Maria Crainean

Story

On 19 April 1917 my mother, Maria Crainean was born in Murgas, Oltenia, Romania, the eldest daughter of Julia and Ion Ilie Dragut. Two sisters and 7 brothers were left behind in Romania after she married John on 18.04.1937 at Rasa Viceni. Her family had also planned to migrate but they were not allowed to leave. Tragically Maria was not to see any of her family again until she sailed to Europe from her home in Papua New Guinea in 1966.

The Crainean family decided to leave Europe because it seemed that war was once more looming on the horizon. Grandfather Paul Crainean had been a prisoner of war of the Russians in WWI. After going by rail to Siberia as a POW he did not want his family to experience anything like that.

John and Maria travelled to Italy with his parents and younger siblings after finding it impossible to sail from Constanta on the Black Sea as originally planned because the port was closed; 2 years were to pass from the time they left Constanta on their long and difficult journey before they were eventually able to board a ship heading for Australia. En route Maria gave birth to a baby boy, Nick in February 1938. He tragically became gravely ill and died 2 months later.

They landed in Sydney in July 1938. Veronica was born at Paddington, Sydney in 1939, followed by Harry John in 1940. After working at Arcadia then Rouse Hill the extended family moved to Burringbar working in banana plantations, then to Hopkins Ck, Chillingham near Murwillumbah. Here baby Harry caught whooping cough, a terrible scourge at that time, and died aged 8 months.

Maria had 4 more children, Julia in 1943, Joseph in 1944, David in 1948 and lastly Emily in 1949. She worked tirelessly on the farm packing bananas as well as caring for her children and helping with the large extended family household which included in-laws, parents and grandparents.

Papua New Guinea in 1950 was their next destination. Financially the farm was a struggle to provide sufficiently for the large extended family so dad found work in sawmilling in PNG. Maria wrestled with the challenges of raising 5 small children in primitive conditions in tropical Port Moresby. Dressmaking to earn extra money took up any spare time. Most of the clothes for the family including John\’s work clothes were sewn by mum. Dad worked long hours in a saw mill at Eight Mile. In 1951 a move to Wau in the highlands saw an improvement in conditions where the older children attended primary school. The cooler climate there was a welcome relief from the humid sauna of tropical Port Moresby.

Another move for economic reasons to tropical Lae on the north coast of PNG in 1956 resulted in further improvement in both living and working conditions. Here were spent some of Maria\’s happiest years in PNG. Having learnt to operate the left hand drive WWII Willys Jeep in Wau, Maria was now mobile. As her sewing skills were in great demand dressmaking took up a lot more time now with the kids at the local primary school or at boarding school in Australia. In Lae attending the Seventh-day Adventist church and finding fellowship with the mission members was greatly enjoyed by the whole family after the isolation of Wau in the highlands.

For 3 months furlough every 21 months the family sailed to Brisbane on the MV ‘Bulolo’. Maria recalled that this sailing trip was the only break from work that she ever had during those years. Her holiday was spent on the family farm at Hopkins Creek. It consisted of washing, ironing, cooking, cleaning, packing bananas and growing vegetables. John worked with his brother Ben and father Paul on the farm growing bananas, small crops, dairying, mending fences, hauling logs. They milled timber for building and cut banana cases and props which they delivered by truck to farmers all around the Tweed district.

Because the government sawmill in Lae was closing down, dad was transferred to Mendi in the Southern Highlands, back to an almost perfect tropical climate. Low humidity and warm to hot days were followed by cool nights. Close friendships developed with members of the small expatriate community. John was responsible for sawmills in Mendi and at a number of outposts throughout the district. During this time their eldest son Joseph had graduated from the Australian School of Pacific Administration in Sydney. For 2 years he taught at Oiyarip Primary T School 6 miles away, visiting home every weekend.

After a final 18 months in Port Moresby, in 1973 they retired permanently returning to settle into their new home on the farm. Maria continued with her sewing and they cultivated luscious vegetables and a glorious garden. After the farm sold in 1996 they retired to Kingscliff near the beach.

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