Roderick Macleod
| First name | Roderick |
|---|---|
| Last name | Macleod |
| Country of Origin | Scotland |
| Date of Birth | 21/02/1943 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1970 |
| Submitted by | Roderick Macleod |
Story
I emigrated from Scotland in 1970 with my wife Wilma and 18 month old son Martin, in search of a better life style. Having worked in a bank for 10 years, I was confident of obtaining similar employment in Australia
The journey started at Kilmarnock railway station where we caught the overnight train to London. We then flew on a British Airways 707 to Sydney, via Zurich, Rome, Beruit, New Delhi, Rangoon, then over the demilitarised zone of Vietnam to Hong Kong and then Darwin. We celebrated our third wedding anniversary on 4 March, arriving in Sydney on 5 March to temperatures we had not experienced before. It was hot and we were dressed for a Scottish winter.
Never having lived in a big city, our first impressions, apart from the heat, were of people in a rush, speaking many different languages. Within a week I had a job in the accounts department of Lombard Finance, and we moved from my brother-in-law’s flat above a fruit shop in Marrickville, to a unit in Lakemba. After six months in Australia, and shortly following his second birthday, Martin developed an inoperable brain tumor and died two weeks later. We were devastated. In 1973 we purchased a flat in Hunters Hill and our son Kenneth was born. Gregor was born in 1974 and in 1976 we moved to Dapto as Lombard transferred me to Wollongong. In 1978 I was again transferred to Canberra where at the time of writing I still live. Since resigning from Lombard in 1982 I have worked for a firm of chartered accountants, the River Murray Commission, the National Heart Foundation, and for the last 12 years with the international aid agency, CARE Australia. Wilma and I divorced in 1992 and I married Olive, a New Zealander, in 1993. Life in Australia has had its ups and downs, but now as I approach retirement, it is wonderful.