Virginia Norris

Story

My name is Virginia Tropeano (nee Norris). I was born in Sutton, Surrey, England and I was 12 years old when my family came to Australia. My parents, Tom and Eva Norris, made the decision to emigrate after my Dad\’s sister and her husband, Marjorie and Arthur White, returned home with their young daughter Jane for a holiday. They had emigrated several years before and were full of stories about the opportunities Australia had to offer.

My parents filled in all the application forms with my Aunt and Uncle as our sponsors, and I remember travelling up to Australia House in London for our official ‘interview’. Saying all our goodbyes was hard as we didn\’t know if and when we would see our family and friends again.

My brother Paul and I had a great time on the ship, but our poor Mum spent much of the early part of the voyage in the cabin with severe seasickness. Luckily the four of us had a cabin to ourselves, but we met several families who had been split up into separate cabins with males in one and females in others. Dad found his sea legs quickly but he wasn\’t too good at keeping track of us so we had a pretty free rein while Mum was out of action! Our ship, the Sitmar Line\’s ‘Fairsky’, hit a storm in the Bay of Biscay the first night out from Southampton and most of the passengers didn’t appear for the first few days! I remember the chairs and tables in the dining room sliding around the floor as the ship rolled around in the huge waves.

The weather settled eventually and everyone enjoyed the sunshine and deck games. I remember the fun of the “Crossing the Line” ceremony when we passed over the Equator. All the ship\’s crew dressed up and took part in mock operations where intestines from the patients (lines of sausages) were thrown out from under the sheets by the ‘surgeons’.

Another thing that stands out in my memory is the excitement of the small colorful trading boats that surrounded the ship when we dropped anchor in Port Said at the mouth of the Suez Canal. These traders were adept at throwing lines to the passengers on deck and passing their wares up for inspection. If you wanted to buy, you put the money in the basket and sent it back down the line. I remember Mum buying a green leather stool shaped like a camel.

After a slow trip through the canal, we docked at Aden, the only port of call where we were allowed to leave the ship. I remember being a bit scared there as the ship\’s crew had told us stories about young girls being abducted and sold into harems.

We reached Fremantle on New Year’s Day 1963 after a month at sea. I remember Mum being very impressed with how clean Perth was and Dad liked the wide shady awnings outside the shops. Melbourne was our next port of call and we eagerly studied the map to decide where to go on our day ashore. Dad wanted to have a look at the Yarra Bend National Park thinking it would be like a typical park in England. Big mistake!!! Our train journey (on a train that we were sure belonged on a Wild West movie set) and our subsequent long walk to try to find the park was not a good idea on a hot January day. I remember the flies driving us all mad – we had no hats, no drinks and were carrying our heavy jackets “in case it turned cold”. We had a lot to learn about the Australian summer and the wide open spaces!

A few days later we finally reached the end of our journey just after dawn. I still remember the Captain suggesting that all passengers should come up on deck as we came through the heads into the most beautiful harbour in the world. We were not disappointed, especially when we sailed under the magnificent Sydney Harbour Bridge!

Auntie Marge, Uncle Arthur and Jane were there to meet us. They gave us a quick tour of the city before we headed off on the long car trip back to their home in Griffith. I remember them taking us to Bondi Beach and Manly and being very impressed with the young boys who would dive off the pier into the water to retrieve coins people were throwing in for them.

We stayed with my Aunt and Uncle for a few weeks.

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