EARLY DAYS OF A TEN QUID TOUR
By Dermott Ryder

On reflection, the much vaunted and possibly magical attributes of far off Australia weighed little in my decision to trek half round the globe. In fact, the on-going advertising of the assisted passage scheme was the source of endless and irreverent amusement.  Held to be the biggest joke of all was the newspaper block adverts that urged ‘Come and drive a tram in sunny Melbourne’. My desire to travel, but not by tram, was a more powerful force than any amount of blue-sky promotions could muster.

1968: September: The start of a Ten Quid Tour - Southampton Dock

1968: September: The start of a Ten Quid Tour - Southampton Dock

Registered in Genoa and now in waiting in Southampton, the Aurelia had an Italian crew, a new coat of paint, a colourful array of sea breeze challenged bunting and a displacement of twelve thousand tons. She was, at best, a seaworthy dowager fitted out to a lean budget for steerage passengers.

CARGOES
After John Masefield  ©  Dermott Ryder 

Dirty Dublin freighter reaching for Newfoundland,
ringed by screeching seagulls where Brendan made his way,
with a cargo of linen, and whisky from the cottage stills,
crystal glass and Aran wool, at the dawning of the day.

Container Ship of Canada crashing from the Hudson,
braving the Atlantic in the icy howling gales,
with a cargo of redwood, and salmon from the cannery,
seal furs, dry goods, and dark meat of whales.

Shining ocean liner powering to America,
crossing the horizon with the old world far behind,
with a cargo of poseurs and the idle rich of Mayfair,
singers, dancers, actors with Hollywood in mind.

Crappy Italian migrant ship with a freshly painted smoke stack,
battling through the channel on a wild September night,
with a cargo of pommies from the desperate northern counties,
sitting, swilling 'duty free' and getting bloody tight.

In Cape Town, on this trip, we saw only what they wanted to us to see. Segregation did not rate a mention and the only black or coloured people we encountered were waiting table, cleaning facilities or carting garbage. 'They seem happy enough, and at least they have jobs,' remarked an over dressed and powerfully perfumed woman to her shrinking clergyman husband. 'Yes dear,' he replied, as he concentrated on his lunch and refused to make eye contact across the table with any other member of the group.

L to R: Steve Williams, Bill Brown, Hugo Beiluski, Sam McGladdery, Ray Price. Tramps Abroard - Cape Town © Dermott Ryder 1968
1968: Tramps Abroad - Cape Town  South Africa. 

Australia was a good choice because although we hadn't been there we knew a good deal about the place. Returning immigrants were a ready source of information, of course, and travelogues about cattle droving and sheep shearing in the wide brown land alternated with Bugs Bunny cartoons in support of the main feature at the local cinemas.

Docking at Fremantle © Dermott Ryder 1968 Back - L to R: Ray Price, Bill Brown, Rob Hodgeson, Jeff Booth. Front: Dermott Ryder. © Dermott Ryder 1968
1968: 22nd October: Docking at Fremantle.  1968: October:  Mount Lawley Perth. 

Safety Bay © Dermott Ryder 1968

"Called it a copy-cat Vauxall and got in strife with the proud owner. © Dermott Ryder 1968
1968: November:  Safety Bay.  1968: October:  Mount Lawley Perth. 

1968 a motoring madness called The First London to Sydney Marathon brought petrol-footing ferocity to the globe. The manic motorers polluted eleven countries on their mad dash into  history. From London to France they travelled and then on to Italy, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. The ocean voyage from India to Australia must have been a welcome rest break. 

I was in Perth when the adventurers arrived, and I was on hand with my camera for the start of the Australian leg from Gloucester Park. Perth turned out a polite crowd of curious onlookers. Most of those present didn't see anything particularly unusual about driving battered cars on terrible roads. It was a way of life in Western Australia in 1968. 

The Marathon was a rough trip all the way, according to the reports, and the Perth to Sydney, cross-continental run was not without incident either. 'This place is more dangerous the Afghanistan', said one disgruntled driver after a mob of rural nutters threw rocks at his speeding car.  Eventually the Great Marathon came to an end in the east coast metropolis of Sydney and Robert Askin, Premier of New South Wales, dropped the chequered flag on the winner.  

Car 75 leaving Perth © Dermott Ryder 1968
1968: December: Gloucester Park Perth: Car 75 - Great Britain - Hillman Hunter - drivers: Cowen / Malkin / Coyle - they came in first.

 

Car 61 leaving Perth © Dermott Ryder 1968
1968: December: Gloucester Park Perth: Car 61 - Great Britain - BMC 1800 - drivers: Aalonen / Liddon / Easter - they came in fifth.

 

Car 74 leaving Perth © Dermott Ryder 1968
1968: December: Gloucester Park Perth: Car 74 - France - Citroen DS21 - drivers: Nyret / Terrormorsi - they came in ninth.

The motor marathon was a thing of the moment, horse riding at weekends was a far more entertaining activity. This hot, sometimes dusty  and occasionally dangerous pastime we planned to work up a thirst for the drinks session at one of the outer suburb pubs. Perth had very strange licensing laws in the sixties.

L to R: Brian Carrington, Jacko, Blaize, horses, Dermott Ryder, Neil Simpson. © Dermott Ryder 1968 Wanneroo Rodeo © Dermott Ryder 1968
1969: January: Jandacot Muster  1969: January: Wanneroo Rodeo 

Time came to travel on. Mount Newman, my chosen destination, definitely qualified as outback. Eight hundred miles to the north of Perth, and three hundred miles inland from the Indian Ocean coast and the windswept metropolis of Port Hedland, Mount Newman, and its ancient companion Mount Whaleback, nestled in the rusting dust of the Ophthalmia ranges.

Walkabout Motel © Dermott Ryder 1968

Newman Shops © Dermott Ryder 1968
1969: August: A comfortable alternative to the infamous 'Wet Canteen'. 1969: Mid-Year: Mount Newman - New Shops across a sunbaked paddock.

In the late sixties Mount Newman was a construction camp, and there we built the first iron ore crusher of its type in the world. It was set up at the bottom of Mount Whaleback, which we then blew to smithereens so that BHP and the ever-enigmatic Japanese could get richer and even more powerful.

1969: The Single Men's Quarters - © Dermott Ryder 1969: The Single Men's Quarters - © Dermott Ryder

1969: The Single Men's Quarters replaced the caravan-like World Wide Dongas

1969: The married quarters - known as the happy hunting ground - got grass and trees and started to look like a town.

The construction camp was a new experience for me. The accommodation was simple but adequate. There were neat lines of demountable caravan-like units, each with four two-man compartments. Each compartment contained two beds, two lockers, an air conditioner, and two men. The rustic dwellings were replaced by the ' Single men's Quarters', luxurious by comparison and known as SMQ.  One great feature of the SMQ was the that the duct servicing the air conditioning units in each room held, and kept comfortably chilled, a dozen cans of beer.

1968: Part of the International Brigade at Mount NewmanBack Row: left to right: Wolf Kalisch [Germany], Warren Meachem [Australia], Jardine Jamieson [Scotland], Jack Jenks [UK],  Richo Parnamagi [Estonia], Peter Keane [India], Kevin Connor [Eire]. Front Row: left to right: Pat McGloyne [Eire], Andrew Morris [Burma], Dermott Ryder [UK]. Haulpak 120 ton truck is in background.  1968 © Dermott Ryder
1968: Part of the International Brigade at Mount Newman

Back Row: left to right: Wolf Kalisch [Germany], Warren Meachem [Australia], Jardine Jamieson [Scotland], Jack Jenks [UK],  Richo Parnamagi [Estonia], Peter Keane [India], Kevin Connor [Eire]. Front Row: left to right: Pat McGloyne [Eire], Andrew Morris [Burma], Dermott Ryder [UK]. Haulpak 120 ton truck is in background.  

Being at Newman was like being stitched into a patchwork quilt and discovering that every other fragment of the patchwork had a different shape, size, colour and texture, and that, in some unexplainable way, all of the patches came together like the pieces of a flawlessly cut jigsaw puzzle. 

INTERNATIONAL BRIGADE
From Images Of Newman  ©  Dermott Ryder

Most of the men had a traveller's stamp,
rough humour befitting their station.
In for the money and for making a pile,
never thinking of building a nation.

Ten Pound Pommy tourists serving their time,
lost Paddies still travelling and picking a side,
wild Welshmen, all choral, from valley and hill,
and dark, scowling Jocks, from the banks of Clyde. 

Black-eyed Estonians, silent men with no names,
trading stories of old times, in whispers at night,
locking doors, dreaming dangers, remembering flames,
and still playing and drinking, at first morning light. 

Blonde German Americans, blue steel in their eyes,
pax credo to guide them, and serving with pride.
They stand, straight and true, and smile when alone,
some are here for the glory - others, here for the ride. 

Brooding White Russians, mostly drunk or insane,
black-bucket vodka, apples, sausage and bread,
battles, and ballads, and sad, long Czarist songs,
pass the bottle, 'my brother' it's too early for bed. 

Greeks, with blue waters and love in their dances,
Italians, as carefree as their colourful dreams,
Dutchmen, still fighting the cold northern oceans,
and me, at home far from home, at least, so it seems. 

We bulldozed from the mountain, overburden and bush,
built crusher and haul road and permanent way;
drilled, blasted and bucketed and crushed rock for the ore,
and we brought down a mountain as we worked night and day.

My first eighteen months in Australia, particularly at Mount Newman, was in so many ways interesting, often exciting, and almost always rewarding. I enjoyed the experience enormously and I'm just a little ashamed that I have lost contact with so many people that added value to my journey through the west. So if anybody recognizes themself in these ancient photos please send an email.


'Early Days of a Ten Quid Tour' © Dermott Ryder  is published by permission. All Images are © Dermott Ryder.  The Poems 'Cargoes' and ' International Brigade'  are from the book 'Light Rules - Time decides' Published by The Screw Soapers, Liverpool, NSW Australia. Any persons or  organizations  wishing to reprint this work, in whole or in part, are invited to contact The Editor: screwsoaper@optusnet.com.au  


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