Isabel Hooley nee Dompedro

Story

I was 10 years old when my parents, Ricardo and Natividad Dompedro migrated to Australia from Spain with my sister and brother. . We left Spain in bitterly cold winter weather in the dark of night. As we boarded our plane I couldn’t understand why all our family was crying. As a young child it felt really good to be boarding a plane. Not many people traveled by plane in those days, so I felt it was the best thing ever.

In contrast, we arrived in Sydney Kingsford Smith airport in the morning, the sun shining brightly and the warm weather a very welcomed experience. We were given breakfast at the airport and then taken by coach to where they held us until we boarded a train to Bonegilla Migrant Camp.

With my eyes pressed to the window of the coach I remember seeing people in the streets, all in summer clothes, all happy waving tiny Australian flags. As a child I thought they were welcoming us and couldn’t help but think how friendly these people were to us. It wasn’t until some time after that I learnt that the day we had arrived, the 26th January (1963) was actually Australia Day and the flag waving was for national pride and not for us at all.

The Australian flag flies proudly to this day at the front of the home that I share with my Australian husband and our three children. I hope that everyone who sees that flag feels the warmth and welcome that I felt that day in 1963.

Over the years there have been many happy times as well as difficult ones. The hardest has been growing up without your extended family around you. We didn’t have grandparents at school to see us on “Grandparents Day”, or our side of the family at weddings, birthdays etc . However, we have been fortunate to meet so many wonderful people and a privilege to live in a country rich in multicultural beginnings.

Isabel Hooley (nee Dompedro)

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