“At the time Menzies said – Let them come and defend the border between NSW and QLD. The border was a barb wire fence line from tree to tree starting at Tweed Heads and going inland and we were supposed to defend that.
My brother and I came home and got a job stacking peanuts at Kingaroy. We would put 14,000 bags in a stack. It was heavy work. We camped at the show ground while we worked there. I did a bit of boxing training to defend myself because 3pm every day some of the blokes would come from the pub and want a fight. Joh Bjelke Petersen owned a property at Kingaroy and he had sheep. Overnight they had to be yarded because of Dingoes. They were putting the rabbit proof fence right across from South Australia to QLD. It became rusty and the dogs were getting through so they replaced about 20 mile of it. Old Joh and his mates went out and cut the rusty bit out and fixed it. My brother Harold and I got the job to drive the dozers to pull down scrub. Joh looked after us. He’d always find us and bring us money and some meat every Thursday. Later on I’d go up the Bunya Mountains and Joh would always find me and bring me a case of fruit.
I had a stint at share farming which was hard yakka and then we worked in Stanthorpe for a while picking apples, pears and peaches. When I was 21 my Mum said she was sending me a birthday cake in the mail. I used to go the Post Office and nothing came. I kept checking for days and days. My birthday came around and my brother and I had just gone to bed when a couple of cars came up the road. The girls from the Post office got the cake and they came out to have a birthday party. A few others from the local grocers came too. All we had for music was the old gramophone but we had a wonderful party.
We grew wheat but there were no loaders in those days so we’d have to lift 180 pound bags in 3 stages. We’d put 8 ton on a truck all by hand. I got married and managed a hardware shop in Dalby. I was doing everything there till 10 o’clock at night and still taking work home. I got very ill and the Doc said if you don’t get out of there you’ll be carried out in a box.
I took the brother around Australia. He had lost both his legs due to circulation problems. He worked in the Dalby butter factory and he would pull these massive blocks of ice out of the cold storage onto his legs and into the wagon. After a while the tiny vessels in his legs were frozen and died. He had a boil on his foot, they lanced it in Toowoomba and it turned into an ulcer. It never healed because of his lack of circulation. They chopped his leg off just below his knee. The next time they took his other leg he got golden staph in a brand new hospital. He cured it himself by sitting for hours with the hot sun on it. He went home and made a trailer to cart sheep and he drove the tractor to keep working. Harold went for a holiday in Fiji and met a girl over there. They got him drunk and he got married. He brought her back here and they had to live with the mother. She had about 8 miscarriages which was so sad.
Harold died but I’m so glad I got to take hime around Australia. When I was in Perth I noticed a red lump on his leg. We’d keep it clean and dressed but he wasn’t good. I told him I’d fly him home and get someone to pick him up in Brisbane. He said – Brother I’ve come this far with you, I want to go the rest. I nearly died, We came across the Nullabor. I was going as far as Goondiwindi and he said it’s not far too Moonee now so we got there. It’s not far to Dalby now, he said. I said well I’m buggered doing all the driving all day. Anyway I got him home. When I returned I met Gloria again and we got married.
Gloria – Lester really wanted to go to Egypt and there was a painter guy called Brian who wanted to go with him so I booked a trip. They went to Egypt and Africa for 6 weeks. We only met up with Brian recently and we talked about the times with the Masai. There was no water where they lived so they had to travel and then bring their stock back at night because of Lions. They slept on hides with 4 pegs holding them up in bush huts. There was nothing to drink so they would stick a knife into the jugular of a beast and get blood to mix with the milk. Brian disappeared the minute he saw this. He was hiding in the bus.
Gloria – Lester was at my wedding when I was 19. He was at my brothers wedding and he was my Dad’s bowling partner. I was married to a Drover before that. Lester and I met up years and years later in the street and I asked him if he was still in Real Estate because I was getting a divorce and selling the house. He was just leaving on that trip with his brother around Australia for 12. 12 months later we met up in Lismore and we’ve been together ever since. 40 years ago. I was working at Lismore Workers and then at Keen Street Clinic where I worked for 3 years. We got married and I bought a dress shop in the Star Court Arcade and called it Glor-B and Lester started the paint shop, Drive-In Paint and Hardware in Keen St near the Rous Hotel. We had those businesses for 12 years
Lester – I’ve had a wonderful 40 years with Gloria. She is such a beautiful person. I was married previously as I said and I have 2 sons and a daughter. Both boys are retired now. Ross lives in Bundaberg and he’s an Electrician. David is in Dalby and he was with Engine Australia and my daughter is in Westbrook on a property.
Gloria – I’m 84 now. I have 4 daughters. I had two by the time I was 20 and then 8 years later I had another two. I couldn’t go droving after that. When I had the first two I took them droving with me but when they started school I couldn’t. I would go for 9 months droving cattle from Aramac in the north to the Jerilderie border. A lot of miles, a lot of horses. No vehicle at first so I was pregnant in the saddle till I was 8 months. I got home, had the baby and when she was 4 months old I fell pregnant again and took them both droving. We finally bought a vehicle with a mattress in the back for the children. I slept under the stars before we had a vehicle. I‘d shoe the horses, feed the dogs and cook for five men. That’s another story. I do remember sitting on the tailboard of the vehicle and a snake coming toward my kids. I had a tomahawk beside me, I threw it and cut the snake in half. He was an unlucky snake.
I used to be a Governess at a property in Tara and it was alive with Death Adders. Day or night the Death Adders would be everywhere. I had a gauze door and the snakes would be crawling up it at night. One night a snake came in and we saw it crawl up into a lounge. The kids I was nannying and I sat on a billiard table for 4 hours till the parents returned. I was too scared. That was when I met my first husband. I had to sleep with his mother in the same bed for 2 years when we met, never had sex for 2 years.
Lester – That country is full of Death Adders. One time I killed 31 in 32 miles.
Gloria – I have 8 grandchildren and I have great grandchildren too and Lester has 8 grandchildren as well. I’m only on one medication because I had a mini stroke 20 years ago and Lester isn’t on any medication. How wonderful does he look for 95?
Lester – We look after ourselves, we mow and do all our own home maintenance. We paint the deck. We used to go up and see the family but Covid has put a stop to a lot of that. We’ve had a wonderful life and still do.”
My brother and I came home and got a job stacking peanuts at Kingaroy. We would put 14,000 bags in a stack. It was heavy work. We camped at the show ground while we worked there. I did a bit of boxing training to defend myself because 3pm every day some of the blokes would come from the pub and want a fight. Joh Bjelke Petersen owned a property at Kingaroy and he had sheep. Overnight they had to be yarded because of Dingoes. They were putting the rabbit proof fence right across from South Australia to QLD. It became rusty and the dogs were getting through so they replaced about 20 mile of it. Old Joh and his mates went out and cut the rusty bit out and fixed it. My brother Harold and I got the job to drive the dozers to pull down scrub. Joh looked after us. He’d always find us and bring us money and some meat every Thursday. Later on I’d go up the Bunya Mountains and Joh would always find me and bring me a case of fruit.
I had a stint at share farming which was hard yakka and then we worked in Stanthorpe for a while picking apples, pears and peaches. When I was 21 my Mum said she was sending me a birthday cake in the mail. I used to go the Post Office and nothing came. I kept checking for days and days. My birthday came around and my brother and I had just gone to bed when a couple of cars came up the road. The girls from the Post office got the cake and they came out to have a birthday party. A few others from the local grocers came too. All we had for music was the old gramophone but we had a wonderful party.
We grew wheat but there were no loaders in those days so we’d have to lift 180 pound bags in 3 stages. We’d put 8 ton on a truck all by hand. I got married and managed a hardware shop in Dalby. I was doing everything there till 10 o’clock at night and still taking work home. I got very ill and the Doc said if you don’t get out of there you’ll be carried out in a box.
I took the brother around Australia. He had lost both his legs due to circulation problems. He worked in the Dalby butter factory and he would pull these massive blocks of ice out of the cold storage onto his legs and into the wagon. After a while the tiny vessels in his legs were frozen and died. He had a boil on his foot, they lanced it in Toowoomba and it turned into an ulcer. It never healed because of his lack of circulation. They chopped his leg off just below his knee. The next time they took his other leg he got golden staph in a brand new hospital. He cured it himself by sitting for hours with the hot sun on it. He went home and made a trailer to cart sheep and he drove the tractor to keep working. Harold went for a holiday in Fiji and met a girl over there. They got him drunk and he got married. He brought her back here and they had to live with the mother. She had about 8 miscarriages which was so sad.
Harold died but I’m so glad I got to take hime around Australia. When I was in Perth I noticed a red lump on his leg. We’d keep it clean and dressed but he wasn’t good. I told him I’d fly him home and get someone to pick him up in Brisbane. He said – Brother I’ve come this far with you, I want to go the rest. I nearly died, We came across the Nullabor. I was going as far as Goondiwindi and he said it’s not far too Moonee now so we got there. It’s not far to Dalby now, he said. I said well I’m buggered doing all the driving all day. Anyway I got him home. When I returned I met Gloria again and we got married.
Gloria – Lester really wanted to go to Egypt and there was a painter guy called Brian who wanted to go with him so I booked a trip. They went to Egypt and Africa for 6 weeks. We only met up with Brian recently and we talked about the times with the Masai. There was no water where they lived so they had to travel and then bring their stock back at night because of Lions. They slept on hides with 4 pegs holding them up in bush huts. There was nothing to drink so they would stick a knife into the jugular of a beast and get blood to mix with the milk. Brian disappeared the minute he saw this. He was hiding in the bus.
Gloria – Lester was at my wedding when I was 19. He was at my brothers wedding and he was my Dad’s bowling partner. I was married to a Drover before that. Lester and I met up years and years later in the street and I asked him if he was still in Real Estate because I was getting a divorce and selling the house. He was just leaving on that trip with his brother around Australia for 12. 12 months later we met up in Lismore and we’ve been together ever since. 40 years ago. I was working at Lismore Workers and then at Keen Street Clinic where I worked for 3 years. We got married and I bought a dress shop in the Star Court Arcade and called it Glor-B and Lester started the paint shop, Drive-In Paint and Hardware in Keen St near the Rous Hotel. We had those businesses for 12 years
Lester – I’ve had a wonderful 40 years with Gloria. She is such a beautiful person. I was married previously as I said and I have 2 sons and a daughter. Both boys are retired now. Ross lives in Bundaberg and he’s an Electrician. David is in Dalby and he was with Engine Australia and my daughter is in Westbrook on a property.
Gloria – I’m 84 now. I have 4 daughters. I had two by the time I was 20 and then 8 years later I had another two. I couldn’t go droving after that. When I had the first two I took them droving with me but when they started school I couldn’t. I would go for 9 months droving cattle from Aramac in the north to the Jerilderie border. A lot of miles, a lot of horses. No vehicle at first so I was pregnant in the saddle till I was 8 months. I got home, had the baby and when she was 4 months old I fell pregnant again and took them both droving. We finally bought a vehicle with a mattress in the back for the children. I slept under the stars before we had a vehicle. I‘d shoe the horses, feed the dogs and cook for five men. That’s another story. I do remember sitting on the tailboard of the vehicle and a snake coming toward my kids. I had a tomahawk beside me, I threw it and cut the snake in half. He was an unlucky snake.
I used to be a Governess at a property in Tara and it was alive with Death Adders. Day or night the Death Adders would be everywhere. I had a gauze door and the snakes would be crawling up it at night. One night a snake came in and we saw it crawl up into a lounge. The kids I was nannying and I sat on a billiard table for 4 hours till the parents returned. I was too scared. That was when I met my first husband. I had to sleep with his mother in the same bed for 2 years when we met, never had sex for 2 years.
Lester – That country is full of Death Adders. One time I killed 31 in 32 miles.
Gloria – I have 8 grandchildren and I have great grandchildren too and Lester has 8 grandchildren as well. I’m only on one medication because I had a mini stroke 20 years ago and Lester isn’t on any medication. How wonderful does he look for 95?
Lester – We look after ourselves, we mow and do all our own home maintenance. We paint the deck. We used to go up and see the family but Covid has put a stop to a lot of that. We’ve had a wonderful life and still do.”