meticulously layered and turned daily—aiming for that Goldilocks temperature between 50 and 70°C—and a “lazy” bay for garden waste left to decompose at its own pace, often sprouting pumpkin vines on top. In winter, you could see steam rising off his rapid compost each time he turned it. His soil was loose, aerated, crumbly, and well-drained.
He rotated his vegetable garden season after season, to prevent diseases from settling in the same spot. There were six large, bricked beds, which might seem small, but produced more than enough to feed us year-round once we froze the surplus. Tomatoes, capsicums, beetroots, silverbeet, onions, carrots, beans, peas, broad beans, cabbages, zucchinis, pumpkins, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, parsley, and cucumbers thrived there. They fit the “meat and three veg” narrative of the 1970s. In summer, after school, we’d pick our afternoon snacks right off the stalk or vine before raiding Mum’s kitchen for something sweet. There was nothing like yanking out a crisp carrot, biting into a sun-ripened tomato, or sinking or teeth into a newly plucked cucumber or capsicum. Our lunch boxes were always full of sweet, crunchy garden veggies—alongside those revolting defrosted sandwiches Mum pre-made every Sunday.
Just outside the back door, we had a patch of strawberries. They never lasted long enough to become jam; we devoured them all—warm from the sun and impossible to resist. Nearby was a vacant block smothered in blackberries and raspberries, which we harvested for jam too. Asparagus also flourished there, presumably planted by Dad, since it’s not native to Australia. It was all free food, thriving perennially with no weeding or bed-turning. I missed the gooseberries our house extension had replaced, so we got them going on that vacant lot as well—until one day it was sold and built on, confining us to our own block, like a country that’s finally run out of space.
Mum and Dad’s gardens were as divided as men and women were in the 1970's, back when women were banned from entering a pub. Mum’s domain was the front of the house which tapered into three terraced levels, each bordered with vibrant flower beds. The middle yard belonged to us kids - a playground for netball, slip and slide, badminton, and totem tennis. All three lawns were infested with invasive spikey South American bindies, the bane of Australian bare foot lawn fun. Bindies had to be pulled out by hand, one by one, and the grass kept short. We didn’t have self-driving mowers then, so it was hard work labouring the heavy push mowers through summer grass growing at a speed almost visible. It fell upon both my sister and I to either mow or rake up the grass then haul it out back to Dad’s compost piles. A task neither of us embraced and both of us whinged vociferously about.
Mums flower beds were Dutch perfect and neatly planted with seasonal European blooms: tulips, fragrant roses, carnations, pansies, snap dragons, chrysanthemums, and poppies. Good thing bees can fly up to ten kilometres to find nectar. Anything Dad needed pollinating in his vegetable garden relied on the bees making a little detour over the roof. These days, you would intersperse flowers with vegetables, inviting the pollinators right into the thick of the produce.
The scent of Mum’s flowers mingled with the crisp smell of early morning dew in spring and summer, and the earthy aroma of the Aussie spring bush was an unforgettable sensorial experience. The essence of her garden wafted into my bedroom in the morning through the open windows. Mums mostly sprayed a chemical on her roses to kill aphids.
Everything in Dad’s veggie garden and Mum’s flower beds, grew large and flawless. I don’t remember seeing a single weed there. His vegetables were perfect, partly because he tended them methodically, and partly because he used some chemicals to hold back insects, fungi, and rodents. The 1970's were awash in toxic agricultural chemicals, and backyard gardeners used them too. Mum used something nasty on her roses to keep aphids at bay. Dad mainly relied on pesticides like mouse and rat bait, snail and slug powders he scattered around the beds rather than in them. He also set out pots of beer (his own home-brew) to trap slugs, which he then fed to the chooks. He had a pellet gun to scare off hungry birds—though I never saw him use it—and he brushed his tomatoes with tomato dust, which kills bees but made for very few blighted tomatoes but enough rotten ones for messy summer tomato fights before a thorough hosing down.
When Rachel Carson’s 'Silent Spring' arrived on our bookshelf wedged between the Funk and Wagnalls encyclopedia set and the Kama Sutra, Dad stopped using any chemicals in his garden. He was educated and trusted science, and Carson’s documentation of how pesticides like DDT harmed birds, fish, and other wildlife had a profound effect on him. By illustrating how chemicals led to reproductive failures in many bird populations—ultimately risking a “silent spring” devoid of birdsong—Carson spotlighted the alarming chain reactions unleashed by toxins introduced into the environment.
The history of pesticide usage dates as far back as humans first growing food and can be loosely divided into three eras. Before the 1870's, farmers used natural compounds such as sulphur, mercury, arsenic, and pyrethrum derived from chrysanthemum flowers. They also smoked fields, burnt stubble, or applied animal fats and manure slurries to keep insects and rodents at bay. Between 1870 and 1945, inorganic synthetic materials entered the scene, including copper-based compounds and the Bordeaux mixture, a blend of copper sulphate, lime, and water. After 1945, modern synthetic pesticides—like DDT—exploded onto the agricultural landscape, revolutionising food production but also cementing reliance on potent chemicals to maintain yields.
Pesticides are inherently complex in their design and impact. They encompass everything from herbicides and insecticides to fungicides and rodenticides, each targeting pests differently. There are more than one thousand different pesticides being spread across our earth at any one time. It is tricky business trying to understand these chemicals and their application in farming. A farmer would almost need a degree in chemistry and ecology to not only work out which chemical to use for which crop, at what stage, and when, but to understand their pathways into the ecosystem. Manufacturers categorise these chemicals according to selectivity (which species they target), persistence in the environment, duration of impact in the oil, means of uptake (whether it is absorbed by above-ground foliage only, through the roots, or by other means), mechanism of action (MOA -how it works), and its intended outcome. MOA indicates the first enzyme, protein, or biochemical step affected in the plant following application.
Then the farmer is supposed to calculate climatic factors affecting absorption including humidity, light, rain, wind direction, and temperature - with timing being essential before cropping. Or they can pay an expensive agricultural adviser, so they don’t get it wrong, because getting it wrong results in spray drift onto neighbouring properties, and into ecosystems, killing unintended species, or killing the very crops they were protecting. And it encourages pest resistance, triggering more aggressive chemical use, bringing in a downward spiral of more and more chemicals being splashed across the land because like drug addiction, higher and higher potency is required to have an effect – until the host is killed. In this case, planet earth.
Like so many useful civilian toys, synthetic agrochemicals were first developed by the arms industry to murder humans in large numbers. Although the 1925 Geneva Protocol banned the use of chemical and biological weapons in warfare, it did not forbid their development or stockpiling. During World War II, the British company Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) invented 2,4-D while researching ways to kill people, crops, and trees. Although the compound was not used in combat during WWII, it was later tested during the Malayan Emergency, where 2,4-D and other herbicides—including Agent Orange—were unleashed to deprive enemy forces of vegetation cover. The ensuing dioxin contamination officially caused over 10,000 cases of poisoning, as well as severe environmental damage. The Britain set a precedent for the USA to dump nearly 20 million gallons of the Agent Orange over 3.1 million hectares of precious, biodiverse rich, tropical rain forests and farmland in Vietnam, causing ecological devastation and long-term health crises for millions of people exposed to tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). 
Above: In addition to dropping agent orange on Malayan, the British had the habit of beheading Malayans into submission
Up to four million people were exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War: as many as three million suffering illnesses, with up to one million with disabilities or health issues linked to the chemical. A class-action lawsuit on behalf of 2.4 million American war veterans exposed to Agent Orange, saw the seven large chemical companies that produce Agent Orange pay $180 million in compensation to US veterans, or their children for the health impacts and the lives lost resulting from chemical contamination. Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians all suffered far worse medical exposure than the Americas since they were the ones dump onto, with horrific birth defects of the limbs, organs, and nervous system, and high rates of miscarriages. They are still fighting for compensation.
Above: The US dropping Agent Orange on rivers and their verges and Vietnamese tropical rainforests
Despite its grim wartime origins, 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) revolutionised agriculture by selectively eliminating broadleaf weeds in cereals like wheat and maize. It remains, even today, one of Australia’s most heavily used herbicides. Over time, however, concerns about its drift potential and harm to non-target species have led regulators to suspend certain label approvals and issue stricter usage guidelines.
Above: Victims of pesticide contamination by Agent Orange, Vietnam.
Another key chemical, glyphosate (commonly known as Roundup and Zero), has been adopted with gay abandon by everyone from councils and national parks, through the agroindustry to the family farmer, and from the homeowner to the gardeners they employ, since its introduction in 1974. Roundup is a chemical non-selective herbicide that targets plants by inhibiting a specific enzyme essential for plant growth. Glyphosate doesn’t discriminate. It kills everything it comes in contact with. Glyphosate’s overuse has led to resistant weeds, affecting soybean, cotton, and corn farms in the U.S., where herbicide resistance now affects up to 89% of certain weed families. This mirrors the Australian experience, where ryegrass developed resistance to herbicides like Hoegrass within a decade, forcing reliance on fewer effective options.
Though convenient, glyphosate has also raised issues of biodiversity loss and likely carcinogenicity. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans,” resulting in high-profile lawsuits, including a landmark case ordering Monsanto (later Bayer AG) to pay $289 million to a groundskeeper suffering from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. An Australian class action, lead by a former Council employee who, along with 700 other complainants, believes he contracted non-Hodgkin's lymphoma while working with Roundup for over 10 years, failed however. The matter was dismissed by Justice Michael Lee on the grounds of insufficient evidence. Glyphosate accounts for about 25% of all chemical sales in Australia. Like bees which are addicted to the very pesticides that are killing them, so too are we Australians, addicted to Roundup.
The the US Centre for Disease Control found more than 80% of 2310 urine samples drawn from children and adults contained detectible traces of glyphosate. An NZ study found 96% of farmers did too, and 8% of the general population does. The Australian Pesticide and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) regulate chemicals coming onto our market. It seems practically averse to reneging on previously approved chemicals like glyphosate, despite updated evidence. In Europe, more than 70 chemicals are banned that we still use in Australia, because we now look to reckless, profits-before-people America, for guidance, instead of Europe, whom we used to follow suit on sentient issues representing a risk to people and planet. And we can trust the Australian Nationals/ Liberal Party Coalition to have a policy of fast tracking approvals for domestic pesticides and herbicides for use in the household, where home gardeners are notorious for over spraying. France has banned the use of pesticides and herbicides in households and public spaces altogether, due to the massive decline in bee numbers, aiming for a 50% cut in agricultural and home use of these toxic chemicals by 2025. Australia should follow suit and we should demand our representatives give this issue the attention it needs. In case you wonder why all the worry about bees. The majority of the world's food supply depends on pollinators, like bees. Although some cereals are not dependant on them at all - but who wants to eat only cereals day in day out.
The overarching and ongoing environmental and health implications of pesticide use today echo Carson’s concerns 62 years ago. Pesticides linger in soil and waterways, contaminating and bioaccumulating in food chains, affecting organisms far removed from farmland and giving us humans illnesses, including birth defects and cancer. Atrazine, for example, disrupts aquatic ecosystems by demasculinising amphibians, while neonicotinoids are suspected in the decline of essential pollinators such as bees. Human health impacts range from skin irritation and nervous system damage to hormone disruption, cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, and serious birth defects. The World Health Organisation estimates around three million cases of severe pesticide poisoning occur every year. In areas with limited healthcare infrastructure and regulation, such as parts of Latin America and East Africa, a staggering proportion of poisonings go unreported. In the west, and apart from funding their own studies, the all-powerful billion-dollar chemical industry has honed their argument down to the mantra of there being no evidence their chemicals cause cancer, and that cancer is caused by other lifestyle factors. Besides, big agribusiness has 10 billion humans and rising to feed, so let’s not rock the boat.
Finding safer alternatives to chemical herbicides remains both a scientific challenge and an economic imperative. Cultivation practices, such as rotating crops or adopting polyculture, can naturally reduce pest pressures. Some farmers use compost to enrich soil, boosting yields while cutting down on nematodes. Biological controls—like introducing natural predators or sterilising male insects—help too, but these solutions can be expensive and are often species-specific. Natural herbicides (vinegar-based sprays, citrus oil derivatives, corn gluten meal) and mechanical methods (manual weeding, steam and flame treatment) also work, though they can be time-consuming and less profitable for large-scale operations. Genetic engineering, meanwhile, has attracted both funding and controversy, as genetically modified varieties that resist certain chemicals lock farmers into reliance on seeds and products produced by the same corporate interests - and the market is in no mood for US driven genetically modified food.
Ultimately, the question of who decides to pour these chemicals onto the land—and into shared ecosystems—is inappropriately a matter of governance and personal ethics. Eighty percent of the world’s farms are family-owned, yet big agribusiness, local councils, and large-scale farm owners often drive decision-making. Although some farmers see themselves as custodians of the land, many prioritise short-term yields or cost savings, resisting reductions in pesticide use until problems—like weed resistance—arise on their own property. The global market for pesticides is worth over $52 billion, but the broader costs, such as public health burdens and environmental degradation, add up to billions more each year. Recent French research even suggests that pesticides “cost double the amount they yield” once medical care, cleanup, and soil restoration are accounted for.
The prevalence of pesticide use, especially in regions where legislation and enforcement lack, underscores why Rachel Carson’s central message remains relevant: there is no free ride when it comes to blanketing ecosystems in toxic chemicals. A collective shift toward Integrated Pest Management, organic farming, and more sustainable practices is urgently needed if we are to safeguard biodiversity, public health, and soil fertility for future generations. A deeply rooted re-examination of our relationship with the land—as stewards rather than conquerors—would honour the planet’s capacity to renew itself when given the chance.
Only two percentage of farms globally are organic. We have a long way to go. While education is helpful, it needs to be matched with legislative reforms to regulate chemical use and phase in organic farm practices. Companies in Australia like Bunnings and Flower Power can just refuse to stock anything but organic pest and weed control products. The consumer must also understand that not every piece of fruit and vegetable grows perfectly shaped in nature. Learning to be content with the tastier, but sometimes less perfect, sometimes oddly shaped, produce that organic farming provides, I also up to us.
Global Events in October and November 1977
The months of October and November in 1977 were marked by significant political upheavals, acts of terrorism, and notable developments around the world. Hijackings are all the rage as are kidnappings and political 'suicides'. And lots of planes crashed all over the world, killing hundreds of people.
Hanns Martin Schleyer, West German Employers Association President, was kidnapped in Cologne, kidnappers killed police officers and his chauffeur while at it. They demanded the release of 14 Red Army Faction prisoners in return for Schleyer's safe return. The prisoners were not returned and Schleyer was murdered. Then, Lufthansa Flight 181 was hijacked by four members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). After departing Palma de Mallorca on its way to Frankfurt, the plane was diverted multiple times, with stops in Rome, Larnaca, Beirut, Damascus, Baghdad, and Bahrain. The hijackers demanded the release of 11 members of the Red Army Faction, a German left-wing terrorist group. The flight eventually ended with a dramatic rescue by the German special operations team in Mogadishu, Somalia, where three of the hijackers were killed, and all hostages were safely freed.
Three members of the Red Army Faction (RAF) were subsequently found dead in their prison cells West Germany, shortly after the failure of the Lufthansa hijacking. Police said it was a simultaneous suicide by gunshot wounds to the head for two members, and hanging with an electric cord from a record player of a third woman. One member survived her self-stab. The Red Army Faction kidnapped and murdered industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer, in revenge.
Meanwhile, in Vietnam, a group of four hijackers seized Vietnam Airlines Flight 509. They were members of the Montagnard ethnic group and sought asylum in the United States. Montagnards supported the US invasion of Vietnam. Their hijacking, which led to the deaths of two crew members and a flight attendant, ended when they were refused asylum in Thailand and ultimately surrendered to 13 years jail in Singapore.
In the Netherlands, kidnappers were paid the equivalent of $4 million dollars to release Dutch real estate tycoon Maurits Caransa, five days after his kidnapping. Just lazy men wanting fast money.
Majority colonial rule in Rhodesia is on its way out. The Selous Scouts, special forces branch of the minority ruling Rhodesian Army, carried out the first biochemical warfare assassinations with "poisoned jeans", against four members of the Zimbawe African National Liberation Union whose aim was to overthrow the Rhodesian government and establish majority rule in the country. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ian Smith muttered something about "one man, one vote" - with restrictions - but nothing was stopping this train.
In Yemen, Lieutenant Colonel Ibrahim al-Hamdi, the president of the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen), was assassinated just days before a planned visit to South Yemen to discuss reunification. The US opposed Yemeni armed forces Chief of Staff, Colonel Ahmed al-Ghashimi, took control of the country.
In Bangladesh, a military coup led by President Ziaur Rahman ordered a mass execution of over a thousand military personnel accused of participating in a mutiny against Rahman. Rahman’s had come to power following a 1975 coup that ousted the country's founder, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Thailand’s Prime Minister was also overthrown in a bloodless military coup.
In Ecuador, the Aztra massacre saw more than 100 striking workers killed by local police when they attempted to occupy a sugar mill in La Troncal, on labour issues like better working conditions, higher wages, and improvements in labour rights – principles the United States opposed. In evidence, the USA withdrew its membership in the International Labour Organization (ILO) on November 1, in regard to workers’ rights, marking the first time that the U.S. had withdrawn from a United Nations agency since the founding of the UN in 1945. The USA did this under the leadership of President Carter who just a few weeks earlier bought in legislation and housing programs to support community and affordable housing and bringing in the US Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 was signed into law by U.S. President Jimmy Carter, subsidising US farms. Cognitive dissonance at its’ finest.
The US and Panama sign two treaties to hand over control of the Panama Canal to Panama on December 31, 1999.
The largest ship going through the Panama Canal
The USSR launched Salyut 6 Space Station which would host 16 different astronaut crews over six years. Soviet Union leader Leonid Brezhnev also announced of the Interkosmos program, which allowed citizens from other nations to join Soviet cosmonauts on space missions. An asteroid came 3 times closer to us than the moon currently is, but we didn't find out until 2022.
Leonid Brezhnev
A judge in Wisconsin, USA, was overwhelmingly removed from office by after making remarks justifying the rape of a girl because of the clothes that she was wearing.
On the environment front, Ernst Friedrich Schumacher, the great German-born British economist and statistician, known for the Buddhist economic theory and his seminal book, Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered, died of a heart attack at 66 while on a lecture tour. First publish in 1973, Small is Beautiful: critiques the prevailing economic systems, particularly the focus on endless growth, industrialisation, and large-scale development, and advocates for a more sustainable, human-centered approach to economics. Small is Beautiful contributed to the development of Green economics and the appropriate technology movement and was ranked one of the 100 most influential books published since World War 11.
The Huaorani or Auca Indians killed three oil prospectors with "twenty poison-tipped spears". The victims were employed by the French Geophysical General Company.
Allied Chemical Company and state of Virginia settle lawsuit over extensive Kepone contamination of James River for $5 million. The settlement also included the establishment of the Virginia Environmental Endowment with an $8-million contribution.
And The Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage, signed on May 21, 1963, went into effect to govern liability in signatory nations for damages in case of a nuclear accident.
Australian Events in October and November 197
An employee of Air India’s Melbourne office is stabbed, allegedly by someone from the Indian sect, Ananda Marga-affiliated Universal Proutist Revolutionary Federation, the same organisation that stabbed an Indian Diplomat and his wife a month earlier in Canberra, and by whom the bombing of the Hilton Hotel during a Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting would occur a year later. PROUT claimed they sought to create an equitable and just society by balancing material prosperity and spiritual well-being, promoting decentralised planning, ecological balance and ensuring the welfare of all beings – through violence it would seem, just like everyone else around the world in the 70’s.
PROUT logo and Ananda Marga founder Prabhat Rnjan Sarka
Florence Broadhurst a 78-year-old Australian landscape artist and wallpaper entrepreneur, was beaten to death in her home in Paddington, New South Wales. Her murder was never solved and most likely, he is still out there. Fess up you murderous pig.
On issues less important to our nation, the first State of Origin game was played in Australian rules football. Western Australia defeated Victoria by a large margin. The first championship game of Australia’s National Soccer League was also played - at Brisbane in Queensland for the NSL Cup, ending in a 1—1 draw. In motorboat racing, Australian racer Ken Warby set a new water speed record, reaching an incredible 288.60 miles per hour.
Diary Entries September and October 1977
Anyway: there’s lots of sports as usual – bushwalking, a fun run, rowing, area athletics, abseiling. I get my shirt caught in the carabiner and I trip down the stairs at our annual netball presentations. Am getting heavily into squash now and play at every opportunity. Dad is clamping down on me going out, finding any excuse to stop me. I’m trying to butter him up, so he’ll let me go to an upcoming dance in a black jumpsuit suit which he won’t let me wear. The boy from the Jesmond athletic meets writes me love letter and I can’t believe what he writes about me. And I am being courted by a senior at school. We see my Aunties off back to Holland and take up the entire airport bar with our friends and relatives, which is where we meet someone called Jan at the airport. She said she used to own a modelling agency almost as big as June Dally Watkins (but I couldn’t find any reference to her in the 1970's) She told me I should go for air hostessing after school. But I get my first modelling job for a boutique called Hot Chocolate and the night is fraught with lots of panic - and suddenly I am acutely aware of my weight. I finally get a Thursday night, Saturday morning, and school holiday, check-out-chick job now that I have turned sweet 16. At Safeways, I’m convinced I’m going to get the sack. Safeways is having a company ball. Our parents tell us we are too young to wear long dresses and go to company balls. My mother has gone to Holland for a few months. She says she’ll be back at Christmas. I am in charge of cooking and cleaning, of course. Being the eldest.
Radio Birdman play at our Springwood community hall dance. They are considered Australia's first and most influential punk rock band. But I was 16, hated punk and thought they were "really disgusting". Sorry about that Radio Birdman. We were lucky to have you. I was a Sweet fan then:-)
My mother has gone to Holland for a few months. She says she’ll be back at Christmas. I am in charge of cooking and cleaning, of course. Being the eldest.
Thursday September 1 – In the end, everyone got the shits
Today, Mum, and my sister and I went to Penrith to do some shopping. It was OK at first. I didn’t mind at all being with Mum, but my sister was a thorough pain. I just got so mad with her, that in the end everyone got the shits. We bought Dad a beanbag and Jenny and I went halves in a $10 shirt. Mum bought Dad whisky, gin, vermouth and red wine for Father’s Day. It’s raining and absolutely awful weather. That’s all I have to say.
Seeya.
Friday September 2 - Went to see A Bridge Too Far
Today, Julie, Monica, and I went to see A Bridge Too Far. It was OK. A bit hard to follow through. There was spunk there with his tiny little sister. He was also at the station. He looked passive. He wasn’t all that much of a spunk, but there was something about him I liked. On Sunday Julie and I are going on a fun run from Glenbrook to Euroka. It should be good. I have a funny feeling though we won’t be going. Don’t ask me why. I can just feel it. We were supposed to go to Luna Park today, but it was raining so we didn’t. Seeya.
Saturday September 3 - Today I Played Squash
Seeya
Sunday September 4 - All I did today was look through magazines and find all these diet things
Today was Daddy’s Day. Whoopee. All I did today was look through magazines and find all these diet things and some interesting articles. I cooked Dad a very nice dinner and he gave me a kiss on the forehead – well one step better in our relationship. I hope things go well from now on and I don’t make any more stupid mistakes and balls everything up again. He said he’d have another look at my black suit, but I doubt that will make any difference because he’s already made his mind up and nothing will change it. There’s always that ray of hope. Though. What a damn bloody shame. My nicest bloody outfit and I have to get rid of it. – the cheapest too! Oh, please diary, hope with me that I can keep it. Well must go. Seeya
Monday September 5 - He says I was voted unanimously by the guys at the school, the most beautiful girl in the school
I just got a letter from Mark Bray! Wow it was a beautiful letter. Never have I ever had such a beautiful letter. I didn’t think he liked me very much but you should have seen the things he wrote. He says I was voted unanimously by the guys at the school, the most beautiful girl in the school. Imagine me – the most beautiful girl in the school – ha! What a laugh. He said he’s always thinking about me, and that he’d never seen a more beautiful girl before – obviously he hasn’t seen many girls. He reckons he will see me again and all this other stuff I couldn’t believe it. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He couldn’t. I mean just look at me. The only time I look any good is when I’m all dressed up to go out and even then, it’s with great difficulty. But all the same I loved his letter; I feel so happy that he felt that way about me. He said I’m “a unique person – beautiful on the outside and within – very rare!” Oh Diary, how I wish I it were true. Oh, how I wish it were true. Gees, I wonder where he got that idea from. Seeya
Tuesday September 6 - Went to that Rock movie today. Watched the first one about surfers but we got bored and left.
Wednesday September 7 - It rained today so we did nothing.
Thursday September 8 - Went on the big dipper 3 times
Went to Luna Park today with Julie, Monica and Jenny. Caught the train in. It wasn’t much fun. Went on the big dipper 3 times. It was really good. There was a guy there that was the spitting image of Mark Bray. I couldn’t keep my eyes off him. His girlfriend was giving me filthy looks. Seeya.
Friday September 9 - I went to Julie’s place and did nothing. Paid for the Fun Run. I can’t wait.
Saturday September 10 - Tomorrows the fun run. I can’t wait
Today I played squash. Julie came but she didn’t play so she kept hurrying me up and telling me to have the sauna and it was only 10 o’clock. We stayed in the sauna till 12.30. I lost 1 or 2 lbs, but Julie came back to my place and we ate and ate and ate and now I’m bloated twice the size. God I'm fat. It’s not going to go away either. Tomorrows the fun run. I can’t wait. It should be good. Seeya
Sunday Sept 11 – today was the fun run.
Well today was the fun run I was so looking forward to it and guess bloody what? My friend was sick. When we got to the station there were millions of people everywhere – guys of all sorts, especially SPUNKS! I was really looking forward to this day and we all lined up, and this hoota thing went off and so did everyone else. You should have seen it, it was great! We stopped running about halfway up a massive hill on the other side and then we stopped only a couple more times. When we were coming to the finish line, I was overtaking these ladies and the whole crowd was cheering and I got congratulations for coming in about the first 15%. Dumb eh. But I really enjoyed the run.
After we’d rested, I looked around and saw quite a few people I knew. I went to the loo and fixed myself up. I got quite a few looks especially from this particular group. We were lying down and this guy asked if we put our forms into Blaxland East. We said yes. He said good cause he said the guy in the bush told him we needed a lift and he said he’d give us a lift back up. We said ok. Then this real fat dickhead came up and said, “Do you mind if I sit here?”
Julie said, “Yes, we do.”
He said, “What’s your name?”
She said, “None of your business,” and walked off, leaving me alone with the creep.
Then he said, “Your name wouldn’t happen to be Petra Campbell?” (and he knew damn well it was).
Then he went on about how he was riffing with someone and said, “Do you know that girl?”
They said, “Yes, that’s Petra Campbell.”
He asked, “Do you have any boyfriends?”
I said, “Yes.”
He said, “John Robinson?”
I said, “No.”
He said, “Phillip Spicer?”
I said, “No, no-one like that.”
Then I said, “I’d better go and see what’s up with Julie,” and walked off.
Euroka
Then Julie said she wanted to go home. Then about a quarter of an hour later she was sick and was going to go home, and I couldn’t let her go by herself even though I really wanted to stay. On the way back some guy who’d been staring at us all morning came driving on his motor bike and offered us a lift, so Julie got on and he came back for me, but I was walking, and he said, “oh okay” and drove off. When I was almost at the station this old lady offered me a lift, and on our way, we picked up Julie. She dropped us off at the station. Goodbye.
Monday September 12 - Well Back to School
Well back to school. What fun. It’s horrible but there’s only two and half more months so I think I can survive. It was quite long and boring today and there was nothing exciting that happened that I could tell you about so I’ll say bye bye……Oh gee whiz the pen wouldn’t work so all I could say was one bye, but now I’ll say it again, bye bye. I don’t think my pen wants to say bye bye.
Thursday September 13 - Came Home Half a Day Today Cause I Was Sick
I came home half a day today cause I was sick – excitement! Because of me being sick, Mum and Dad had a pretty big fight. Dad reckons Mum should have come home earlier to see how sick I was – and I know I wasn’t that sick!
Wednesday Sept 14 - Had Our Grade Finals Today and We Won 33-21
Had our grade finals today and we won 33-21. Not bad eh. I went to Penrith afterwards and got stirred by all St Doms. It was embarrassing. Dave ( Foo – the Chinese friend), and I met up with Peter Zeglis, and he talked to me and sat next to me on the train. And told me that Foo likes me and often when Foo is at Peter’s place, he says he wishes I was there. Well time to go. Bye Bye. Tomorrows my birthday. I’ll be 16. WOW.
Thursday September 15 – It was my birthday today and wow was it boring.
Happy Birthday to me.
Well it was my birthday today and wow was it boring. Mum gave me $40.00 in a card. Jenny gave me $2 and Dada gave me $20.00. Mum also gave me some hair conditioner, and mascara. When I came home, Mum had this sponge cake – just what I didn’t want – and I devoured most of it. For tea we went to Singapore Hut because I wanted to go to a Chinese restaurant with Dad as well, but we didn’t go to a Chinese restaurant. The Singapore Hut was bloody awful. The only thing that tasted any good was the salad with peanuts butter dressing, and kebabs. We had to wait for years for UGH. Mandy Tait was there and working and she dropped all these plates. Gees my birthday was bad. I think the worst birthday I’ve had so far. I wanted something to happen, but it didn’t. I was very, very, bored and upset. Seeya.
Friday September . SWEET? 16. Went To Area Athletics Today.
Went to area athletics today. Went down by bus. It was quite good. I thought I was only reserve, but I had to run, and we came last. I had to wear this massive T shirt which came just over my Bum and I was getting whistles and looks galore. Just before I was running, some guys said they liked me, and wanted my name and school etc. I didn’t see any spunks except a couple of Japanese or Island guys. And I really liked them. We had a tent put up and everyone was staring at it. But then so would I if somebody put a tent up on a sunny day at an athletics carnival. Our Nepean Zone won the carnival – yeah Nepean. Aren’t I stupid? I’ve been sitting here for about 10 minutes trying to think of something to write when all I have to do is sign off. ( arrow ) signing off. Seeya.
Saturday September 17 – Went To Squash Today.
I went to squash today and Greg Gull, Peter Zilks, Del Christie and some other guy was there, and I played squash with them. They were supposed to play competition against Mt Druitt, but they didn’t turn up. When there weren’t any courts available, we played D’Decker. Wasn’t that nice of them. I played with the squash man in pairs and we won every time and it was mostly my hand too. Then I had a sauna which was OK. I then went home. Seeya.
Sunday September 18 - Jan And Her Husband Used To Own A Modelling Business That Was As Big As June Dally Watkins Or Someone
Today we had visitors and gees they were nice people. We met them at the airport when we were saying goodbye to Gretje and Marthy. Jan had a present to give to Mum from Gretje and it was a really pretty necklace. Jan and her husband used to own a modelling business that was as big as June Dally Watkins or someone, and they were telling me all about it. At the end of the night they were taking all these photos and boy I look bad in all of them, except for maybe one where I look okay.
Jan says I should go for air hostessing. If they thought, I had any chance in modelling they would have said so and they didn’t so obviously I haven’t a hope. Their daughter Karen is really nice too. The whole family is a beautiful family. They gave me a free instamatic film and 10 flashes for my modelling night. Wasn’t that nice of them? Gees I ate a lot.
Monday September 19 - Boring old Monday. Seeya.
Tuesday September 20 - Went Abseiling today for enrichment course – it was fantastic fun. A bit scary at first, but after that it was great!
Wednesday September 21 - Guess What! I Got A Job!
Guess what! I got a job! Isn’t that fantastic! At Safeways. Thursday night and Saturday mornings, and hopefully the holidays. Dad actually let me have the day off and I went into Woollies first, but no, then into Knock and Kirby’s, and he let me fill out an official form, then to Coles but Wayland was off sick, then to Countdown and he put my name down, then to Franklins and some other place, but they turned me down, and then into red S and I got the job straight away.
Mr Melidew was really nice, really friendly, so I offered to get his lunch, and I was there for quite a while filling out official forms etc. Then they got me a uniform which was absolutely repulsive. Its 50 sizes too big and miles too long but they told me not to do anything to it. Pat, Sandra, Margaret and Debbie were really nice to me too. They’re all really nice so far. Helen Robson, Katrina Francis, and Allen work there too. Seeya.
Thursday September 22 - Bought a skirt, a comb, and some stockings.
Kate Jennings is working at Red S with me too. Thank goodness for that. I’m starting by myself. Went to Penrith. Bought a skirt, a comb, and some stockings.
Seeya
Friday September 23 - Did nothing today. Miserable day.
Saturday September 24 - Baby sat for Mr and Mrs Finn
Had a sauna today. Baby sat for Mr and Mrs Finn and Mum told Mr Finn I was eating as his place, but I was too full, so I tried to get out of it. He made me eat 2 boiled eggs and toast and then I had all these chocolates and put all that weight I’d lost in the sauna. I caused a bit of trouble about eating to Mrs Finn. I really ballsed it up. Oh well. That’s me all over.
Sunday September 25 - Did nothing today. Had a sauna. Washed my hair.
Monday September 26 - Well today was my first day and boy was it a disaster
Well today was my first day and boy was it a disaster. We had to read through all these papers. Beryl told us all this stuff and I can’t remember half of it. Then we had a go on the register and guess who was the lucky one to go first – yes me! ( Wasn’t I lucky). I made two wrong departments in about ten minutes. Then after we ’de added everything up I was $10.00 out. Boy was I almost hysterical. My first go and I’m almost $10 out. But then it was ok. Beryl had just added it up wrong. Beryl counted it and I wrote it down. When we were talking to Mr Melidew, Beryl, came up and said, “It’s alright you just added it up wrong”. I didn’t bloody do the adding! Gees I was mad cause she made me to look like the idiot when it was her. We gave Mr Melidew a birthday card and he asked for a birthday kiss so we ( Kate and I) gave him one. Gees he has soft skin. He’s really nice. I really like him. Went into Hot Chocolate and Julie got outfitted out, but I have to go back tomorrow.
Seeya.
Tuesday September 27 - Well Today Was Just As Bad.
Well today was just as bad . We were at the registers straight away and boy was I nervous. Altogether I made about 13 recorded mistakes. I had some fairly nice customers who bared with me cause they knew I was new, but others who didn’t know got a bit impatient. But most of them were nice. All I had to do was keep smiling, which proved difficult at times. At the end when pat added up my money, I was $10.00 short. Then she reckoned I was $120.00 short. Then after checking the money we found $10.00, but when it was recomputed, we were $30.00 short. My God! I couldn’t believe it. Gees I was upset. Then Margaret had a go at it, and it turned out to be $1.30 too much more than I should have had. How on earth did that happen? But I suppose that’s better than having $30.00 less. Pat did some checking in my drawer and things. No doubt she’ll report my untidiness. Went to Hot Chocolate. Got outfitted out. Some nice things. Some awful things. Only 3 more days. Boy am I scared. Got a letter form Mark. He sent a photo and school badge and his Luv. He liked my photos - UGH.
Wednesday 28 September - If They Grew Up A Bit, They’d Know Me Better.
Did rowing today but I didn’t get a go. This girl and all of them do it too and they were being really horrible about me right in front of me about the way I sit and were really saying horrible things. It’s not bloody fair. Gees I hate the way everybody’s so horrible to me. I haven’t done anything to anyone but they’re always doing things to me. Everywhere I go there’s someone talking about me or giving me filthy looks. It’s my fault though. The whole school couldn’t hate me and it’s their fault. It has to be mine but how can I change it? They say I love myself. They don’t look at themselves. What am I supposed to do anyway? Hate myself? If they grew up a bit they’d know me better. Seeya.
Thursday September 29 - I Just Know I’m Stacks Of Money Out
Well today was my first working Thursday at Red S and wow was it hectic. The bloomin train was late to start off with, and we were 15 minutes late. I wasn’t sure what to do on the checkout, so I was a bit confused. It was really really crowded and busy, and I made about 15 mistakes. I just know I’m stacks of money out. I had a guy called Steve packing for me and he was quite nice. I had a little chat with him. Then Paul Taylor came in and I nearly died. Mac also came in and I had a little chat with him. While I was working though. Mr Melidew kept his eye on me a lot and then he came and watched me, checked my till, and my 648 sheet, and made me really nervous. There are a couple of nice guys there, but I’m too interested in concentrating on my work. Finally, the night was over, and I went and got changed and forgot to sign off. I also left my uniform and papers there, and I absolutely know I’ll get the sack before my time is up. Seeya.
September 30 – THE 30th. My First Modelling Job
Well today was the big day and wow what a day I had. I didn’t go to school today. Thank goodness. I had an appointment at 12 with the dentist to have my teeth cleaned which was really horrible. He put this fluoride junk on afterwards and I wasn’t allowed to have anything in my mouth at all. Even water. The taste was vile, and I felt really sick. After that I went to the hairdressers and got my hair done. I had to wait a while as there was lady next to me, who was doing this thing tonight as well. She was really nervous too, so I talked to her for a while. Then we were next to each other while having a rinse. And wash. The rinse is awful. I hate it. It’s a reddish colour. I hate red tints in hair. Then this lady (Dawn) cut my hair. Actually, she trimmed it. And blow waved it all back. After she finished, I thought I looked repulsive. It was too big and stiff. Mum really liked it though.
There was real young boy who works there. His name was Mark and my God was he a spunk. He’s a really good-looking boy. Yum! He walked like a poofta though. Anyway, I had to go next door to get my face done and the girl who was doing my face told me that he was a poofta. I couldn’t believe it! He is only 15 and looks about 18. And has a 38-year-old boyfriend. He lives with his parents and they know about him. Wow what a waste! I mean it’s a real waste. I almost forgot. While Dawn was doing my hair, she said “Mark’s looking good isn’t he”. I said, “Yeah, he’s really cute, has he got a girlfriend?” and she said, “As far as I know he hasn’t” and I said, ‘”He should have”, and she said, “I’ll drop a hint”. Oh, wow how stupid can you get. Fancy dropping a poofta a hint that a chick wouldn’t mind going out with him. Yes, well.
Anyway, the makeup looked really good. It really did, except she put a bright red lipstick on me. I took it off though. I wasn’t about to parade around Penrith with bright red lipstick on. It was bad enough being done up like I was. When we were walking through Penrith, I had my face down cause I didn’t want anyone to see me. Mums going, “pull your head up. You look ridiculous”. She said I looked beautiful and I should be proud to show my face. But I kept it down all the same. Gees I was getting stared at though. Especially by men. Even Mum said so.
We went and had coffee and Mum told everyone she talked to that I had this job for tonight. The fashion show. On the way home we went to Dawns because, “she’s coming too” and we stayed an hour. By this time, it was 6 O’clock. Mum put some glitter nail polish on my nails. When we got home it was in a mad rush, I got in the bath as quick as I got out or vice versa. Mum at first complained about what I was wearing but after she saw it, she didn’t object. Then mother did exactly what she always done when I’m in a hurry or going out – be a real bitch. She wouldn’t do anything for me. Because my feet were a bit dirty. She wouldn’t put nail polish on them. I just didn’t have the time. I was supposed to be there at 7 and we didn’t leave until 10 past 7.
I forgot to shave my legs and they were as hairy as ever. Then mother made me eat some chicken noodle soup when I just wasn’t hungry at all and I’d already eaten about 15 home-made biscuits - the day of all days to eat biscuits, it had to be today. And to top that off some lady from golf rang and she was on the phone for ten minutes and didn’t make any effort at all to hurry. Then she still had to get dressed! She had me crying. Wrecking all my makeup. Then we still had to pick up Dawn and, yes of course, we had to wait ten minutes for her. By the time I got there it was ¼ to 8. And I was supposed to be there at 7!
To the show I wore my new Indian shirt around my boobs, my white belt and shoes, white flower and white shawl. It looked quite effective. I met all the other girls who were really nice. One girl, Cheryl – she was really nice. She was 21 and has been married for 2 years. There was this other girl. She was really pretty only she was a real snob. Cathy was there. She’s married and in her 20’s. And other ladies, and an older lady. Plus, Julie and I. Julie’s hair looked really good. The fringe was turned under and looked like it had been twisted into tiny little plaits and the front bits tied back. It really suited her face. My hair was just all flicked back. So was everyone else’s.
Then we had to get into our first outfit and boy was I nervous. I had to go second so the only idea I had was after I watched Cheryll. So, then I went out. Ta da. I was a bit stiff at first. I went a bit too fast. Dawn and Mum were sitting up front. So, they could take photos. When I was being introduced, Jan said I was a customer and she conned me into it. She didn’t really though. I was glad to do it. The second time wasn’t as bad, I was getting a lot more relaxed . I could see as I was coming out people say, “oh that looks nice” or, “that really suits her”. After we’d done our rounds we had to race in and get changed and help everyone else. It was fantastic . Dawn kept taking photos and she also took one of Julie and this other lady.
Then we had a break. I got changed and went out and got something to eat. And boy did I get something to eat. I had two full servings of a plate absolutely jam packed with food. Then Julie got some more so I got her to get me some more. Curried eggs which were delicious. I must have had about 8 or 10 full eggs. Then we had to go in . Jan bought in more food and had more curried eggs and chicken salad. Then I had two helpings of fruit salad. And ice-cream. I still had the second half of the fashion show to go... while we were feasting. Mum, Dawn and this other 2 ladies gave me some compliments. Mum reckoned I was the best, but I reckoned that blond chick snob was.
When mum bought us some fruit salad, she told me Dad was here and all my nerves I had overcome came back. When I came out there were some people up the top section who laughed every time and all the other guys complained about it. So at least it wasn’t just me they were laughing at. There was a bit of confusion towards the end cause some of us didn’t have as many clothes as the other. I had 8 outfits.
Then we came to the end. Jackie the hairdresser was there, touching everyone up. For my last outfit I had this beautiful blue dress on that came over my shoulder to one side with a frilly blue trim and teared frills and a blue trim. With it I had a blue velvet choker, blue flower to the side and some flowers in my hair. Gee it looked nice. It was a beautiful dress.
Then we went out and Jan came in. We were thanking her, and everybody was congratulating each other and saying goodbye as we were getting changed. Then Jan said she was having another one in March. She’ll give us a ring. But I bet she doesn’t. It would be great though. The photo of the blue dress didn’t turn out because the first two photos stuck together so there wasn’t a photo film left. BUM. That was the photo I wanted. And it didn’t run out. Julie bought a pair of jeans and a caftan and we gave her a lift home. Gees I had a good time. I’d like to make a career out of it. I really would. Well Seeya. PS. I’m really glad I did it.
Top Single in September 1977
You're Moving Out Today: Carole Bayer Sager
October 1977
Saturday October 1 - I’m Definitely Going To Get The Sack Now
Today was my second time at Red S. It was a little better this time. I only made 6 mistakes until this lady stood hovering over me waiting for my money. I got real nervous and made two of them in one go. Someone must have told Mr Melidew that I was too slow cause he came up and showed me not to use two hands to look at the price and I felt real embarrassed. I didn’t complete my 648 sheet properly either. I also got told not to talk to the guys and to check bags so must have been listening to me over the mike without my knowing. I’m definitely going to get the sac now. Before I got on the checkout, Mr Melidew called to me to his office and I thought I was in real trouble. All he wanted was a cup of tea, Steve came in today and asked me how I was going. A lady who was at the fashion show last night came through my checkout and said I did a beautiful job last night. Cathy ( one of the models) came in too. Mr Melidew gave me a free watermelon, but it was rotten. Steve and Mac rang tonight.
Sunday October 2 - I Haven’t Had A Phone Call For Ages and When I Do, I Have To Hang Up.
Thank goodness it’s a long weekend. Boy am I tired. I sun-baked a bit today and tried to start my essay but there’s just too much to write about. It’s incredible. I’ve put on a lot of weight since Friday. Steve from work rang yesterday, and everything I said, Mum and Dad especially, kept commenting, then he made me hang up. God that gave me the pip. I haven’t had a phone call for ages and when I do, I have to hang up. Well that’s Daddy Dear for you. Seeya.
Monday October 3 - Fighting with Mum. It was such a beautiful day and she made me stay inside. Seeya.
Tuesday October 4 - Abseiled Today. It was more scary than last week, and it was the same cliff too, Seeya.
Wednesday October 5 - Rowing Today. I rowed for the first time and it was great fun. I thought we were going to fall out twice. Mac came and Steve and Dave and all their friends came and talked to me. I had pretty good fun today despite the dirty looks I was getting. Seeya
PS Dad collected my pay and I got $36.18 cents – not bad eh!
Thursday October 6m- I Got Above Average For Appearance And Attitude
Mr Melidew called me to his office today and he went over my progress report. It wasn’t as bad as I expected. I got above average for appearance and attitude etc. Average for cash handling and price calling. Below average for bag checking. He asked me how I was at checking bags. I said I was terrible, so he goes, “right, below average”. He gave me a really good comment. Something like I’ve done pretty well, and I show signs of a good cashier who always tries to do her best”. I had to sign it too.
For the 2nd week he ticked the same squares and says something like I’ve done pretty well for my first week, and implied that I shouldn’t have any worries – I hope not. I bet anything I get the sack! Mac came in and Steve said he was going to the dance tomorrow night, so I’ll see him there. Jan from hot Chocolate said I could keep the earrings. Seeya.
Friday October 7 – The Dance. Radio Birdman Were Really Disgusting.
Well, the Dance was really disgusting. Guess who turned up? Wain Bridge. I wore my skirt and jacket suit. Mr Quirk said he’d pick me up and an hour after he was supposed to, he still hadn’t come, so Dad arrived just in time and took me up. Just as I was getting out of the car I met up with Wain and Dave and Steve and said hello. Met JB inside. Mr Quirk apologised for forgetting me.
Radio Birdman were really disgusting. Wain and Rod from Coles were there. And they asked us to dance so we did. Then sat down again. This guy was a thorough pain in the rear. He bought me three cups of coffee and kept asking me if there was anything I wanted to eat. Wain, Dave, Steven and his teacher friend, and Paul Taylor and girlfriend Kim and company, sat with us. These two guys who were friends of theirs asked us to dance so we did but the music was so rotten I felt like a real idiot. Speaking of idiots. You should have seen the way Wain, Dave and Steve and company were dancing. Boy were they weird. But really good.
Talked to Steve Lyons and Craig Stratten who didn’t recognise me. He complimented me on how I’d changed for the better. Neil Woodward said I looked really nice. I got quite a lot of stares. This girl was trying to pick a fight with Maria Vella while I was talking to her. And I thought she was trying to pick a fight with me. She probably was as well because one of her boyfriend’s kept staring at me. The night finally – after dragging on for hours – ended and boy was I glad to get home. What a useless dance. Seeya.
Saturday October 8 – I Made A Fair Few Mistakes
Had to get up really early to go to work. Talk about tired. I made a fair few mistakes, but I wasn’t as nervous as usual. Caught the bus home. Did nothing this arvo. Scott from work is a real spunk. Unfortunately, he has a girlfriend. What a bummer eh. I waved to him anyway. Seeya.
Sunday October 9 - Sun-baked today.
Got down to 8 stone until I ate. Then I went up ¼ of a stone. Seeya
Monday October 10 - School today, how exciting. Wrote my essay finally. It’s taken me four weeks to write it. Seeya.
Tuesday October 11 - Abseiled Today and Wow Was It Scary
Abseiled today and wow was it scary. I got my shirt caught in the carabiner. Dean Leah came around today. I had a bloody curler in my hair. How embarrassing! I looked like something out of a horror movie too. We had a really good talk too. He reckons all the 6th form guys are scared of me and scared to come and talk to me. He said they see me as a Goddess. ME? GODDESS? He also reckons all the chicks are jealous and that when he asked people what I was like, the guys would say how beautiful I was, and the chicks would be really horrible, so he had to find out what I was like for himself. He is really nice. He promised to take me out after his first weeks’ pay when he starts work next year. Honest diary, I honestly don’t see what they all see in me. I’m horrible!
Wednesday October 12 – We Rowed.
God it was hot today. I mean really hot. We rowed but nothing exciting happened. Steve and them didn’t turn up. Seeya.
I nearly forgot, we had netball presentations today and we had to go on a stage. God, I hate those things. I won 2 banners, a necklace for umpiring, an engraved thing thanking me from my own team, and this engraved tray for coaching my little team. Michelle Goetze won best and fairest. As usual, everyone was being bitchy and horrible. Why does everyone have to do that. God it makes me sick! Something embarrassing happened, although I wasn’t really all that embarrassed. I tripped down the stairs on my shoes. I knew it would happen today. Oh well. Seeya.
Thursday October 13 - I Worked Today. I Was Really Nervous
I worked toady. I was really nervous. I don’t understand why. Steve packed for me. I asked Mr Melidew if he was going to sack us and he said no. I asked him about working after the school breaks up and he said he’ll probably put us on as casuals, so I probably won’t be working very much. That is, if I still have my job by then. Seeya.
Friday October 14 - Went To Vocational Guidance Today and He Was Real Useless
Went to vocational guidance today and he was real useless, so I didn’t learn anything at all. Went home and did homework. Went to the disco tonight. It was a bit useless, but I danced a lot. I had fun actually. Apart from the dirty looks I was getting from these girls and co. Steve Lyons turned up and I talked to him. He is still nice. He cut his hand pretty bad with a knife. And it was all bandaged. It was his right hand, and he’s left-handed. Robert Coollidge was there too. I danced with him. I danced with everybody. Julie had a pretty good time besides the fact that Grant didn’t turn up. Graham Stanton did though but she sort of had a nasty clash with him. Seeya.
Mrs Stephens told Julie that I had her wrapped around my little finger. That’s not true! How nice of Mrs Stephens to say that!
Saturday October 15 - I Got $4, Which Will Help Me Buy Stuff For My Little Netball Team’s Party
Worked today. Gees Scott is nice. He really is. I wish he didn’t have a girlfriend. I also wish I had the ability to get someone I want. Unfortunately, I’m a real dummy. And I can’t. Well, I didn’t get the sack – how about that! Baby sat for Mrs Mink tonight and stuffed myself as usual. I also had (well, quite a lot, of ham) sultanas, 3 vitamin C tablets and a weeny bit of cake. I got $4, which will help me buy stuff for my little netball team’s party. Well Seeya.
Sunday October 16 - I Have The Feeling
Well at this moment I’m in bed writing all about what’s been happening but somehow, I have the feeling someone is going to come in and tell me to get out of bed. Well, bye bye.
Monday October 17 - School – boring!
Tuesday October 18 - Abseiled – boring!
Wednesday October 19 - Rowed. It was boring. Seeya.
Thursday October 20 - Scott packed for me. Yum
Worked today. Scott packed for me. Yum. All these guys came into my checkout. Dave Ellis also came in. Seeya
Friday October 21 - I’m used to it now. That’s a lie. I’ll never be used to it
Went and Saw Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but I was too tired to watch or to enjoy it. Greg Gull told me to come and sit with him and Del and Marie (who hates my guts). But who cares, everybody does. I’m used to it now. That’s a lie. I’ll never be used to it. Seeya
Saturday October 22 - Had The Party For My Little Team Today
Had the party for my little team today. It went really well too. Julie bought me a little present – some soap. Wasn’t that sweet? There were stacks of food. I didn’t stop eating. You should have seen me. My God! Every time I ate something I’d feel disgusted with myself and eat more. Boy will I be fat. I could kill myself.! The party went really well. And they had a great time. Thank goodness. Seeya.
Of guess what! Red S is having a ball. I can’t wait. Hope I can go. xth Nov. What will I wear? I bet I don’t go. I just bet! Seeya.
Sunday October 23 - I Spent All Day Preparing Dinner
I spent all day preparing dinner for a whole bunch of people who turned up but weren’t staying for dinner. So, we had all that food left over. It always happens. Mr and Mrs Peters came, Mr and Mrs Hassle, Ryan and two other people, Mrs and Mrs Dukes and her daughter and boyfriend, Uncle John and Oma were here too. Boy it was a hectic day. Seeya.
Monday October 24 – “How Old Is Petra – 16 Going On 24”?
School today. It was terribly exciting as usual. God, I hate it. Wish I was leaving. Went to Penrith to have a look at long dresses. Mrs Cook gave us a lift down and she was being quite nasty. She kept telling us to wear something casual because we don’t need long dresses. Kate asked Karen what her Mum said after we got off and this is what she said:
“How old is Petra?”
“Same age as me”
“What, 16 going on 24?”
She kept telling us we were too young to go to a ball and all this, and it’s none of her business.
Seeya.
Tuesday October 25 – Went Bushwalking Today.
Went bushwalking today and wow was it hard. We all piled in McCrory's car, squashed as anything, and we drove for 7 miles like that. Denise squashing me to bits. Then we walked, well rather, fell and slipped down to the river. It took us about 25 minutes and seemed like it would never end. My legs were aching and so was I. It was so steep! Everyone went for a swim, but I didn’t bring my cozies, so I started back a bit earlier. But I was so slow that everyone caught up and overtook, and I was last again. I honestly thought I’d never make it. It was so steep and so high it took us one hour to walk back up, and McCrorey was in a hurry. I thought I was going to die.
Halfway I changed into some blue stubbies and God I looked a sight! The way back was worse cause we were so squished and tired. Mum picked us up and we took a whole carload home. We were as squashed as anything.
Kate and I were going to go to Centrepoint in Sydney tomorrow to buy a dress, but bloody Dad wouldn’t let me go anywhere but Penrith. So, I had to ring Kate, but I couldn’t get through all night. God Dad’s a bastard. I bet anything I end up not going. I really do! I won’t find anything at Penrith. That’s for sure.
Wednesday October 26 - Mum Goes To Holland On Friday. Wow Is It Going To Be Hell.
Still couldn’t get Kate this morning. Caught the same train though. Told her to go on to Sydney. I could see she wanted to go to Sydney, but she didn’t want to leave me. But she went to Sydney because it’s a waste to take a day off to go to Penrith! I walked around everywhere trying to find something. It wasn’t until the last ten minutes that I did. It’s a long white dress, layered with a big white rose. It’s OK. It was $53.00 I hope to God I get a chance to wear it.
Mum goes to Holland on Friday. Wow is it going to be hell. I’ll never survive. Dad’s trying to fatten me up – he’s succeeding very well. He’s already being really terrible. He hates me going out and tries not to let me go out when he can. It’s driving me up the wall. He’s so protective it is giving me have a mental breakdown. Honestly. If I live through this time, I’ll die of amazement. Seeya.
Put in photo of diary of this day for the dress drawing.
Thursday 27 October. Dad Tells Me To Forget About Going To The Ball
Worked today, it was ok at first but then I found out a couple of things. I got the poos. Mechelle likes Wain, and I still like him. He came in and said hello but mainly to Mechelle. Dave Ellis also came in and his friend Paul Taylor did too. Steve Lyons came in also and said hello. What makes things worse is that Wain likes Meshelle. Steve packed for me, but he sorts of gave me the “A’ and he kept talking to Meshelle about Wain and then about himself and this other chick he’s going out with.
Scott packed for Meshelle and when Scott left, Steve went and packed for her. Scott isn’t going to the ball. Steve might but I doubt it. Meshelle isn’t going and neither is everyone else. Anne might be but I doubt it. Then Dad tells me to forget about going and somehow, I get the feeling I won’t be going. Ann Bull has started work. Andre and Kate are getting good friends. And Andree will be going to the ball. So that leaves me by myself, What a day. Seeya.
Friday October 28 - The Bar At The Airport Was Mainly Packed Out With Our Relatives and Jamie’s Friends
Well Mum has gone. I don’t know whether that’s good or bad. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see. We went to the airport to see them off. I’ll probably never see Oma again. She didn’t seem too upset to leave though. Jamie Dukes went with them. So, all her family and friends came too. The bar at the airport was mainly packed out with our relatives and Jamie’s friends. When they left everyone was balling, but I was only very sad. I cried a little but with mixed emotions – partly cause I was sad anyway, partly cause I’ll miss Oma, and all other things. Dad will miss Mum a lot and so will my sister. I’ll have to wait and see. We had some Kentucky Fried on the way home. Fatness. Seeya.
Saturday October 29 - Worked today and boy was I buggered. I did some shopping and so I was late for work. That’s all I did.
Tuesday October 30 - Worked and Cooked. Excitement. Seeya.
Monday October 31 - Stayed in sick bay all day almost. Boy am I tired. Seeya.
Top Single in October 1977
Donna Summer - I feel Love. Live
And
Andy Gibb - I just want to be your everything
Written By Petra Campbell
Web: www.petramcampbell.com
Email: petrakpmm@gmail.com
Twitter: @petraau
Facebook:www.facebook.com/petra.campbell.31
The research for these posts are found as links in the body of the text. Photos, if not mine, belong to the commons, or permission granted for use.
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