I am now living in a very beautiful part of Australia with my wife of 62 years, my daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons. After serving with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan I was demobbed in 1947. I married Diana in 1948 and, in 1951, we decided to take our chance and come to Australia. It was a very big step to take but one that was filled with hope and trust in ones judgement. We are still here after 59 years and happily living in the Gold Coast hinterland, up in the mountains of Queensland.

The view from Queensland looking over to NSW

My present challenge is my garden. It is large with a varied amount of plants and trees, including; Avocados, Custard Apples, Lemons, soft fruits and vegetables, which feed us and a number of neighbours in the township. As you know I’m the eldest of four brothers, Michael, Bob, John and myself who attended Mayfield School, unfortunately John died on May 4, 2009.

My 85 Birthday
August 2011

This is my first post for over a year, due to health reasons, and here we are again in another wet season, but this time it is different. The East Coast, where I live, has missed most of it this year with the main rain being west of the Great Dividing Range. We live up in the Hinterland on Beechmont Mountain where Arctic Beeches have grown since the last ice age, but are now very rare. We have no mains water, but four large tanks catch the rain for our supply and all the tanks are currently full. From where we live we can see for miles and miles over the Mountain Ranges and overlook a big dam which supplies the South East of Queensland with water. The rains this year have been very severe and many thousands of people living in the path of the floods face total devastation. The following video will give you an idea of how bad it is.