Page 74 - moondani kyema
P. 74
ndani kyema, My Story - Ray Moore 74
that were made of rope, the sensation of swimming in the small swimming pool like
some spud in a saucepan, the feeling of relaxation as you reclined on one of the not
too uncomfortable deck chairs that were available, the memory of the meals where
you had, to my eyes, a huge menu to choose from, and the indulgence of eating
whatever you wished, all these remain with me still. Don grant says the meals were
“splendid – the boys eating like horses!”
And then there was the
entertainment in the evening.
Whatever else there was, there
was dancing to the
accompaniment of a dance
band. I used to sit there for
hours beside the band, watching
and listening and soaking in the
rhythms which I would later
associate with jazz. The
drummer would use his brushes
to create an amazing swish,
swish sound that was just right
for the music. I loved the tones of the saxophones and clarinets and the sharp
penetrating sound of the trumpet. The heart beat of the double bass and the angel
voices from the violins. I was mesmerized.
We spent two days in Singapore and a day in Penang then we headed across the
northern parts of the Indian Ocean to Ceylon (today’s Sri Lanka). We berthed in
Colombo on October 9th. Here we stayed at the Keswick Home for the next twelve
days while we waited for a ship coming from England to take us to Australia.
We were taken to a place called Kandy in the middle of the island where we were
offered rides on some very muddy elephants. Our minders decided against it. Back
at Colombo, a couple of days later, I wandered off into a coconut plantation and
succeeded in retrieving a coconut and trying to extract the milk from it. As I was
concentrating on what I was doing, I wasn’t aware of the approaching footsteps until
a rather angry and certainly authoritative voice demanded to know what I thought I
was doing. I was taken up to the house and a European man came out who was
obviously the owner and told me to sit down. I told him what I had been doing and
said that I didn’t realise I had done anything wrong as there were no fences or
anything else indicating that it was private land. He called out something to his
lackey who presently came back with a huge glass of coconut milk. I was told to
drink it, almost as if this was my punishment. Although it did not come up to a good
glass of orangeade, it was still pretty good.
On 21st October we boarded the
Orcades for Australia. I loved sea
travel and remember only having
a short time of seasickness even
though some of the waves would
have dwarfed our ship as we
made our way across the Indian
Ocean. In Perth we were met by
Amy’s family and I found myself
that were made of rope, the sensation of swimming in the small swimming pool like
some spud in a saucepan, the feeling of relaxation as you reclined on one of the not
too uncomfortable deck chairs that were available, the memory of the meals where
you had, to my eyes, a huge menu to choose from, and the indulgence of eating
whatever you wished, all these remain with me still. Don grant says the meals were
“splendid – the boys eating like horses!”
And then there was the
entertainment in the evening.
Whatever else there was, there
was dancing to the
accompaniment of a dance
band. I used to sit there for
hours beside the band, watching
and listening and soaking in the
rhythms which I would later
associate with jazz. The
drummer would use his brushes
to create an amazing swish,
swish sound that was just right
for the music. I loved the tones of the saxophones and clarinets and the sharp
penetrating sound of the trumpet. The heart beat of the double bass and the angel
voices from the violins. I was mesmerized.
We spent two days in Singapore and a day in Penang then we headed across the
northern parts of the Indian Ocean to Ceylon (today’s Sri Lanka). We berthed in
Colombo on October 9th. Here we stayed at the Keswick Home for the next twelve
days while we waited for a ship coming from England to take us to Australia.
We were taken to a place called Kandy in the middle of the island where we were
offered rides on some very muddy elephants. Our minders decided against it. Back
at Colombo, a couple of days later, I wandered off into a coconut plantation and
succeeded in retrieving a coconut and trying to extract the milk from it. As I was
concentrating on what I was doing, I wasn’t aware of the approaching footsteps until
a rather angry and certainly authoritative voice demanded to know what I thought I
was doing. I was taken up to the house and a European man came out who was
obviously the owner and told me to sit down. I told him what I had been doing and
said that I didn’t realise I had done anything wrong as there were no fences or
anything else indicating that it was private land. He called out something to his
lackey who presently came back with a huge glass of coconut milk. I was told to
drink it, almost as if this was my punishment. Although it did not come up to a good
glass of orangeade, it was still pretty good.
On 21st October we boarded the
Orcades for Australia. I loved sea
travel and remember only having
a short time of seasickness even
though some of the waves would
have dwarfed our ship as we
made our way across the Indian
Ocean. In Perth we were met by
Amy’s family and I found myself
