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Karen heard friends at school talking about Australia & decided the whole family should emigrate. A shortage of tradesmen in WA meant that her parents Tom & Jo could find employment. Tom's job didn't allow hire to work yearly. Through TV ads and Employer's Federation telling us there was a boom in Perth, we decided to give it a try. We set sail on a cold wet day the 17/03/1969. First night at sea was rough. Out of 1750 passengers, only 2 turned up for breakfast, Tom was one of them. The trip was good until we were 4 days into the Indian Ocean then were bit by terrible storms. The ship stopped dead at 6am one morning and we were thrown out of our bunks. We grabbed out life jackets and went to check, only to find the Bosun had been washed overboard. The rest of the trip was solemn, the sun shone and we saw flying fish. Everyone was getting excited. On 14 April Tom mustered us on deck where we had our first glimpse of Australia at 5am, the sun rising over Rottnest, a beautiful sight. This was the beginning of a new life and we have never looked back.

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