A Seven Week P&O Cruise

It sounds good doesn't it. Seven weeks at sea on a P & O cruise. Well it was good, however it is not quite what it seems. It all happened back in 1957 when I migrated with my family from the Uk. Not quite what you had in mind but I would still like to give you my impressions. After all, as a nine year old, impressions were exciting and lasting.

Better go back to the beginning of it all. My Mum was what they call a war bride and married my Dad straight after he returned from the war. Must have been an exciting time for them to have both survived the war and could now look forward to an exciting new life together. They migrated straight away to Australia which would have been a change from the UK where they had grown up. However, as a young couple madly in love it would have been an exciting time.

I was born shortly after they settled in Australia and my brother a bit later after that. My Mum had been involved in lab work in London as part of her contribution to the war effort at home. They were messing about with radiation of some sort and that was something they did not really understand those days. Before she was 30 she was admitted to hospital some distance away very ill. Some sort of leukemia from the lab work had got into her system and it was not long before she was dead. By the time my Dad got the phone call and had to arrange baby sitters for us two boys and arrange to borrow a car for the long drive, it was too late. He never saw his lovely bride again alive.

Must have been a devastating time for him. So much so that he packed us all up and sailed home to Scotland to be with his Mum. I was only just 6 then and can remember a little of the trip which was six weeks. I can remember flying fish landing on deck and sailing through the Suez Canal with sand on each side. Can't remember much more before that as I was obviously blocking out the tragic turn of events.

We lived with my grandmother in Scotland and I started school there before she died and my dad remarried and re-migrated to Australia. We ended up in the same town, the same street and two houses away from where we had lived before. Anyway, I can remember more of the trip back to Australia as I was nine. We sailed on the P & O ship Strathnaver which was busy ferrying migrants to Australia. This was a magnificent ship and was every bit a cruise especially to a nine year old.

The trip took seven weeks because of the scuffle that had closed the Suez Canal. We sailed round The bottom of South Africa and that took an extra week. We stopped at Capetown and I can remember the Flat top of Table Mountain. There was colorful rickshaws on the wharf taking people into the city. We weren't allowed ashore but watched the different culture from the decks. People were throwing coins over board and the young native kids would dive off the wharf to retrieve them.

We crossed the equator and King Neptune came on board and seized passengers, lathered them up and tossed them into the pool. Great stuff for a nine year old to watch. It was too hot at night to sleep so we would take our bedding up on deck and sleep under the stars. You had to wake early because they started hosing the decks a 6 am. Our cabin was way down below the water line and I spent hours at a porthole that was under water and just watched the water going past.

They had entertainment for the kids too. There was a fancy dress competition for the kids which stretched the imagine of parents because all there was available was crepe paper for costumes. I can remember being dressed in an army uniform of paper and with spots on my face. A little sign round my neck said German measel. I won second prize which was a wonderful little toy truck. The ice cream man would come round every morning handing out free ice creams. We would meet him on the bottom deck and then every deck after that. We would race back to our cabin and put our stash in the fridge and have ice cream to last all day.

The dining room was all first class and always an enjoyable experience. A couple of weeks out from Australia I fell and fractured my wrist. It was off to the ships hospital and my arm was plastered. Every meal after that I received personal attention from the waiter. He would always be there for me to cut up my meal. Really first class cruising. And with only 2 hours of school each day, us kids loved it. Sad to hear that immigration from the UK dropped off and the beautiful cruise ship Strathnaver was scrapped in the early sixties. What a waste.

Hi Guys,
Has been fun for me remembering that magic trip. Hope you enjoyed it too, Nick

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