The Railway

The Abt. Railway in Queenstown was owned by the Mt. Lyell Company in Queenstown.

Back when I lived in Queenstown for 4 years, every Christmas we would have a school picnic and travel on the Steam train in open carriages to Strahan which is on the West Coast of Tasmania also.  It was great fun. The passage of the railway was over huge wooden bridges and with very steep mountains either side and deep drops, an absolute scenic route.
Then many years later the railway was restored as it is today.

Carriage made of Sassafras

  

Dubbil Barril a Station along the way.

In February 2013 the Federal Group who leased the railway many years later announced that it would be terminating its lease of the railway in April 2013. The company said that a downturn in business and a need for investment in infrastructure had caused the railway to no longer be viable. The Tasmanian government responded by estimating that maintaining the railway would cost $15 to $20 million, and that the government alone could not fund it.

Following track rehabilitation work, the railway re-opened between Queenstown and Dubbil Barril on 6 January 2014, while rehabilitation of the section through to Strahan continues.

Policeman's Daughter at Queenstown.

When I was about 11 years of age, my father was transferred to Queenstown on the West Coast of Tasmania, Australia.

Queenstown was a mining town with a lot of people, now the mine is closed and there are nearly 2,000 people with much unemployment due to the recent closure of the mine.

My mum, dad and myself lived in Queenstown for 4 years when times were good.  I had such fun attending the Catholic School, it's there I was taught by the nuns how to touch type, began my singing career, my modeling career, became interest in the law, looking after people, and much more.
I remember in the fairly new Town Hall how I danced ballet, Irish dancing, Spanish dancing, also I did tap dancing at concerts. Many people had never seen this done only in the movies - all due to Queenstowns isolation.
Scottish dancing I did at the main intersection of the town when someone important came to the town which was often. I would march behind the pipe band in full costume, and one of the bandsmen would carry my swords if I was going to do the sword dance, as I sometimes did for a change from the highland fling.  Again not many people had seen Scottish dancing.

Below are two photos of the marching team at that time - I am the first person on the right.
I don't have many photos of when I was at Queenstown or any other place for that matter.

Here we were practicing, again I am in the front on the right.

Happy Easter & The thought of being Kidnapped!

 Happy Easter :)

There was nothing like being a Policeman's daughter back when I was an 18 year old.  I had commenced my training the year before at a Private Hospital here in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia and loved every minute of it.
I did my study, plus going on duty. Days off were filled with joy and lots of fun. I had met my future husband not knowing that he would be at the time :)

I often noticed that no matter where I went there were always 2 men that seemed to be near by, but of course I thought at that time it was a coincidence plus really didn't take that much notice and went along my merry way doing what I normally do.
One day there was rather a lot of noise as in shouting, cars screeching their tires, men running everywhere, sirens and so on.  I remember being grabbed by the arms and waist by a man, pulled away from seeing what was going on, and the friend next to me, the same.

So why all the commotion?  I was told later that I was about to be kidnapped and have my face cut/disfigured in many places.  Not good to hear, and thinking how lucky I was to be rescued.
The two men that I always saw were special policemen who had followed me everywhere I went, day and night, they were my bodyguards without me knowing it, to take care of my safety.  Seems there was no way that I was permitted to go out alone or be alone for approximately 6 months until the supposedly kidnappers were caught.

My father being a Policeman of high rank had previously been responsible for several criminals being sent to prison for several years when I was much younger.  These same prisoners were after revenge and I was the target.  Of course someone told my father so hence the 'bodyguards' for me without my knowledge.

Thank goodness this type of  'thing' doesn't happen very often, well as far as I know it doesn't here in our country.

A Policeman's Daughter!

My father and I used to travel down south, down near Hobart to watch the Passing out Parade of the Police Officers at the Police Academy.  This is an event by invitation only.  We don't go now due to my father's health.

Always I loved to attend sitting outside with a canopy above our heads, rugs around our knees if it was cold as we watched the Police Officers march and do their 'stuff' as I call it.
The memorable things to me was looking at the vast area without a sole on the flat ground, then you heard the thunder of Police motorbikes coming from the distance up the hill to the flat area riding their bikes directly in front of us in formation. Then when their engines were turned off, in the distance we heard a high pitched noise and as it became louder the music to ones ear was lovely.  The Tasmanian Police Pipe Band, they came up the hill to the flat and marched.

I recall when I was a young teenager how I marched behind a pipe band (not the Police one), a lonesome female and when we all got to an intersection of the road, the band formed a circle, a piper placed my 2 swords in the middle of that same intersection and it's there that I did the Sword Dance.  I always did this on special occasions when my parents and I lived in a certain town in Tasmania, Australia for 4 years.

The video I did with my phone in 2008.

The Jail!

When I was about 9 years old I lived in another Police House with the Police Station attached to the house, so therefore my father's office along with his Juniors was joining the second lounge room where my Piano was situated.
I had my private tuition in piano and spent many hours practicing, infact my mother used to get cross because I spend so much time playing the piano, this continued throughout my life.
Practicing also got me out of doing so many things around the house :)

At the back of the house my bedroom looked onto the back lawn, then across from that was the 'Jail' in those days. Often there would be a great noise in the middle of the night and it was one of the Policemen putting someone in Jail.
The Jail doors were extremely dense with a round small hole in the middle of the door where the prisoner could peek out to see the grass, my bedroom window and the sky.

Often in the morning time or very early morning we would be woken with banging which came from the Jail.  It was always discovered that the Prisoners would be sitting on the floor with their feet hitting the door (no shoes).  Up my dad would get and tell them to be quiet.  Sometimes there would be glorious voices singing :) Mostly I was amused at all of this.
In the morning time my mother would make the Prisoners breakfast,  then accompanied by my dad to give the breakfast to the Prisoners.

One day I was on the lawn practicing my ballet leaps etc. and doing handstands, cartwheels when I heard a voice coming from one of the Jails, I also saw two fingers from the hole in the door and a voice saying 'Girlie, little Girlie, let me out of here'. I rang for my life inside for this surprised me greatly that I had been seen, or it was what he saw when I was doing my handstand, cartwheels and my ballet leaps. I didn't know we had a Prisoner and being a young child I was extremely embarrassed.

Cataract Gorge, Launceston, Tasmania

The Entrance to the Cataract Gorge, Launceston, Tasmania was discovered in 1804 by a William Collins. The Gorge as it's known locally or the Basin is short walk from the city.
Many an hour I spent as a teenager here at the Basin, swimming and sunbaking.  Oh Yes, I was delivered to the Basin by my father in a Police Car and collected a few hours later in same :)
That's how it was being the only daughter (child) of a Policeman.

 View of The Alexandra Suspension Bridge first built in 1904.

The Basin, no one ever knew how deep it was until recently - 19 meters deep, 62ft. in 2011.

 A view for the path going towards the swimming pool.

The Basin & Swimming Pool which is unsupervised. There is a Cafe, a few barbecues.  The city of Launceston is behind the hill.

Golf at Bothwell, Tasmania. Australia

Bothwell Golf Museum is situated in Bothwell which is the gateway to the highlands of Tasmania, Australia. This Golf Course was and is the oldest in Australia.

As a child I spend several School Holidays at Bothwell staying with relatives in a very old house with a large kitchen, and a wonderful very large open fireplace where my Auntie used to cook potatoes and vegies, and of course always had the kettle on the side boiling. Auntie did have a stove as well.

Then there were the stairs! How I loved the stairs. Of course my cousin and I were not permitted to go up the stairs as they were not safe.  Fancy telling ME that!
Off we would go if we thought Auntie wasn't watching to the rooms up above, they were large and not used, plus there was an Attic.  Oh, we did have such fun up there, my cousin and I.
Yes, we would consistently get into trouble, which only made us want to go more often Upstairs.

One set of my GGGrandparents are buried at Bothwell, two of the many Pioneers of that area.  The Homestead still stands today, actually distant cousins live in it and farm the land.

The Bothwell Golf Museum.

When I was 3

When I was about 3 years of age I lived in a Police house with my parents in New Norfolk, Tasmania for approximately 4 years before my dad was transferred to another town.
I remember many things that happened in New Norfolk when I lived there.

My dad used to polish the long wooden polished boards in the hall by having me on a soft rug and pulling me slowly down the hall, it was a big giggle.

My first dog was given to me at New Norfolk, I was terrified of dogs as a child so the dog was to help me overcome that hate of dogs, which it did.

I remember going down the street, my shoes getting dirty, and crying about it, they had to be wiped and then polished with my dads or mums hanky.

New Norfolk was where I first went to school  at the age of 3, came home at lunch time stood on a stool and turned the stove on for a meal to be cooked, both my parents came home for lunch.  After school I would go to the home of the nuns till one of my parents came to get me, sometimes I would be picked up by a young women who looked after me whilst my parents worked.

I recall one night when my dad was on night duty hearing footsteps at the front door, my mother and I hid behind the lounge, then my mother remembered that my bedroom window was open plus the back door - so she headed off to lock both as the person knocked loudly on the front door, then I could hear him walking down the side of the house in the dark of the night to the back door, both my mother and I scared as we were told to never open doors to strangers....it turned out this 'man' came looking for my father to do him some harm - this type of thing often happened, then I was a target for many years to come, one of the joys (I think not) back then of being a Policeman's daughter!  It was a great life.

The house I lived in once.