 |
As children Rangi was our magic world.
Mum and Dad worked hard to give us wonderful holidays. Our Bach was at the Beacon End, three miles from the shop.
Apart from the food we took down with us, we ordered our fresh food from Mr. Reg Noble, who had the shop at the wharf. He would deliver fresh meat, bread and milk etc., two or three times a week, because in those days we had no refrigeration. Two or three families would get together to listen for Mr. Noble coming in his Model-T truck. We would put some rugs down on the leaves and moss under the trees, perhaps with books, puzzles and Mrs Eagles with her Marjong. It was quite a social occasion.
Mum would produce the most delicious meals with a series of different methods - wood range, dutch oven (large heavy oval pot with lid) and an outside fire with a steel plate to cook on. Everything tasted absolutely wonderful. Often there was snapper for breakfast, so much so that we would complain we were tired of it! We had homemade bread sometimes - Mum would knead the dough, then put it to rise in a basin with a blanket over it and leave it in the sun. Soon it would be risen and ready to knead again, patted into a bread loaf shape and put into a small oven to cook. Man, was that bread delicious, especially when we were allowed to eat it warm.
On special occasions we would gather cockles and mussels, and catch some fish. Some salads would be put together and several families would gather for a feast of shellfish, fish, salads and whatever else had been brought along. The food and company was special.
After our meal there would be a singsong. One time an old chap, who had beached his small launch on Jone's Beach because it needed some repairs, was invited. We were fascinated when he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a handful of dust, nuts and bolts etc., picked out his false teeth, blew the dust off them, and popped them in his mouth. The other pocket contained similar items only this time he picked out a small mouth organ and began to play it with great skill and enthusiam. How we enjoyed the accompaniment to our songs, and we had lots of giggles later about all the dusty treasures in his pockets.
We had a secret game we played. In the bush an old car which had become obsolete, was left to rot. We would sit in the still upholstered seats and pretend we were driving to all sorts of exciting places. We would travel along, even though we had no wheels, though we did have a steering wheel, and sometimes inevitably we would run out of petrol. One of the boys would hop out, unscrew the petrol cap and pee in the tank, and off we would go on our adventures again.
|
|
