Before we left home, my Grade 5 teacher back in Melbourne had given my parents a large pile of textbooks and several reams of school work exercises for me to complete, and I was supposed to spend a couple of hours every day while we were on the ship ploughing through all of this. I have absolutely no recollections whatsoever of doing any study at all. I'm sure my very diligent parents wouldn't have let me off the hook, so I suspect I've just wiped this unpleasant memory from my mind. I do however remember thinking as we got closer to home that this idyllic five month trip was nearly over, and that I would very soon have to return to the discipline and drudgery of school. I was looking forward to seeing my friends again
... read more
