Episode 1 Audrey Tonkin
Transcript
Zara:  Welcome to "With Love, From Bougainvillea" a podcast hosted by your very own local students today, being Zara-
Georgie: -and Georgie. Hi, I'm Georgie and I'm running music as well as interviewing our guests.
Zara: Hi, I'm Zara, and I'm also interviewing our guests.
Eva: Hi, I'm Eva, and I'll be designing the covers for our podcast and interviewing our guests.
Shyan: Hi, my name is Shyan and I'm doing the editing of the podcast and the website making.
Zara: The aim of this podcast, "With Love, From Bougainvillea" is to capture the lives and wisdom of the residents here at the Bougainvillea Retirement Village. As young people, this is an incredible opportunity to connect with and learn from other, older members of the community. Our goal is to provide advice for a younger audience in an accessible and entertaining manner. Creating a podcast means that for the average working student, they can listen and simultaneously juggle their busy schedule.
Georgie: Today we are joined by our very own good luck charm (who will be coming with me into my next maths exam), a war survivor, opportunist, and travel enthusiast. This is Audrey Tonkin.
Audrey: Good afternoon, girls.
Zara: Good afternoon.
Georgie: Good afternoon.
Audrey: My name is Audrey Tonkin and, um, as you can tell by the accent, I was born in England. I won't say a hundred years ago, but it feels like it's some days. Now, I was born in 1937, so I'm 88 years old.
Zara: Oh, lookin’ great!
Audrey: And uh, um, and I've been in Australia since 1972 and I've been in Bougainvillea, uh, for two years.
Georgie: Oh, nice.
Audrey: I lived in Kirrabilli before.
Zara: Oh yeah.
Audrey: A little unit in Kirrabilli, but, um, developers came along-
Zara and Georgie: Oh.
Audrey: -and decided that our little block of 12-
Zara and Georgie: Oh.
Audrey: -they could pull it down, make it bigger.
Georgie: Oh gosh.
Audrey: Of course. So then I had to find somewhere else to move.
Georgie: Yeah. Were you living with anyone there?
Audrey: No. No. I, I've been, I'm a widow. My husband died in 1970. He was only 34.
Georgie: Oh.
Audrey: So that was a bit tragic, but that's part of my life.
Georgie: Yeah.
Audrey: My life story. Um-
Georgie: That must’ve been so hard.
Audrey: It is, it is quite involved. I was born in Salisbury, south of London.
Georgie: Mm.
Audrey: It's in a county called Wilshire. And Salisbury, of course you've got Salisbury Cathedral.
Georgie: Mm.
Audrey: Which is very famous, but I'm not quite old as the cathedral. Anyway, so I was born there and why my mum and dad lived in Salisbury was because my father worked for the war office. He was an accountant of the war office, and wherever there were army camps around the UK, Dad would have to be working near them because then he would do the audit. Now, don't ask me whether he was going in counting the bullets. I have no idea. But Dad had to be near a camp. So 1937, I was born. 1939, war was declared. So that meant Dad had to move nearer to London because he had to work in the actual war office in London, in Pall Mall. So that-
Georgie: So you didn't get to see him much, did you?
Audrey: No. So the whole family, we moved to Surrey, which is a county of London. And so Dad could commute daily up to London, catch the train, go to work, come home. Now, well I was, what, two years old, so I didn't know what was going on, of course.
Zara: Mm.
Audrey: And, um, life went on. 1942, I had to start school 'cause I was five years old.
Georgie and Zara: Mm-hmm.
Audrey: And the ruling was when you're five, you start school. But before then, in 1940, have you heard of the blitz? The, the, the London, well, London-
Georgie: Briefly.
Audrey: -were, were bombed Yeah. For eight months.
Georgie: Yes.
Audrey: London was, was bombed, uh, for eight months and 40,000 people died, and every house around the London area had to have an air raid shelter. So ours was in the dining room, which took up more or less the whole di -Oh, I should have brought the photo- the whole dining room. So when you heard the siren. You’d div- you got into the, um, shelter.
Zara: Yeah.
Georgie: Yeah. Wow.
Audrey: And then waited for the, for the bombers, the Luftwaffe to fly over. Oh. Because as I said, Dad was living near a, um, army place so of course the Luftwaffe were after anywhere where there were soldiers or aircraft.
Georgie: Wow.
Audrey: You see. I knew, I knew this was around, but it didn't affect me. Uh, we, we used to have food on the table. Dad was still going to work. Mum was still doing the washing. But some nights during the blitz we would stand in the garden and look towards London and the sky was blood red. And that was from all the fires. So when you imagine that went on for eight months, the bombing, the actual bombing, and London was practically annihilated. But, the most famous buildings like St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, they were not touched.
Zara: Oh.
Audrey: Because Hitler, he said to the, to the, to the crews, do not bomb those big, the, the main palaces and things because he was going to be living in London when the war was over.
Georgie: Oh.
Audrey: Because he was convinced they were going to win.
Georgie: Oh.
Audrey: You see.
Zara: I did not know that.
Audrey: So, so that's why those buildings were not touched because they- how can you miss them for God's sake!?
Georgie: Yeah.
Zara: Yeah, these huge buildings.
Audrey: You’ve got St. Paul’s Ca- it’s at the top of the hill!
Zara: Yeah.
Audrey: Oh, there it is in all its glory. So how the hell can you miss it? And the Houses of Parliament in the, along the Thames there again. And that's, but that's why. So anyways, so that was 1940, 41. We went to 42. I start school. My schooling was mainly in an air raid shelter.
Georgie: Wow.
Audrey: Again, when the sirens went, the teacher gathered us all together into the air raid shelter. So, okay, we have blackboards, but it wasn't like a real classroom.
Zara: No.
Audrey: And I didn't know what the playground was.
Georgie: Oh.
Audrey: Because, well…
Georgie: You were stuck inside.
Audrey: We were stuck inside. And then one, one time, ah Mum, Mum would come and well, she'd take me, but also come and pick me up, take me home. One day, taking me home, the siren went and we were halfway home, so she threw me in the gutter and, and put herself over, over me while the Luftwaffe flew over to do their bombing and then away again and then got home. So those moments, I can't forget, even though I was only five years old. But this was of there. Life went on 19- 1945 war was declared over. We had won. Big parties everywhere, all ‘round London. Huge street parties. Okay. Because the house, 'cause we were on coupons, on rationing, I should say. Now that rationing didn't finish until 1952-
Georgie: Oh wow.
Audrey: -when the Queen, when she was Princess Margaret, uh, Elizabeth got married to Prince Philip and she declared that all of the rationing in the UK was to finish at that day - the day she got married.
Audrey: But up until then we'd, we'd been rationed. I didn't know what a real egg was until well after the war. And butter. What was butter?
Zara: Oh my gosh.
Georgie: Not butter. You could make it out of milk.
Audrey: Margarine. You know. And eggs, powdered eggs. Where you, it was powder. And you- that, that was the egg.
Zara: What?
Georgie: Oh!
Audrey: Yeah yeah.
Georgie: No-
Zara: What?
Georgie: Cause you can powder milk and eggs. Cause I used it on a caravan trip that we went on but I didn’t realise that that was in rations.
Audrey: Yes! Eggs. Well, there were no eggs and we had the powdered egg to have-
Georgie: Oh, you, like, rehydrate it?
Audrey: Yes.
Zara: What!?
Audrey: -and then fry it, you see it was-
Zara: Wow.
Audrey: Like, like an egg.
Zara: Yeah, but not quite.
Audrey: But not, not the real egg. So I didn't know what a real egg was until after the war.
Zara: Wow.
Audrey: Anyway, 1945 and the housewives had been saving up their coupons, uh, to get extra bread and a few extra cakes. And so the big parties. At the end of the part- towards, towards the end of the party, there must’ve been a radio or something, because suddenly the music changed to the Can Can.
Zara: Hahahaha!
Georgie: The Can Can! I love the Can Can.
Audrey: You know the Can Can?
Zara: Yeah!
Georgie: Yes!
Audrey and Georgie: Dah dah dah dah dah dah dah dah dah dah dah dah dah!
Zara: Hahahahaha!
Audrey: Changed to the Can Can, so, ooooo, you know this is- and suddenly this lady jumps up on the table!
Zara and Georgie: Hahahahahaha!
Audrey: with a big skirt, doing…
Zara and Georgie: Hahahaha!
Audrey: …all this, “Woosh awoosh awoosh.” And then all of a sudden she goes, “Woosh!” In real life when the French ladies did that, I don’t think they had any knickers on so that was part of the-
Zara: Hahahaha! That was part of the show!
Audrey: -of the show. But this lady did; these knickers went right down to her knees, big white baggy ones.
Zara and Georgie: Hehehehehehe.
Audrey: And sewn on the back was the Union Jack so when she went “Woosh!”, we got the flag.
Georgie: Flag!
Zara: Hahahaha!
Audrey: Wow, we all went berserk. And somebody said, “Oh, wasn’t that terrific?” and I said, “No, that was my mother.”
Georgie: Hahahaha!
Zara: Oh!
Georgie: Really!?
Zara: Hahahaha!
Audrey: I’d love to know what happened to those bloomers. I was so embarrassed. Because, you can imagine, I was eight years old.
Zara: When your mum jumped on the table.
Georgie: That’s hilarious.
Audrey: And mum- doing the can can.
Georgie: Was she much of a dancer?
Audrey: I can’t remember, I was too embarrassed with the, with the, with the “Woosh!” Going up and then there’s the- that was my mother.
Georgie and Zara: Hahahahaha!
Audrey: But as I said, I wish, I wish to God I had- Now, that’s one of the pieces of advice I want to give you.
Georgie and Zara: Mm.
Audrey: Talk to your parents about when they were young. Because mine are gone now and I don't know anything about their childhoods.
Zara: Mmm.
Audrey: And it's too late! Yeah, because I was too, I was too interested in my life.
Zara and Georgie: Mm.
Audrey: You know. 1945, end of war. Then life went on, you know, Sunday school I went to school and then I got older and older and became a teenager. Rock and roll. And, um, going to a, um, a club, um, church club, a church club thing, you know, started mixing with the boys. So, ooooo!
Zara and Georgie: Hahahaha!
Audrey: This is, this is interesting. So life, life in general went on.
Zara: Hmm.
Audrey: And I grew up, grew up, got older, a teenager, suddenly discovered lipstick and you know, things like this. When I was 17, I left school and I wasn't very good at school.
Zara: That's okay.
Audrey: I went to a co-ed and I was more interested in the boys than I was in the, in the two plus two equals four. Who cared? So, 17. Anyway, Dad, my father, um, heard about, have you heard of, of a comptometer?
Georgie and Zara: No.
Audrey: Now, a comptometer is the original calculating machine.
Zara: Ohhh.
Audrey: But you had to know which buttons to press to get your answers.
Georgie: Mm.
Audrey: So in accounting departments, it was essential to have a comptometrist. Which is what I was, and that's what they were. It was a three week lesson in, um, the Strand in London, actually three weeks. Anyway, I then came, so I was a comptometrist, so I was able to get work anytime, anywhere.
Zara: Oh, that's good.
Audrey: Because they were very, very in demand. Because you can imagine after the war-
Zara: Yeah.
Audrey: All the-
Zara: Needing to boost everything up!
Audrey: Yes, buildings and sorting things out and uh, trading and all that kind of thing. So I got a job wherever. So I'd travel up to London, catch the train from, well, Wimbledon up to Waterloo, and then from Waterloo I would walk across Waterloo Bridge to the Strand. Right now I was still living at home and Mum, of course, did all the washing. And drying it and so forth. And she would always keep it in the airing cupboard where the hot water tank was. So of course everything in the airing cupboard was lovely and warm. So, before I went to work, I would grab a pair of knickers and put them on 'cause they were all nice and warm.
Zara and Georgie: Hahahaha.
Audrey: Then I'd shoot down the road, catch the train, and go, go to wherever. Anyway, one, one morning I was walking across Waterloo Bridge and it was so windy and I was- I forgot to put nickers on.
Zara: Hahahaha.
Georgie: Oh no.
Audrey: Oh boy. Was that drafty? God. Oh no. So when I got to the strand, I had to go into a lady's underwear shop and buy a pair. And she said about wrapping, “Don't wrap 'em up! Don't. Can I go put them on, please?” Said, “Put them on?” So I told her what had happened and she thought that was very funny. So, Waterloo Bridge. I think they should have a little, little plaque on there.
Georgie: In honor of Audrey.
Audrey: With, without a nicker or, or change my name to Nicholas. Anyhow, so, that was an experience.
Zara: Mmm. I'm sure.
Audrey: And then, um, when I was 18, I met my husband Brian. Uh, he worked with his father and they looked after typewriters, which of course was huge and, but Brian was a diabetic and a full on diabetic. Had, had to have insulin injections twice a day-
Zara and Georgie: Twice a day?
Audrey: -morning and night.
Georgie: Wow.
Audre: Yes. That was full on. Anyhow, uh, we got married two years later. I was 20. He was 21. This, this was in 1957. Now, at that time, I lived in this, uh, we, I should say, lived in this little village called Cheam, C-H-E-A-M, little Village called Cheam. Lovely area, big park area. Now, this is Surrey-
Georgie: Mm-hmm.
Audrey: Big park area and Henry VIII, it was decided to build this palace for his mistress. 'Cause they all had mistresses. And it was called Nonsuch. Nonsuch, like it you see Nonsuch Palace.
Zara and Georgie: Ohhh.
Georgie: I see. I love how it had to be explained to us.
Audrey: Yes, yes. Charles II, again, had a couple of mistresses. He, he had a little fling with this, um, lady. She sold apples and fruit in the strand. Now his mistress was Mrs, Mrs. Castlemaine. Now, Mrs. Castlemaine lived in Nonsuch Palace. Nell Gwyn, Nell Gwyn was the lady that sold the apples and things, very famous and infamous. And Mrs. La-La-Lady Castlemaine heard about Nell Gwyn so she stamped her little foot, Mrs. Castle-, she said, “I'm not having this.” So she burned the palace down.
Zara: What?
Georgie: How?
Audrey: Well, I don't, I dunno, rub, rub two sticks down. I wouldn't know. Um, yeah, she burnt the palace down.
Zara: She must have been really upset.
Audrey: Yeah. Yeah, she was. And the palace was burned literally to the ground.
Georgie: Wow.
Audrey: Then in about 1960, they were working in the park. Now also in that park area, Nonsuch Park, they built a girl’s school, girl’s high school. Nonsuch High School, where my niece went to school.
Georgie: Oh really?
Audrey: Yeah. So that was Nonsuch. And then in 19, um, what we then decided 1966, we would immigrate to uh, New Zealand. So we, we caught a ship. 'Cause you didn't fly very much in those days. The ship called the Ruahine, sailed across the Atlantic through the Panama Canal.
Zara: Oh yeah.
Audrey: You know the Panama Canal was, um, have you been through the-
Georgie: No.
Zara: No. I've studied it though.
Audrey: It's, it's amazing.
Zara: Yeah.
Audrey: It, you, you, it’s so the, the building of it is amazing. It’s just, lent out and you could touch the sides sometimes 'cause it was so narrow.
Zara: Yeah.
Audrey: And then going up and coming down. Was one area filled with water, another area went down before the ship could go. And then we uh, finally got through to, took a couple of days, I think. Um, got to the Pacific and then sailed down to New Zealand.
Georgie: Whereabouts in New Zealand, were you?
Audrey: Auckland.
Georgie: Oh yeah.
Zara: Oh, nice.
Audrey: North, north Northern New Zealand - Auckland. And, uh, we were there four years. And then Brian got offered a job in the UK.
Zara: Oh.
Audrey: Now, now stop me if you want to ask any questions.
Zara and Georgie: Oh, no, this is interesting. This is lovely.
Audrey: Oh, okay. Okay. Um, Brian got offered a job back in the UK, a pretty good job. So he said, come on. Yeah, we'll definitely go back. And I was rather pleased because - after London.
Zara: Yeah. London to New Zealand.
Audrey: It was from the sublime to the ridiculous, in a way, because it was so different.
Zara: Yeah.
Audrey: So nothing, you know, was London.
Zara: Bustling and busy and then-
Audrey: Can you imagine coming in?
Zara: Yeah.
Audrey: So we decided, so we went to see a travel agent, Henry, very important to remember that name.
Zara: Okay.
Audrey: Henry. He organised our trip home and, um, we were gonna fly the ship thing and we'd fly from Auckland to Hong Kong a couple of days in Hong Kong, Hong Kong down to, um, uh, one of those, uh, cities on that bit of the coast. Um, God - mind's got a blank. And then, and then from there we went to Athens. And then Athens, London.
Zara: Right.
Audrey: Now, Brian being a diabetic and also a smoker. Now, that's a bit of advice. Girls.
Georgie: Yeah.
Audrey: Do not take up smoking.
Zara: Don't plan on it.
Audrey: True. Good girl.
Georgie: And now they're vapes. So it's even more popular and accessible.
Audrey: Well, so I believe because I've never smoked. I tried it once and ugh, ugh.
Zara: Yeah.
Audrey: But Brian was, was a heavy smoker. Now we get to London, but during that six days across, he caught a, um, a, a bad cold, which by the time he got to London, it had turned to flu. So friends and Brian's mother met us. And we stayed with his mother overnight, but he got very sick and had to have the doctor. The doctor called the ambulance and Brian was put into hospital and he died the next day.
Georgie: Wow. That's a quick turn.
Zara: And you’d just gotten all the way to London.
Audrey: Yeah.
Zara: Oh, bless.
Audrey: Yeah. Well, I had nothing.
Zara: Yeah.
Audrey: Okay, might’ve been a bit of money in the bank,
Zara: But you just lost your husband.
Audrey: But that was it.
Georgie: Yeah.
Audrey: My home, my husband, everything.
Georgie: Were you, um, working at that point or-?
Audrey: Oh, oh, yes. I've, I've always worked. There again, see, being the comptometrist, I could always get work wherever and what time, you know, I could always go-
Zara: You lost-
Audrey: Big-
Georgie: Yeah.
Zara: -important.
Audrey: Yes. But, right. Yeah. He died the, the next day.
Georgie: Wow.
Audrey: So I then had to rethink… my whole life.
Georgie: Mm.
Audrey: So that was a challenge.
Georgie: Mm.
Audrey: But I tell you what girls, those challenges either make or break.
Georgie: Mm. Can I ask what Brian was like?
Audrey: Brian was, um, a year older than me. He was very funny and um, uh, just a normal kind of guy. You know, he-
Zara: Sometimes you need that.
Audrey: Yes.
Zara: Yes, I agree.
Audrey: He, he, he loved, loved the football, or as you call it soccer here, but you do not call it soccer in England.
Georgie: Soccer! Footy’s different.
Audrey: My God. Oh, that's, that's sacrilege. Football! And, um, oh yes. But he, he was just an ordinary guy. And, um, anyway, he, he died and, uh, so then I literally had to start my life over. Meanwhile, this Henry, the travel agent-
Zara and Georgie: Yeah.
Audrey: -had said to me before we left Auckland, what was I going to be doing? And I said, “Well, I don't know until I get there and get a job!” So he says, “We would like somebody to be near Gatwick Airport,” which is like a smaller version of the London airport.
Zara: Like Heathrow but smaller.
Audrey: Yes. Yeah. And they wanted a somebody, and we were going to be living near in that area and Henry said, would I be their rep to meet people off the planes?
Zara: Hmm.
Audrey: Yes, please!
Georgie: Sounds like a nice job.
Audrey: Sounds a terrific job. You know, not every day and only when there was a plane going to arrive and yes, please!
Zara: Well, that's nice of Henry,
Audrey: Yes!
Georgie: Shout out to Henry. Henry, wherever you are.
Audrey: Um, bit of communication with, with Henry, you know, and, uh, anyway, I then had to write and say, “Terribly sorry, I can't, I've got to get a full-time job. My life has turned upside down and uh, I dunno, at this stage where I'll be living. So I'm terribly sorry, but I can't help you.” So I get a letter back, say how sorry he is, and he would be in London, uh, towards the end of the year. And could I possibly come up and perhaps have a, a dinner with him or something you see, just to say hello. Now keeping in mind, I was in now in my thirties. So oh, terrific. Going, oh, right, going up to London. So yes, that, um, happened a couple of times, but then of course a romance started.
Zara and Georgie: Oooh.
Audrey: Boom, boom. A romance started. Well then after a time, um, when he came, 'cause being a travel agent organiser, he was to and fro.
Zara and Georgie: Yeah.
Audrey: -to different countries, places, you see. And he'd often be in London. So whenever he was in London, well then after a while when he was in London, he then came to stay with me because by that time I had bought a unit-
Georgie: That's good.
Audrey: -in Cheam.
Georgie: She's back!
Audrey: And I'm doing the, I'm doing the Mrs, Mrs. Castlemaine here. So here I am in Cheam. And so whenever he came to England, he then stayed with me.
Zara: Ah.
Audrey: So, and then, um, I had a couple of weekends in Paris and then after a year or so, or two, two years - Brian died in 1970, so, all this sort of fermented during that time, 1972. He then said he was going to open up an office in Sydney. Would I consider working in Sydney?
Zara: In Sydney?
Audrey: Would I what? Because traveling to me was, was everything. I, I loved traveling.
Zara: Seeing new places, traveling.
Audrey: Yes. Yes. And when Brian and I got married, we decided, no, we wouldn't have any family at that time. Because there was gone, having gone through the war and with everything coming back to life, we wanted to be part of that.
Zara: Experience it.
Georgie: Yeah, of course.
Audrey: You know, and being so near Europe, I mean, it was, there was too much out there.
Zara and Georgie: Yeah.
Audrey: To be having- stuck down with a baby or something.
Georgie: Mmm.
Zara: Yeah.
Audrey: And other members might like my sister and brother, they had family, so they were doing their bit, but I, I wasn't-
Zara: Wanted to see things and experience.
Audrey: I wanted to see the world!
Zara: Yeah.
Audrey: Anyway. Uh, yeah. So, uh, Henry, Henry, um, stayed with me and then, uh, yes, would I be interested in coming to Sydney? Oh, yes, please. Wow. Um, so, but me being me, if I'm gonna do something, I have to do it now. I can't fiddle and fluff around. So there again girls, if you want a bit of advice. If you're going to do something. Don't keep thinking about it. Do it. Now, you either make it work or you don't, but you don't know until you try.
Zara: That's very true.
Audrey: You see, you know, it, it, that is what I have discovered in life. Don't fluff, do it!
Zara: Don't wait around.
Audrey: Don't wait. No. So what did I do? I, I, I rented my flight. I bought my flight from London to Sydney and it was one of the first jets to fly that distance.
Zara and Georgie: Wow.
Audrey: A seven four seven.
Georgie: Isn't that scary though? You don't know if it's gonna work or not.
Audrey: Well, there was too exciting!
Georgie: Up in the air?
Audrey: Fly- yeah, to fly, to fly to Syd- to Australia! 12,000 miles away, even though anyway, 'cause my family thought I was stark raving mad. Stark raving mad 'cause I had a good job, had my home, but it was something different.
Georgie: And new and fun.
Audrey: Brand new and, and, and I was in love with this guy. And boom, boom, yes! I, so, I let him know what flight I'd be on and, um, took 36 hours in those days because it went via Europe.
Zara and Georgie: Yeah.
Audrey: See now it's India or somewhere and then across to-
Zara: Yeah, like Singapore.
Audrey: Yeah, That's right, yes. And then 22 hours or something I believe now. That, that took 36.
Georgie: Wow.
Audrey: But that, there again, it was an experience and when I got here, got off the plane, walked out, and there was no one there. There was no Henry, “Don't panic”, says me hanging onto my trolley. You know my case. “Don't panic.” And I had 50 pound on me, which was a hundred dollars because I, I, I thought he'd be there to meet me, you see?
Zara: Yeah.
Audrey: Well, what did they do in all the good movies? Well, I've gotta find somewhere to sleep tonight. Accommodation Bureau. Right. Told them I just arrived. Didn't know anything about Sydney, and I had very little money. Right. So she said, “Don't worry. Du du du du du du du.” She said, “There's a nice little hotel in Elizabeth Bay. Called the Bowery Guard.” “Okay,” says me, right? $4.50 B&B.
Georgie: $4.50?
Audrey: B&B. Yes. Okay, lovely. And I kind of thought, well, that, that's gonna last me a few days anyway. So, got the bus out to Elizabeth Bay, gone into my bedroom and it looked straight up the harbour.
Zara: Oh!
Audrey: Now what an introduction was that!
Georgie: I love Elizabeth Bay. It’s so pretty.
Audrey: Oh. And here I was, just arrived and got this view. I mean, that could have been anywhere in Sydney, couldn't it?
Georgie: Yeah.
Audrey: Anyhow, the receptionist was Mrs. Mrs, uh, um, it’ll come to me in a minute. Anyway, she was the receptionist. And next morning I thought, well, I've gotta get- no, first thing, I've gotta get a job. So, Mrs. Francis! Mrs. Francis, how do I get into the city to get to the employment agency? She said, “Well, that's easy. There's bus stop outside into the city to Hunter Street and there's an employment agent.” Well, I got a job straight away. I knew I would, no problem. So I got back to, to the Bowery Guard, but I could start this new job in three weeks. So I thought, well, that's okay. I'd still had a little bit of money. So, um, I got back to the hotel and Mrs. Francis said, “how'd you go?” And, “I've got a job lined up.” “Oh, good,” She said, “Good, good, good. When do you start?” “Three weeks time.” “Oh,” She said, “I'm going on holiday tomorrow and my replacement has just rung in, said she can't make it.” Would I be the receptionist for the next three weeks?
Georgie: Wow.
Zara: That, that's pretty good.
Georgie: That's a very good offer.
Audrey: Isn't that amazing?
Georgie: That's luck- amazing!
Audrey: I, I still look back and think, did that really happen? But here I was. Didn't know anybody, didn't know any, any- where I was, and I'm offered this job. I mean, it's a bit silly, isn't it? Being the receptionist at a hotel, not knowing the blooming city where you- that's immaterial. And I could have the- I got $35 a week pay and my bedroom.
Georgie: Nice. So you didn't have to pay for your hotel anymore, that you worked at?
Audrey: No.
Georgie: Oh, free accommodation!
Audrey: Yes!
Zara: Works out well.
Georgie: And you’re getting paid!
Audrey: And I got paid for being the receptionist for answering the phone, basically.
Zara: That's phenomenal!
Audrey: Because then I knew I had a job to go to at the end of those three weeks. Meanwhile, I got talking to this lady, there's a little park in Bellard Avenue and we'd meet and chat and so forth, and she was looking for somebody to share her unit in Elizabeth Bay.
Zara: Oh!
Audrey: Would I-
Georgie: You just have the luck of like everything!
Audrey: So here I had- after three weeks. I could move in with this Julia, again in Elizabeth Bay.
Zara: It's fate. You're meant to be in Sydney!
Audrey: Yes, and all because I had said yes at the very beginning. You take that chance and then you make it work. But you've got to, you've gotta be there to be able to, to make it work.
Georgie and Zara: Mm-hmm.
Audrey: But you've just gotta be strong enough and game enough, I suppose, to make those decisions, not have everything laid out for you. I mean, yeah, that's nice.
Georgie: Make the opportunity yourself.
Audrey: But if the opportunity comes up. Take it! Because it might not that ever again.
Georgie and Zara: Yeah.
Audrey: And then you work, you work from there. So I, um, I moved in with Julia. I have my job, and then life, life in Australia took off. And, um-
Zara: Where was Henry?
Georgie: That's what I was gonna ask.
Audrey: Well, when, when I, when I got to the house, I rang him up and said, “Where were you? You bastard! I've, I've, I've just arrived.” Well, he said, “I did warn you,” and I must admit, he did say things weren't going as they should. Uh, was I doing the right thing? See, but me being me-
Georgie: I would call him.
Audrey: If I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it now. Well, yes, I think I did. That's my advice. Opportunities come up, take them. And you, you, you make them work, but it can be a bit risky, but then crossing the road can be blooming, uh, risky. You know, you get a car going berserk and boom. And you are gone. So-
Zara: Take a chance.
Audrey: Take a chance! Yes.
Georgie: What about something that you'd ask your younger self or tell your younger self?
Audrey: What, what would I tell my younger self? Do not be afraid.
Zara: Me too.
Audrey: Yes, do, do not be afraid. Keep off, keep off things like alcohol. Well not alcohol. I mean, yeah, have a few drinks that, that's fine. I mean, I have a whiskey, whiskey at five o'clock every night.
Zara: Oh, that's nice.
Audrey: Five o'clock. It's my sun-downer. That much whiskey, that much lemonade.
Zara: Lemonade!
Georgie: Well, we’re not allowed the alcohol bit, but lemonade. I should tell my parents that I should have a lemonade at five o'clock every night before I go to bed.
Audrey: Yeah, that's right. It’s my sun-downer. So that is one thing that I, I do like and, um, but don't smoke. I wished my younger self, I wished I had talked to my parents more.
Georgie: Mm.
Audrey: You know, sit down over a cup of tea or something. If, if they've got the time even five minutes, say you'd like to know what their-
Georgie: Or over dinner.
Audrey: Over dinner. Yes. Over dinner.
Georgie: Over dinner is good.
Audrey: Because their, their lives as, uh, children. You have, you have no idea what it was like, have you?
Zara: No.
Audrey: That I had one grandmother who couldn't read or write till the day she died.
Georgie: Really?
Audrey: Mm. And she was 90-something when she, when she died, couldn't read or write.
Georgie: That's so interesting.
Audrey: But my other grandmother, my father's mother, she taught herself to read.
Georgie: Wow.
Audrey: And it turned out she was a very clever lady, but there again, I never sat down with them and asked about their childhood.
Georgie: Yeah.
Audrey: What made them do things or play or go to school or, well, it's too damn late now. Of course. But I do-
Georgie: People’s lives are so interesting.
Audrey: I do sort of suggest that to you.
Georgie and Zara: Mm.
Audrey: Just ask about their childhood. But yeah, just, just talk to them about when you were younger. And that, that is, that is one of my, uh, something you could tell your younger self. I wish I had known about my parents because their lives were so different too. Well you can imagine building up to the war, you know, and uh-
Georgie: -and having children in that time.
Audrey: Yes, that's right. And I have one brother in the Army and one brother in the Navy.
Georgie and Zara: Wow.
Audrey: So they, yeah, they were 16, 17 years older than me. And my, my brother in the Army, he got a bullet through the arm. So he, he got, and the other one was in the Navy and he was on an aircraft carrier. Which was super important. And uh, that was one thing. My, that brother in the Navy affected him. Um, anyway, that, that's, that's that I do know because I, um, when they came home on leave, I would be told, “You must be quiet.” I wasn't allowed to-
Georgie: Not to scare-
Audrey: Yes. See, I couldn't shut the door and shut the drawer or anything. Everything had to be very quiet because Troy and Ken were, or one, whoever was home. So I was very aware of that. So that was something I learned too. Yeah. Um, how, how it can affect people's minds.
Georgie: Is there anything else you'd like, want to get across or last advice before we wrap up?
Audrey: I don't think so.
Georgie: It's been so, so lovely talking to you.
Audrey: Well, I hope I haven't bored you.
Zara: Oh gosh, no!
Georgie: Anything but that - trust me.
Audrey: That's, that's-
Georgie: It's, no- Genuinely, so, so interesting.
Zara: Yes.
Georgie: I've loved- I've learned so much.
Zara: I've learned more-
Georgie: I've learned, I've learned so much about English history!
Zara: Yeah!
Audrey: Yes! So there we are girls. If there’s- alright, okay.
Georgie: International girl!
Audrey: Awwwww.
Georgie: She’s been everywhere!
Georgie: And that's all for today. Thank you so, so much for listening, and make sure to check out our website where you can find the transcript and all of our episodes to come.
Zara: Quick shout out to our wonderful team. Shyan for all our editing, Eva for design and my co-host for today, Georgie.
Georgie and Zara: With Love, From Bougainvillea, mwah!