It is 50yrs this November 2012, that i came to Fairbridge Molong. Robert Sellars ( RIP ) was the only other Fairbridge boy in our party, I remember him well.
Our escort was Mr Graham J Abbott. I vaguely remember docking in Sydney, and the cold overnight train journey to the farm school. It was also a shock to see the Australian rural landscape for the first time.
I was housed in Mort Cottage with Mrs Robertson as the cottage mother. This was all a bit of shock to me, as the orphanage in Cornwall England, was a grand three story house. I still remember the hard cyclone beds in the dormitories and how they were jammed so close together. Waking up in the morning was sometimes announced by a booming voice of the Deputy Principal. Breakfast in the Nuffield Hall was also an eye opener, steel plates, the mixing of the hard butter with the honey by the children, so it could be spread on huge slabs of bread.
Rugby training was foreign was to me, and not very enjoyable,but I did enjoy chopping wood on the wood pile. The other bad experience I had, was lining up for showers, in freezing cold water. The open locker room with everyone trying to change was a challenge,and this together with the spartan layout of the common room with its hard benches was not easy getting used too.
The standard of learning at the Molong Central School was probably the most stressful part of my first few weeks at Fairbridge. I had difficulty with Algebra, Mathematics and English, but did well at the animal Husbandry and gardening.
In my leisure I enjoyed the outings to the Molong Cinema and the Scout group activities and camps.
One of my few regrets was not really getting to know and appreciate the farming part of the Farm. Before I had the chance to settle into the life,my uncle and aunt made arrangements for me to live with them in Melbourne. I left Fairbridge at Christmas 1962.
Deciding to enter the Fairbridge scheme at 13 yrs old had a profound impact on my life, and I appreciate all the good people who helped me make my life successful.
Robert Taylor Alice Springs.
