Migrating to Australia
Welcome to our page (2), Going to Australia
I left Italy my native country and migrated to Australia and what I am trying to show here is my journey on this ship called the Sydney
This is a typical Passenger Liner; you see in those times when I first came to Australia, most people came by ship, it was the only way that people could afford. Airline travelling was too expensive and there wasn't a real service yet.
My journey from Italy to Australia
Dear readers, this is page 2 in the page of our blog Affordable rentals, which is supposed to deal with properties and rentals, however we have not yet reached that stage yet; because we would like first to tell you about our life story and how I ended up in renting and owning some real estate in a small way, so, here under is some of the story of my life:
This is the story of my life that I am
writing here in blogger, which is going to be several articles or posts; in this
article we are going to tell you about how I felt and what I did on the ship
during my voyage when I was migrating to Australia. Then if you follow my
writings you will find that I have worked in the building industry, as a
bricklayer building houses and this could be interesting to some of you, if you
would like to DIY some building work. Anyhow let us go back to my trip on the
ship to Australia.
While I was on this ship called the Sydney,
in my heart I was already saying: Hello Australia, here I come with my dreams
in my heart of finding a better life for myself and perhaps for the future
generation of my future family, if and when I can have a family of my own.
I know that I might be dreaming these dreams
that may not happen at all the way I want, but I am young and there is no harm
in dreaming to find a better life if I could.
So, as I have said in our last hub, we left
Port Said to go straight to Australia and while we were on the ship crossing
the Indian Ocean we the passenger that were migrating to Australia started to
think already about what we had left behind in Italy, and at the same time we
were eager to see what Australia was like, on the ship we made some
acquaintances and everyone had some story to tell, most of us would be talking
about the reasons why we were migrating to Australia and what we would like to
achieve in Australia, but really we didn't know a thing about what we could do
in Australia, most of us did not have any job qualification, so we were hoping
to do whatever job came our way, as long as there was enough money to earn a
living for a start, so we hoped for the best.
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On the way to Australia
Happenings on the way to Australia
During the fortnight that the ship took to
cross the Indian Ocean, every one of us was wondering his own way about the
future in Australia and what we knew about Australia; in my own case at some
stage of this crossing I would start wondering how hard it would be to live in
the driest continent on earth, as I had learned at school that Australia is
very dry compared to other continents or countries. So what would the supply of
water be like, and what about the westerly wind be like, I remember that my
teacher had said that these winds last up to three months, so, I was asking
myself, is it going to be just as bad and as cold as winter times winds of
Italy, who knows? You see to cross this stretch of water of the Indian Ocean
was taking too long and therefore it was becoming even boring to go out on deck
just to see the sea water and the sky above. So no wonder we were thinking so
many strange things.
There is something else that I found out on
the Indian Ocean, which was not good news for me; but let us start this story
from the beginning. You see, in those times when you went overseas from these
small towns like Genzano, anyone that had relatives would like to sent a
present or something to their relatives, or at least their greetings or
something like that, and also if you went to a relative house to stay when you
arrived in Australia, you could not and would not go there without bringing
some presents, from your family and their families, so you can imagine how
loaded you were with your own presents and friends presents when you boarded
the ship, and I tell you I was loaded too with all this stuff.
Now forgive me my readers if I all of a
sudden I start talking or thinking, or comparing if you like about today TV
shows like border security, instead of talking about my journey to Australia,
but you see, I was coming from a country town and most presents were not bought
at the shop, they could be food or something that could not be allowed to go
through customs in Australia, so every time I see something on TV like border
protection show, I cannot help thinking that I have been in the same position
myself, when I first came to Australia, but anyhow on the ship I had plenty of
time to work it out, as I was talking to some people that had been in Australia
before, so I was able to avoid the worse.
Among other things on the ship I had two
demijohns of local wine, which I was sure that would be very much appreciated
from the people that I was going to stay with in Australia, for people that
don’t know what a demijohn is I will explain, A demijohn is a large round glass
container dressed with something like woven straw, in my case I had two of them
one was ten litres, and the other seven litres, in addition to that and strange
as it may seem I had some (lampagioni) small wild onions, which I slowly
realised could never go past customs, so when I was sure that they would not be
allowed to enter Australia, I dumped them in the Indian Ocean. I had also some
local homemade large beautiful biscuits and other stuff. Anyhow let me talk
about the two demijohn of local wine now, because for a long time anyone that
were sailing with me on this ship would remind me of this event; these two
demijohns were in my cabin and there wasn’t any way to restrain them properly,
so, when the sea was rough they were sliding across the cabin floor until one
of them broke that is why my passenger friend always remember and remind me
about the good lost wine.
These are some of the happenings during my
journey to Australia. Anyhow after a fortnight we reached the continent of
Australia and docked at Fremantle in Western Australia. Hurray, we have made it
to Australia, now we have to see what Australia is like and if it would bring
us good fortune.
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First positive impressions
The first positive impressions when I came to
Australia
The first impression that I had of Australia
was positive, as I could see from what we saw near Port Fremantle. I have to
say that it was not much what I saw, but it was enough to make a good
impression on me. Strange as it may seem the very first time that I set foot in
Australia I saw an emu, I don’t why or how but somebody took us to this place
where there was this emu and another animal that I don’t recall what it was.
Anyhow because we stopped in Fremantle for a while I was able to go down twice,
and the second time guess what I saw, I saw that here in Australia they build
single houses on a block of land, and they grow a nice green lawn around the
houses by watering the lawn with the town water, in fact these little houses
look so pretty that they seem like dolls houses. No bad for a country that is
supposed to be the driest continent on earth, and it was also great as my first
impression. And also seeing that they water the lawns with town water my fear
of water restriction disappeared.
But anyhow Fremantle was only the first port
in Australia, but I had to disembark in Brisbane, so there were a couple more
ports to go past and another week on this ship before the end of my first
journey. Anyhow we left Port Fremantle to cross the Great Australian Bight,
which took us a few days to navigate, during this crossing I could not help
thinking, how vast is this country of Australia was compared to the European
countries since it takes days to navigate from one port to the next? I suppose
these thoughts came also because I was starting to be tried of this long
journey as it was taking too long, and we the passengers all longed to reach
our final destination; anyhow next stop would be Melbourne, in port Melbourne
there wasn’t much to see or say as I had already seen Port Fremantle and
Melbourne was very much the same, the only thing was that by now most of the
people that I had become friendly on the journey were disembarking in
Melbourne. Anyhow we left Melbourne and next stop would be Sydney, where I was
going to meet some people that I was bringing some presents from their
families, so, I knew already that Sydney was a very important city of Australia
and therefore I was eager to see what it was like.
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Next stop Sydney
My next stop of this journey is at Sydney
Before I tell you my story about when I
reached Sydney, I want to say my impressions of Sydney; I believe that Sydney
is one of the few towns in the whole world, or the only town in the world that
make people feel welcomed at once, because this has also happened to me.
We docked in Sydney a short walking distance
from the harbor bridge, and soon we were aware that some people were already
there on the dock waiting for us, so I went to look to see if my family friends
were there also to greet me and collect their presents; and sure enough they
were there on the dock waving at me and I knew now that I could take their
present to them. But what should I do to do that, because in Australia
everything that comes in has got to go through the custom to be checked out?
This procedure was something new to me, although I had heard people talk about
it on the ship. Anyhow I got their large parcel and took it down the ship under
the direction of some people that directed all people carrying anything to a
large building on the dock, and here I learned for the first time that the
custom can look at everything you bring in Australia and if they find anything
forbidden you can get in trouble. Anyhow there was nothing forbidden to enter
Australia, as the people that had made the parcel knew what would be allowed
in. After that I delivered the parcel to my waiting friends.
In Sydney I had good time with my family
friends and exchanged all the news that we had, besides going to a restaurant
to eat and then went to see Sydney Harbor Bridge together, as it worked out,
they had to leave early because they came to meet me from another town, so I
was left on my own in Sydney looking at the tall building around the harbor and
walking around, where I saw the site of the future Sydney Opera House, at that
time construction had stopped and there was plenty of still bars stacked on the
site, so, I guessed that this was going to be some large and important
building, I also visited a garden nearby, and by the time we left, I knew that
those sights of Sydney harbor and everything else around could even last a
lifetime, they are very impressive to anyone that is lucky enough to see them.
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Journey ends at Brisbane
My journey to Australia ends at Brisbane
We left Sydney and next stop would be
Brisbane my port of destination; I was looking forward for this journey to end,
because to stay on a ship for a month is a very long time for anybody that has
never been to sea or gone on a boat before. And to tell you the truth I really
wanted to see my relatives and see how they were doing, so that I could have a
better idea if my coming to Australia was a good thing for me. You see, one can
never be sure what it is going to be like and whether your decision was the
right decision until you are there and see it for yourself. Of course what I
had seen already in Australia seemed very well, but that does not really mean
much until one finds out what sort of living an unqualified manual worker can
earn and other things. Of course I knew that whatever job I had to do I was
going to work hard, because that is the only way to earn your living for
yourself and whoever was going to give you a job. These were the thoughts that
most times would come to my mind during the journey and more so towards the end
of it. On reflection I have to say now that to migrate to a country that you
have never been is a very hard thing to do, so, lucky are those people that
during their lives do not need to migrate anywhere. Anyhow I will come back to
these discussions later on, because now I want to tell you about the end of my
journey at Brisbane.
We reached Brisbane early in the morning and
our ship was slowly navigating at the entrance of Brisbane River when some
sailors told us to look in the river for a rare sight, because this event was
too rare to miss as it happens rarely so far south of the equator, we looked
and we saw hundreds and hundreds of jelly fish that early morning, for us that
had never seen them before we thought that the jelly fish are strange creatures
they look like a large mushroom or a very small umbrella, they have tentacles
attached at the edges and swim slowly by pulsating their entire body, what a
sight it was indeed that early morning in March, at the mouth of Brisbane
River.
Finally we docked at Brisbane at this
merchants dock to disembark, thanks God I had reached Brisbane my destination
and was eager to see my brother and other relative and friends.
We disembarked and I went through customs
with all my belongings and presents that I was bringing to my relative and
friends. And here is when I got caught and learned something that all
travellers should know; anyone of us that goes to a different country should
make sure that what they take into that country is allowed; anyhow I was caught
just because I had bought a small toy at Port Said that toy could contain some
forbidden substance and it had to be treated to enter Australia, so it cost me
a fair amount of money. The demijohn of wine and all other stuff that I had
with me was all right; after all I had dumped my wild anions in the Indian
Ocean, when I found that they were not allowed. After going through customs I
was free to go with my brother and friends. The friends of course were there
not only to welcome me to Australia, but also to collect their presents that
their families had sent them and to hear news of their families and their
native town. I believe that I have said enough in this hub. So see you soon in
my next hub where I am going to talk about my first impressions of Brisbane
Australia.
Dear readers, I am ending this article by
reminding you that this article is just one article of my life story, so,
hereunder I am going to post some links of my life stories for you to check
them out.
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