Beyond alice, p.29
Beyond Alice, page 29
Shannon—our beautiful ‘older sister’ (right)—and me (left) with Benny’s wonderful governess Joan in the stock camp.
‘Sexy Knees competition’: all the young stockmen ‘drop their strides’ at a local gymkhana.
Afternoon mustering, school holidays, with Jackie (right), at Bond Springs in 1978.
Fierce concentration: me on Nero, ready for the bending race at a gymkhana.
The inevitable, endless round of bore runs—Toyota and old windmill.
Sleepy and full—and best of all, we didn’t get caught! Midnight feast, Fourth Year, Harris Wing, 1978.
Umbrellas required! Janie and me heading off on a cold winter’s morning for the two-kilometre march to Pilgrim Church, 1978.
‘We’ll win the Cup today!’ Our fabulous boarders’ team, victorious in the Boarders versus Daybugs relay, Sports Day, 1978: So proud of my fast, determined sister M’Lis, on the right.
Me with my grade 7 School of the Air bestie, Lea Turner, at a gymkhana in our Fourth Year holidays.
Freedom! Summer at Mount Doreen, with the Braitling and Heaslip kids (and dogs) having afternoon tea in the dam.
‘Yet another cup, yet another win! Janie Jo—leader of the pack!
A wild, wacky and wonderful mixture of boarders and daybugs in our Matric class 12C, 1979. It included soon-to-be-journalist Tania B., and Julia, my daybug friend who encouraged me to study law.
Last supper: Matrics gather in the dining room. (Photo courtesy Angela Dunstan.)
‘Take me home, country roads’: M’Lis and I sing for the ‘last supper’, 1979. Those roads were much closer than I realised.
The magnificent, triumphant Delphi Choir, with me conducting (and unknowingly wiggling my bottom!).
Tears of joy for the Delphi Choir team after winning the House Choir Competition Cup: Janie (Delphi captain) hugs me. (Photo courtesy Di Gilfillan.)
‘So long, farewell’: Carolyn and me, boarding house prefects, on our knees (appropriate position, really) on our last day, with our beloved, brave band of boarders. (Photo courtesy Denise Haller.)
Christmas Holidays, 1979, ready to head out mustering (with obligatory saddlebag). My little cousin Fleur and Nana Parnell are against the fence.
Brett, on holidays, breaking in a horse.
Happy to be home after five years of boarding school. Grinning here with M’Lis and our jillaroo, Pips, in the stock camp.
Acknowledgements
They say it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it’s taken a village to write this book. It simply would not have been possible without the support of my ‘band of brave boarders’—and in particular I want to thank three extraordinary girls: Treena Haskard (née Honan), Denise Haller (née Drane) and Angela Dunstan (née Howell).
Treena, Denise and Angela worked day and night with me over an intense five-month period to pull together facts, dates and memories to allow the book to emerge. Each of them has the most amazing recall of detail, which enabled me to recreate the life we shared forty-five years ago—what a gift! Angela’s carefully preserved diaries meant we could fact-check every point and date, Treena’s generosity of spirit and practical assistance included trips to the school to secure old magazines and take photos, and Denise’s almost forensic memory of specific items and people helped to bring this book together.
This feat is even more marvellous when you consider that Denise lives in Switzerland, Treena lives in Adelaide, and Angela farms the land in country South Australia. Despite the logistical and time differences, this terrific, tireless trio worked around the clock to sync with my time frame, and I am beyond grateful.
The ‘band of brave boarders’ extends out to the many girls who generously shared their stories and were prepared to let me write about them.
This band includes Leona Greenslade, Jo-Anne Lloyd (née Green), Di Gilfillan, Carolyn Smith (née Byrne), Janie Joseland-Bennett (née Joseland), Jackie Murdoch, Chris Noonan (née Davey), Margie Paltridge, Wendy Wallis Francis (née Francis), Sally Shurdington (née Johnson), Jill Phelps, Louise Penney (née Bagshaw), Margi Spurr (née Atherton), Cathy Hank (née Young), Tania Pearson (née Twelftree), Tanya Brooks (née McKenzie), Blair Dixon (née Jennison) and my two very special cousins, Loulou Paterson (née Clarke) and Penny Mills (née Clarke).
I still think of the ‘band of brave boarders’ as my second family, the ones who literally helped me survive those five years. To all of them, my eternal grateful thanks.
Over time, the daybugs became very special friends as well, so my thanks to them for the many kindnesses they showed us boarders.
And while I’m at it, a special thanks to Hugo Martin, who was a great sport back then, and remains so today—cheers, Hugo!
Hand in hand with the boarders’ assistance came that of Marcus Glencraig Nicholls, for whom there are insufficient words of gratitude. He has been the most wonderful friend since our law school days, and despite fighting his own battles over the last year has inspired me from the outset, and worked closely with me through every phase of the planning and writing of the book. Thank you for everything, MGN, always!
That takes me to the shaping of the book, which also has been assisted enormously by the kindness of others. As usual, my wonderful neighbour, and author, Renée McBryde, stepped in at the last minute to read and give advice, despite the fact she was starting a full-time job, has four children under the age of eight, and had to read this between midnight and dawn. And, of course, my clever cousin, Fleur McDonald, who helped immeasurably in bringing the script to life. With her eagle editing eye, she spent days assisting me at a distance, and I will be forever grateful. Thank you, Fleur—it’s inspiring working with you!
A huge thanks to my darling Andrea Davies and Annette Every, who yet again proofread the script for me, and to my Mum, my sister M’Lis and my husband Steve, who did likewise.
Thanks again to the team at Colemans Printing, and enormous gratitude to Dr Glenn Lu and Yukie Noguchi for keeping me going. Thanks to Merrilyn McIver for kindly allowing her story to be included, and to the supportive and encouraging Alice Springs community.
And, of course, there would be no book without the wonderful Allen & Unwin, to whom I’m so grateful for such steadfast and ongoing support. Annette Barlow, my ‘big-picture thinking’ publisher, and Tom Gilliat agreed to a third memoir; Samantha Kent, my wonderful and encouraging editor, brings clarity of thought and wisdom to every detail; Jenn Thurgate works tirelessly to keep all the administrative processes running smoothly; and the fabulous Laura Benson, my publicist, has helped me in so many different ways in getting my stories out into the world—as have Liz Christie in South Australia and Angela Stannard in Western Australia. Thank you to you all for making this possible! And big hugs to my dear friends Renée McBryde and Fiona O’Loughlin for their generous endorsements.
There is another group that deserves enormous thanks. Without our independent bookshops, and all the outlets that sell books generally, we writers would be lost, so I’d like to give a huge shoutout for the extraordinary support I’ve received from booksellers along my writing path.
They include Bronwyn Druce and her team at Red Kangaroo Books in Alice Springs; Anna Savvas and her team in the Bookshop Darwin; Merrilyn Spencer at the Alice Springs School of the Air; and Susan and Kathleen at the Tourism Central Australia Visitor Information Centre.
In South Australia, they include Anthony and Kirstin from ReadeBook; Emma and Karla from Harry Hartog; Daniel and team from Dymocks Glenelg; Ross and team from Dillons Norwood Bookshop; and Margie and Mark from Meg’s Bookshop in Port Pirie.
A huge thanks to Suzy Wilson of Riverbend Books in Brisbane; Mike of Readings Hawthorn in Melbourne; and in Sydney, Melanie, Sarah and Chelsea at Berkelouw Books Paddington and Mona Vale.
In Western Australia, a very special thanks to Bill and Lou from Boffins Bookshop; The Lane Bookshop; Dymocks Subiaco; Marie from the Kimberley Bookshop in Broome; Karen Macdonald of Riversmith, Margaret River; and Pauline and Keith from the Margaret River BookShop.
There are so many other book outlets too, but those I have mentioned went above and beyond in supporting me, and I’m incredibly grateful.
Finally, thank you to my wonderful family, who continue to support me in every way, and for this book particularly, to my beloved Mum and M’Lis, who provide the backbone for my writing.
And of course, to my darling husband Steve, who is there for me in every way, believes in me and never lets me give up. I’m the luckiest girl in the world. Thank you for everything, always.
In closing, a final thank you to everyone who joined me on this journey. We have laughed and cried at different times, and taken a journey back in time that none of us ever imagined would happen.
Glory, glory to the boarders!
Disclaimer
The stories in this book are either from my memory, or they are my interpretation of the collective memories of others during our times at boarding school from 1975 to 1979. Some of the dates, timelines and events have been moved and compressed to enable the stories to be told.
It was a very different world back then, and much has changed, including how children are treated at boarding school. Those changes are welcome.
Out of respect, the names and descriptions of the boarding house mistresses have been changed.
The names of the day school teachers remain unchanged: they were inspirational and wonderful educators, and I am very grateful for all they taught me.
Otherwise, I offer sincere apologies for any mistakes as to facts, interpretations and details. They are mine and mine alone.
Tanya Heaslip, Beyond Alice
