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Tibooburra.  The Early Years

DOWN  MEMORY  LANE

This is part of a letter that was written by Sister Skillen to a friend while she was nursing in Tibooburra in 1957.

  Had a day off on Mt. Stuart Station last week – Santa Claus brought them a beaut custom line maroon with cream tope, little striped blinds in all windows.  2,100 pound inclusive!  Oh boy – anyway I went out with Ken in the Land Rover scouring for bogged sheep at al the tanks.  There’s very little water about now and if we don’t get rain shortly, things will be tough.  We found, one sheep bogged and there beside him was an emu drinking.  I grabbed my camera, praying and hoping that the emu was bogged too, but Ken’s two dogs saw him and helter skelter they went.  The emu struggled wildly out of the bog and off they went into the saltbush.  I could have throttled those dogs.  But I got a picture of the sheep being dragged out and in my haste overexposed a bit I think, but if it’s not too much, I won’t care.  Anyway, on the way out, Ken offered me the wheel.  He was the one who said get the Husky if I liked it.  His two little girls, Kendy 9 and Cathy 6 had come along too.  I gingerly swapped over.  Apart from those 3 lessons in Sydney I’ve never touched a wheel and that’s 9 months ago.  I had forgotten how to start; Heaven help me!  But I picked up after a while and off we went.  The poor little kids were terrified.  Well, no one told me how hard it is to “track” at the 4 lessons!  Heck – sometime one wheel was in a track and other on the middle ridge, sometimes one wheel in a track and the other trying to take off cross country.  Cathy kept up a monotonous “Daddy, why don’t you drive – Dad, why don’t you make Sister Skillen stop and you drive.  Daddy, make Sister Skillen stop before we go in the water, won’t you Dad”.  I saw her point too.  After a while Kendy chipped in and said “Cathy be quiet – there was a time when you couldn’t drive and couldn’t either and Sister Skillen has never driven before, so Cathy, you keep quiet”.  I saw what she meant, when, on the way back, they both coaxed Ken to let them drive.  He put Cathy on his knee and she just steered, but my gush, she kept the wheels in the tracks and I almost blushed.  Then Kendy took over.  She sat on the very edge of the seat, working the foot brake, clutch and accelerator without, prompting (Ken pushed the gears in) and she also kept the wheels in the tracks.  So – if I had a vehicle I know I would make headway (petrol 5/9 here and 6/9 to anyone “travelling though”) but I can’t get enough practice, having to terrify kids and rely on 10 minutes about every 3 months, Anyway – I’ll want to hear, what you think of the Husky and it’s “specification” I read the data on what have you on the pamphlet in a hurry and read “semi epileptic springs” – thought “Gosh” sounds as if we’d have the kangaroos if we had a turn, then I read back again and realised it was semi-elliptic springs – am no wiser, but – then farther on, I read “urinary construction of body etc”.  That sounded queer too.  I remembered you saying the sump was the “bowels of a car” but you hadn’t mention anything about the urinary system.  Being thorough, I read back over it again and realised it was “unitary construction”.  Still no wiser, but maybe, I’d better get glasses before I go for a license, you reckon.

Written by Sister Skillen

February 1957.