I mention in this post, that the service on board the P & O Liner was excellent. Well, apart from the Irish steward, we also had a personal cabin steward. Because of the two babies, we were given a first class cabin on C Deck! There worked any number of dark coloured Indians on board this ocean liner. There was a bulletin published every day by the captain and crew. More than half the passengers were from Britain. a lot of them subsidized migrants to Australia. The rest of the passengers were subsidized migrants from Germany. In the cabin next to our cabin was a young German migrant family with kids the same age as our kids. We are still good friends with the rest of the family. Unfortunately, Karl-Heinz, the father, and Gudrun, their daughter died an early death. We met the other day Doris, the mother, and Michael the son. After ten years in Australia the family had gone back to Berlin, where Karl-Heinz established a well going business for alarm installations. Michael is leading this business now.
The SS STRAITHAIRD had come from Southampton via Cuxhaven to go to Port Melbourne, Australia. The voyage took five weeks. The service on board the P & O Liner was excellent. At mealtimes we had a table-steward to look after eight people at our table.
Our steward was Irish and always quick on the move. He assumed, everyone would be eating all three courses for every meal. That meant, he usually had the dessert already waiting on his serving table before everyone had finished their second course.
One day two people refused to have dessert. Our steward looked pleadingly at me and Peter, for he knew us to be good eaters: We always emptied our plates! “Please, would you like a second dessert? See, I am not supposed to take it back to the kitchen,” he said. My husband and I gladly accepted a second dessert…
Auntie, Sister. Grandmother, Great-Grandmother,
Mother and Wife of German Descent
I've lived in Australia since 1959 together with my husband Peter. We have four children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. I started blogging because I wanted to publish some of my childhood memories. I am blogging now also some of my other memories. I like to publish some photos too as well as a little bit of a diary from the present time. Occasionally I publish a story with a bit of fiction in it. Peter, my husband, is publishing some of his stories under berlioz1935.wordpress.com
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I had friends who went to Australia from the UK under the “Big Brother” scheme – it cost £10, which was really very cheap, less than the average weekly wage. But what a long way it was back then – we didn’t ever expect to see them again.
A number of German migrants, that became our friends, went back to Germany after a few years in Australia. I mentioned for instance one family in the above post, that did not stay in Australia.
I am glad, Cat, that we stayed in Australia, and became Australian citizens. 🙂
AuntyUta 
Love your memories.
Yes, Granny, I’m glad that I can still write about these memories from a long time ago. 🙂
I had friends who went to Australia from the UK under the “Big Brother” scheme – it cost £10, which was really very cheap, less than the average weekly wage. But what a long way it was back then – we didn’t ever expect to see them again.
A number of German migrants, that became our friends, went back to Germany after a few years in Australia. I mentioned for instance one family in the above post, that did not stay in Australia.
I am glad, Cat, that we stayed in Australia, and became Australian citizens. 🙂