With Hope Before Me

1

Sparkles of Early Memories

15th October 2022

I love to watch the Coral Sea sparkling and glittering where the early morning sun touches the gentle waves and brings them to life! As I gaze out to the blue horizon, to the undulating distant ranges and the ubiquitous fringe of palm trees lining the shore, memories return of another day, and another time past shines brightly once again.

            That day was the 19th of March, 1965. At 10 p.m. on that cold, dark night, a young 14-year-old girl and her mother arrived at the London Docks to board the 'S.S. Braemar Castle' for Voyage 59 – London to Mombasa.

            My mother was excited; she was travelling to Africa to be reunited with my father who was working in Mombasa for the Kenya Bus and Ferry Company.

S.S. Braemar Castle, Union Castle Line

            However, I was distraught! It was an unbearable wrench for me to leave behind my school, my life in London, the Rolling Stones and everything that I loved and knew up to that point. I had even plotted with a close school friend as to how I might jump ship at the last minute and run away to find a bus back to South London - but those plans quickly evaporated as we made our way on board.

            It was a beautiful ship; the crew warmly welcomed us and we were assigned a lovely cabin. There was such an exciting atmosphere of anticipation, so much bustling activity on board, passengers being shown to their cabins, veritable mountains of suitcases on trolleys, everyone rushing to be ready for the scheduled Midnight departure. I would guess there were probably around 200 passengers on board.  A pilot boat guided the ship out into the English Channel; I remember it being a very foggy night; and somehow, a new adventure had begun.

            The first stop was Gibraltar. It was cool, but not as cold as London. Mum and I ventured ashore for our first foreign experience. From there we sailed past Majorca and Minorca, and I marvelled at the dolphin pods joyfully jumping in the air and diving down into the sea as they followed our ship, everything so wonderfully new around me.

            I loved standing on the deck in the early morning, gazing out to sea as the sun shimmered on the blue Mediterranean.  As the waves sparkled and glittered and I knew there was hope for my life ahead.  We sailed on past the French Riviera and then anchored off of Genoa, Italy, where we stayed for two days. How I loved life on the Braemar Castle, it was so much fun! I decided I wanted to stay on the ship until it reached its final stop at Cape Town and then sail back to London! Sadly, that was not the plan.

Meeting the Captain at a cocktail party on board ship

            We continued the voyage through the Straits of Messina until we arrived at Port Said in Egypt. We then passed through the Suez Canal and headed for Aden where the ship docked overnight, the temperature rising noticeably as we slowly travelled south. As we crossed the Equator a special celebration was held on board to mark the occasion. However, the following day we arrived into the Port of Mombasa. That was the end of our journey; my father was there to meet us.

            I lived in Mombasa for 3 years and I was often very homesick for England. At the time I didn’t understand why all this had to happen to me, but on reflection in later life I realised that despite many further moves, I never actually felt homesick again. I found that wherever the Lord subsequently led me, I was able to settle down without those awful feelings.

The elephant tusks in Kilindini Road, Mombasa, February 1967

            Life in East Africa did provide a wonderful opportunity to explore the Game Parks which in those days still had an abundance of wild animals. I remember rhinos, hippopotamus`, lions, elephants, giraffes, hartebeest, buffaloes, and even the tiny ‘dik diks’ (small antelopes) living in harmony alongside the giants.   

            Living in Mombasa imprinted me with a longing to always live near the sea; to find places where I could relive the glorious splendour of sunshine sprinkling the waves into a glittering canopy of hope, stretching way beyond the limits of my vision.

            My present home in Cairns reminds me a little of Mombasa, particularly the humidity, the palm trees, the beaches and the sea. God’s creation is so beautiful!

            I wonder if you, the reader, have ever lived through a childhood experience that you have never understood.  I have come to understand that in His great plan for our lives, God, at times, takes us on unexpected excursions and by-roads. Even before we come to know Him personally, He will use these for some good purpose in our lives and finally bring us on to the main path He wants us to follow.

The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it,

The world and all who live in it.

For he founded it upon the seas and

Established it upon the waters.

Psalm 24: 1 – 2

My wedding in Kisumu, Kenya

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A Wedding Others Dream of 1971

When I reached 17, I left Kenya and returned to South London. My parents remained overseas, continuing with work in Mombasa.  Unfortunately, during that same year, my sister Ann and her husband joined ranks with many other British people who were taking advantage of the opportunity offered by the ‘Ten Pound Passage’ agreement to migrate to Australia.

            I very much missed my sister. Growing up, I had always thought the world of her and I was grieved she was now going to be living so far away from me. Consequently, after working in London for two years, I decided to go and join Ann in Western Australia, where she had settled in Perth. I was 19 years old and still felt a strong yearning to be closer to my family. My plan became to leave by ship in September 1969, so I took on an extra job in the evenings to enable me to save for the trip. It was there that I met Alan.

            From the beginning we were very attracted to one another, and we started dating.  After only one week Alan asked me to marry him - and I said yes! We began making plans. Because my father's employment contract only allowed for 3 months overseas leave once in every 3 years, my parents were unable to return for a wedding in the UK, so we decided to marry in Kenya instead. Inevitably, if a little sadly, the proposed journey to Australia in September had to be cancelled.

            Alan had been married very briefly before, so his family understood his desire to go abroad for his second wedding.

            My parents were delighted. Although their base was still in Mombasa, they were presently spending a short time working in Kisumu, an inland town in Kenya on the shores of Lake Victoria and a beautiful location for a wedding.  My father