Our Arrival in Australia

by Joyce Illguth

Sydney Opera House

I have been in Australia about 16 years. The day I arrived in Sydney, straight from the freezingJanuary blizzards of minus 26 Celsius in Southern Germany, I thought my heart would stop beating. The doors of the plane opened, and the heat of a dry hot summers day - 46 Celsius greeted us. I was so weary from lack of sleep and the turmoil of packing, loosing my home, and my daughter being rushed to have an emergency appendicectomy within the space of 5 days before our departure.

The airport was packed like sardines, especially the side for new immigrants and foreigners and it must have taken an hour or so to get our paper work sorted.

Half asleep, my husband and I helped our daughter along as she still had stitches. Finding our 11 cardboard boxes and 2 suitcases we bundled them on to a couple of trolleys and made our way out to the exit barrier…. loads of people were yelling out our names. I looked to the crowd, suddenly I was wide-awake, there was my younger sister and her children, my sister in law and friends. People presenting us with champagne and flowers….. I felt so important for a while.

Without haste we were bundled into the oldest car I have ever ridden in…out of the city and along the highway…I took in the wide roads and strange shopping area's thinking how they reminded me of the wild west scenery in cowboy films.

The heat was unbearable….it was so hot you could smell it…everything seemed to smell stronger than usual…can't explain it!

The journey went on and on. I thought I would suffocate, even the air rushing through the open windows was warm….I asked how long now before we are home.
"won't be long, It's just down the road" was the reply. (I soon learnt 'down the road' could mean 100kms away).

Just under an hour later we arrived in a place called Campbelltown, where my sister- in -law lived, which was to be our home for the next 6 weeks. I found myself lying down on the bare tiled bathroom floor from time to time, as it was the coolest place in the house. Our appetites had vanished all we wanted was water and for all our visitors to go home and let us sleep.

The very next day My husband Hans had to go to work.(It had been organised before a visa could be issued). I felt very out of my depth, very little money, $600 to be exact between us. Also a teen-aged daughter who's first language was German and who needed to attend school. It took me a week to venture out with my daughter Denise alone, we walked for miles until we found shops.

There was a big sign with Mall (pronounced Mull) written on top of the huge building. Eagerly we marched inside, totally absorbed in our air-conditioned surroundings, with bright lights everywhere...I spotted Woolworths, which naturally made me feel quite at home. But once inside I discovered it was hardware and clothing I was very disappointed. On exiting the store I was horrified as a lady stepped forward and said. "May I check your bag please Madam"?

My Husband & Singapore Slings

"No you can't " I snapped….What a cheek I said to my daughter and she agreed. The lady in a very Australian accent said. Yer not welcum er agin."

Hungry, we found a place serving chips and fried food. Standing for what seemed ages at the counter, one young girl kept looking at us and repeatedly asked "Yer right" to which I replied yes thankyou". Eventually this girl nudged another lady serving behind the counter and said "We've got a right one er" Then and only then did it dawn on me she was asking me what I wanted.

Having purchased our chips, we made our way outside the Mall and faced the heaviest downpour of rain I have ever encountered in my life. It was so torrential it hurt as it bounced on your back, but it was short lived, and within minutes turned to normal rain, This light warm shower of rain was a delightful cooling experience which we quickly learnt to appreciate. We wore only light weight clothing.. Our shoes were so wet we took them off and walked bare foot homeward bound…. Except an hour later we decided we were lost!

After what seemed like an eternity we flagged down a taxi. Apologising profusely to the driver that we had to get into his taxi dripping wet, he just laughed and said "I've got protection in the back"!! It wasn't until I got in the back that I realised the seats were covered in Plastic.

Relieved at arriving back to familiar surroundings I paid the Taxi driver, and was absolutely amazed when he called out. "See ya later" My daughter and I giggled, thinking the bloke was chatting me up. Needless to say it was a big let down when I discovered that's an everyday saying here for 'Till next time'!

Within six weeks my husband had bought an old bomb for $200, we moved into our first home in Bankstown, Up to this point we had not seen any Kangaroo's or Koala's, neither had we seen a beach. Our daughter settled into High school, and I cried most days for the first six months to go home.

At times it felt like I was learning a new language, as I discovered Australians have their own unique language, everything is "Dinky di" and everyone's a Possum, and at the end of every sentence comes 'That'll be right' or 'You're a worry'! 'Your not wrong'.
The hardest part for me was accepting their very laid back ways. For example, the kids don't have to wear shoes to school if they don't want to, but they must wear a school uniform!! No one calls you Mr or Mrs. everyone is greeted by their Christian name. Even at the doctors he is addressed as David and not Dr brown.

Sydney's China Town

Within a few months I discovered Sydney was not the place for us, there were too many fights between Lebanese, Maori and Vietnamese gangs. Although I loved visiting China town and visiting the fantastic restaurants, I wasn't prepared to lose my only daughter to a Muslim. (Our daughter had struck up a relationship with a Muslim fella a few years older than herself) For a week I travelled up and down the North coast looking for a suitable place to move to. Full of excitement I returned home with a contract on a house I had bought for $60.000. with mortgage repayments of 17%. My husband was pleased, but I can't say the same for my daughter….

Arriving at our new home my daughter cried and said she was humiliated, there was no way she was going to live in a caravan. (The house was wooden on low stilts which was foreign to her.)
By the end of the week we were all enjoying our new home and new school, better still my daughter had met a beautiful golden haired blue eyed boy so the Muslim was forgotten..

Typical Queensland low house

But you know life is funny at times. This lovely blonde boy eventually took my daughter away and we lost her for 5 years to some breakaway religion of the church of Jesus Christ. The long and the short of it was, we visited her on her 21st birthday, but we were not allowed on the premises. As I passed the presents for her through the door, I spotted her on top of the stairs. I forced my way in and bolted up the stairs towards her. Within minutes 4 people surrounded me. I held my own and told them I merely wanted to take my daughter out for a meal. By this time my husband summed up what my intentions were. I pushed my daughter hurriedly down the stairs and out the door. Within seconds she was in the Van and we were off being chased by members of the cult in cars.

Trying to calm ourselves, we headed for a nice posh Chinese restaurant in the hope that they wouldn't follow - they did. As we were seated, a couple of the guys approached and asked Denise if she was Ok. She calmly said "yes. We're just having a meal. I'll be back soon." They then left. With great relief we finished our meal and made our way home.

Our Cane Frogs

Life reverted back to normal again. Hans set up a business making wooden toys, and childrens furniture.

Baby whale off Bundaberg

After the initial struggle business went very well, we travelled the length and breath of New South Wales selling our very popular rocking horses and children's furniture, and so our new life began in Australia………..

The story continues with Part Two