I had their attention

1957
Pete was 18 and Merv and I both 19....We were on our way to New Zealand .....a few days out of Vancouver and let the Chips fall where they may.....Little did Pete know he would live there for 27 years...New years had just passed...Mervin had his passport stolen from his jacket at a club in San Francisco on New Years Eve....It was called the Monkey Inn.....people carved their names in the wall with a screwdriver.... San Francisco was the first port of call of the Orient Lines "Oronsay" a big time passenger boat from the stock of "The Orient Line"...I think there was about 4 or 5 ocean liners ....There was tourist class and first class fares on the Ship..tourist class was smaller and at the back of the boat, it had a small pool and a fair amount of deck room for games and laying around in the sun....not as swank as the accomodation of today but we thought it was wonderful.You could lean on the back rail and stare into that beautiful Pacific Ocean as the props stirred up a turquoise , blue and white wake to be seen as far back as the edge of the earth ..The second port was Honolulu.....that port was tremendously tourist trendy...there was at least 7 hotels on Waikiki beach......a hundred people were milling around but that was okay there was lots of grassy parks and nice lawn areas between the hotels....there were major stores like Woolworths and ....umm I remember Woolworths ... I bought a shirt there.....they took any country's money.We used the pound sterling on the English liner,Hawaii was not a state then. We rented a 54 chevrolete convertible...drove all over...swam in waves as big as a house...dive into them or expect a pounding....I learned that in a hurry......a hotel bar that evening...It was first time I had watercress....it was good.......Mervin bought a bottle of the most gawd awful drink....Sake.... Honolulu was beautiful...but we thought it was crowded (If only we had any notion it would get so popular)...the weather was perfect...hey, we had just left a crappy winter drive with our folks to Vancouver... bye mum, bye dad........ Okay off to Suva, Fiji.....Its getting hot...whew...the rooms were to hot to sleep in..air was pumped in at outside temperature....so they gave us deck cots...set em up anywhere.....we usually went out on the side promenade decks.....we had formed an amazing group of friends by then and it was party night every night......sleep seemed like a good idea at the end of a long singing and drinking session, so out we go to the deck....I grabbed a cot and put my stuff underneath it and quickly went to sleep....wotta life....I woke up to the sound of sailors....hey let's go...we are washing the deck.....I looked ...yeah they were...ok, I will take this cot into the bar, right here through this door.....ahhh that's better....back to wonderful sleep.......later there is commotion around ....I wake up and realize the scene ..oh, okay...another morning, hmm .....where is the lavatory...BOING it hits me....my wallet..comb...where is it ...oh gawd,.... I left em on the deck...those sailors....jeez those underpaid sailors....I just bought that comb......now I feel sick...everything in my world is in that wallet....52 bucks and travelers cheques....what to do.....panic.....okay for a while anyway......so we talk it over ..what?......the cheques.....I don't know ...you will get the travelers cheques back....I think...I hope...it will take a long while?...I did not know but I knew I was broke ......I asked ranky sailors and tried the lost and found, I stewed and fretted...finally that evening I left the party and made my way to the sailors area.....hey, they were having a party...right in the pointy part of the ship........there was a lot of sailors...dancing..yeah...some had on wigs and lipstick...that looks like fun...the band was some guitars, ukuleles and a drum made from a tub.....they sounded pretty good...they looked pretty good ..haha....I was away above them...I climbed on the railings and ropes.....I could see everyone down there......I yelled out.....HEY.....the music stopped ...I had their attention.......then I went into a have pity story.....It's all I own in the world .....I'm so screwed......I told them all where I was and at what time it happened ,how would they feel if they were miles from home and ...they were miles from home...and Broke...I gave it my best.....and then I was done...If that does not work...why would it...just pick up the wallet ..pull the cash...throw it overboard........hmmm......anyway....back to our party ....we three were called the Chilliwacks.....I think it sounded to Kiwis and Aussies like the Maori language....Except for a few Scots and an Englishman, our new friends were returning Aussies and Kiwis....everyone was 5 or 6 years older than us.......that did not matter.The next morning , I go to the pursers office as I had many times by now,...Wots up today?...........Is this yours...ohh.... WOW...I take it and slowly open the wallet......yep my travelers cheques are there...oh man.....450 dollars.....I'm not broke.....okay the 52 bucks are gone but my personal stuff is also intact......what a feeling........I cash a cheque and pay back the few bucks I owe.....ok, let's get on with this journey.....It took 16 days on board ship.....we were well looked after...good meals and entertainment every night or we made our own.....the group of people we hung out with were a terrific bunch...and we all became closely knit....many raved about that crossing as the best one they were ever on.....yep, that left memories burnt in our minds...we still talk about it.Many connections were made on that Oronsay crossing ...The stolen passport in Sanfrasisco led to other adventures in New Zealand as Wellington was the home of the Canadian Council and Merv had to go there to get things straightened out. After reaching Auckland that was first on his to do list. Okay, I joined up and we decided to hitch hike to Wellington...that was about six hundred miles... its not that far?...yes it is if you take the east coast route like we did. Peter stayed in Auckland and went to work.

cultus lake...1950

Flat Earth Cartoon Update..............

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Chilliwack Flat Earth society in Action

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Growing up in Chilliwack......1950

Cultus Lake was a big part of summer life in the our house....It was an annual thing, we stayed at the lake for 2 weeks in the summer...Mum loved it ...and was swimming every chance she had...dad wasn't much on that ..he proffered to rest and relax in any of his spare time...I remember him driving to Chilliwack to work in the morning...so I guess he usually left the fun stuff for us....Faye was a teenager, we passed at times, horsed around a little but were so into our own stuff, but I do remember a profitable little scam when those big teenage guys and girls were around...If I hung around long enough I could get paid to go away...what a deal....It worked practically every time...hey, 25c would buy a coke and cardboard dish of fries from the Pavilion...The Pavilion...I can remember what it smells like...the aroma of hot french fries, sun tan lotion, wet towels and all the other things connected with people having fun at the beach....In the early days of camping in a tent or our great RV dad made from the ice truck.......the Pavilion was a short run....a Wurlitzer in the covered outdoor area droned out music at 5 cents a pop..or 6 for a quarter......Frankie Lane was wailing "Mule Train" or "Flight of the Bumble Bee" by "Piano Roll Cook" was banging away......"I'm a Big Girl Now" seemed to be every third selection.....and " 5 Salted Peanuts".......I could hang around there for ages and watch the big teenagers....they fascinated me....There were initials with hearts and arrows carved in the posts and railings.........hundreds and hundreds of them...eventually mine were in there as well....on Saturday night there was always a dance..they could dance right out to an opened screened off area ...O man, was that entertaining ...It was hard to leave and head home ....that is usually when the action started....but I saw more as I got older and stayed out and watched later, then eventually I was one of those people and not a kid looking in from the shadows.....In the daytime, summer people...most in bathing suits...milled all through the Pavilion...it was walk through.....the stools would usually all be taken and stand up ordering was sometimes 4 deep.....they made great milkshakes served in wax cardboard containers and they were fifteen cents at that time...chips, fifteen cents......... we carried a towel with all our stuff wrapped in it... ......like shoes and pants ... we never thought to have a soft case or satchel...I don't know why...it was always so awkward...the shoes falling out..etc....hmmm..I don't know what the girls used except for the little purple seagrams whiskey bags, the gals all seemed to one of them.........girls were not on the radar yet.......we could take a chance and leave our stuff the wharf...but it was packed with people at the tower area....that just would not work well...there was about four, five cent pin ball machines ....supposed to be 16 to play them but that was never enforced....there was some rods across the rafter ceiling in the outdoor area...when would I be big enough to jump and give a swing on them?......emerging from the Pavilion to the front area was paved and a welcome space after the crowding in the Pavilion ...then there was the skating rink..with a grass boulevard in front of it........they had afternoon skating and I remember taking that in often....but as we got older and girls became people...night skating was the order...every year there was always teenage girls with bootskates and short nifty skirts.....They would always be first in the line up....most people rented skates...clamp on skates....try and get a good pair....the guys working in the shack and the skate boys were all usually teenagers who lived at Cultus lake...the skate boys fitted your skates on with a strap from back over your instep, then winched the toe clamps with a skate key then put a strap around the toe of the shoe..there ya go....next? it always amazed me how fast they were and I wondered if I could do it.....or we could watch people skate from a bench seat surrounding the rink ..........on one side, cars could park and people could watch the show....There was always a hot shot skate cop at centre stage....The skate shack pumped out the same music, probably some since it was built in 1938........... All skate, boys only...girls only, couples only, trios only (2 boys and girl or 2 girls and a boy) then sometimes skate to lights off except for a colored wheel light that blew different shades across the concrete floor.....it was wonderful. A few years later we were old enough to drive our parents cars ...some of us bought crates of our own....We went through the same short wonderful years as the teenagers before us .