Finally the day was drawing near. Tomorrow round 10.00 hours the ship would arrive with my wife on board. We decided that we would go and pick Theresa up in Tom’s van. That night, I couldn’t sleep a wink. I awoke about 6am and I felt a bright energy, so I decided to try and calm my nerves by putting everything in place. I was still bursting with nervous energy so I decided to go for a walk at a nearby park for some fresh air and buy some roses for Theresa. When I got back to the house after my walk, I found Tom giving the finishing touches to the cleaning of his van. Then, at about 9am we headed off for the Port Melbourne to start my new life with Theresa.

When we arrived, there were a lot of people waiting as usual. At about 11am she appeared, followed by Di Nuccio helping her with a small bag. As soon as she stepped onto the pier I was waiting for Theresa with the roses and she fell straight into my arms, crying with joy. Then she embraced her sister Concetta, Michael and his family. I introduced her to Tom and Anne and we all went home to a little party.

I took a week off work and we decided to go for a trip to Robinvale with Tom in his van to visit my brother. Our idea was to also drive through Mildura, Adelaide and down the Great Ocean Road to Colac and the other towns on that road before heading back to Melbourne; but it had been raining heavily for weeks and we found much of the road flooded from the Murray River, so we had to take a detour on a secluded country road. Eventually we arrived at Robinvale which was like one big lake from all the rain. Just before the township on the New South Wales side, there was a wooden bridge which was very scary to drive across.

After driving around for a while we finally found my brother’s little farm. There he grew vegetables for the market. His compare Zaffina’s farm stood next to his and then there was Tropea’s farm a little farther on. All of them used the same water pump.

We found Dominic on his farm and seeing us he came to greet us. They were renting the land from an Australian ‘land baron’ who had bought it from the Government for few pennies an acre to grow sheep. The next morning we went rabbit hunting. The rabbits were everywhere and they were not scared at all, so we shot a couple and went back to the house.

Two days later we were on the road to Mildura 75 km away on the Stuart Highway. Compared to Robinvale, Mildura was a nice modern country town. The weather in that area was much better all year ‘round than in Melbourne, with good red soil and lots of vineyards and orange orchards. We stopped for a while to look around, and took a trip drifting down the River Murray in a paddleboat. Tina and Anne were quite happy together, enjoying each other’s company with their broken English. We stayed for two days and got back onto the Stuart Highway to Adelaide early in the morning. On the road you could see so much wheat fields yet only a few little rural towns.

We reached Adelaide, “the city of churches” in the afternoon and after having a look around, we decided to stay for the night. After dinner we stayed in a motel to relax with our wives and to have some privacy. In the morning we drove along the Great Ocean Road, so-called because it twists and turns along the whole coastline between South Australia and Victoria. We had to travel slowly on the many bends with the sea perilously below. Occasionally we stopped to enjoy the spectacular views which make the road so ‘great’.

At Mount Gambier Lighthouse we stopped to take some pictures and have a cappuccino and a sandwich. After another hour of travelling we were back home in Victoria. At Portland we stopped for lunch and to give Tom a rest from his driving. The next stop was Geelong, a nice town for holidays and from there on the new highway to Melbourne.

This had been my first holiday in nearly three years of working, saving and achieving to have my wife and my brother in Australia. Now I was a married man with a beautiful and gorgeous woman and life had changed for me altogether. But even at this early stage I could detect my wife was the bossy type. On the trip she had enjoyed herself with Anne for company and she seemed very happy.

During the summer months, we made it a family tradition take Sunday journeys to Elwood beach with Concetta’s family. Back in the sixties it was a nice spot with small shady trees that provided protection from the stinging Australian sunshine. These were happy times for us. Then one day came the news that would again change my life for ever. Teresa was pregnant with our first child.

I had been working at Ludbrooks for nearly four years. The woman owner whose name escapes me at the moment was a nice, gentle woman. She gave me the opportunity of a career in prosthetics. But alas, she decided to sell her business and retire, so now I had to start looking once again for a job to support my young family.

By then I had really advanced my skills in this profession and my English had improved dramatically. Tom and I started looking round to buy a block of land to build a home on and even Michele my brother-in-law was interested. Eventually we found a house block near Box Hill railway station. Michele and I decided to buy two adjoining blocks. 

The Box Hill Council told us that we would be allowed to erect temporary garage accommodation on the land, so we built a structure thirty feet long and ten feet wide. Here we lived as we gradually began building the houses we would soon live in. It was a beautiful spot on a hillside. Next to our block was a large property with cows grazing. It belonged to the Monastery which we could see nestled amongst big trees. We didn’t have water or electricity on the property, so we decided to arrange a connection and the three of us would share the cost.

Slowly we helped each other to build the garages, line them with plaster sheets, concrete the floor and painted the walls and ceilings.  We had to help Michael a lot as he didn’t have much experience in all this. After three months we left the boarding house where we’d lived during the construction and went to live on our new property.

I was looking for a new job when I heard the Melbourne Metropolitan Railways were looking for Station Assistants, the job requiring a good knowledge of English. I was getting on okay with my English at night school, so after an exam and two weeks job preparation I was given a position as a Station Assistant, and managed to get posted at Box Hill station, just three kilometres away from where we lived. This was a big change from Italy where to get a job like this was almost impossible.