Monday, October 24, 2011

Aerogram - David's Mother - Merrow - 20.2.1970

(By now our plans were underway for another couple of months in Europe, return to England then returning to Australia through Russia, across the Trans Siberian Railway to Japan then onto California for four months arriving back in Australia near the end of 1970.  Finances were tight and David's grandmother Dudu lent us some money to pay for the trip to California.)

Dear Mum,

     Time is drawing near - three weeks now to blast off by Hoovercraft* to Boulogne - same price as the boat, so why not, indeed.  We've just had a very thrilling letter from T. H. Jamison in India, indicating that he and 'Lizard' (Mary Elizabeth) will be in Greece at the end of March, just when we are supposed to reach Dubrovnik in Yugoslavia - almost next door so we're telling them to meet up with us.  What larks if we can do it and return to UK en-quatre.

     Glad to have your financial run down, and I'm sorry if we seem to have misunderstood each other,** it's all the result of what wasn't said rather than anything else, I didn't realize this, you didn't realize that, etc, etc, but may I say thank you very much for your Substantial support, word of which happily arrived in the same mail.  As you say a/c Kingston isn't dry, and Ruberoid and share divs have rolled in, but we really swore to ourselves we'd touch that only in the direst emergency, so as to have something approaching the deposit on a house to return to.  U.K. hasn't been over generous, it isn't to anyone the way taxes are (you name it, Mr Jenkins taxes it!) so we have enough cash now to see us around Europe and to feed us from Harwich to Carmel in May and June.  (arrive Carmel July 12th)***  I've asked T.E.A. to fix us up with the remaining taxi 'fare', plus duty payable in Australia etc.  Good on you for the Riberoid re-investment, not exactly a growth share these days I would say.  Also kudos on pressing for the Moth Div:  I honestly was surprised it was saleable, let alone to $60 extent!  That will serve as a handy standby.

     Well most things seem to be going our way - I hope some can be said for Cooma Cottage.****  I know you'll be persevering, despite apparent odds, it must pay in the end.  History being in short supply in Australia it's obviously a potentially valuable commodity like Taxis, I trust.  Not that I plan to sell, far from it  - it may even pay to fit the meter and ply for spare hire?

     So for now, thanks Mum for your very real concern - we're not in dire straits, of course just pretty finely tuned financially, will write again soon.

Love David

* Hoovercrafts finished service on the English Channel in 2000, the trip took 35 minutes 

**We got the impression in one of David's Mothers letters to us that she want us to come home and live in Cooma Cottage which was derelict and with not enough land to farm.

*** David's mothers brother lived in Carmel, California.  We were planning to visit him but because of lack of finances wrote and told him we would wouldn't be able to make it this time but he wrote and told us to come and he'd make it worth our while which we took to believe he would get us jobs, even if we didn't have working visa's.

**** David's Mother bought Cooma Cottage, from an ancestor of Hamilton Hume (Australian born Explorer) who built the cottage, she then tried to donate the cottage to the National Trust but they wouldn't take it because the roof was falling in so Mary paid for a new roof at the cost of $200,000.00 and in 1988 officially handed it over to the National Trust.

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