Seventy two years ago we moved to this then isolated property in Rossmyone, surrounded then only by bush, snakes goannas and Wild Horses.

Hard to believe now but true.

 My Mum and Dad bought this property from a lovely old Pommy couple in about 1954, although I have always hated Roses they had installed a brilliant terraced Garden, at the bottom of our Garden stood a massive Tea Tree on the apron of a flowing cool fresh water Spring my Dad often used to keep his Beer in.

 Opposite you can still see the remnants of the little Bay we used to leave our twelve foot Bondwood dingy in. Prawners would come in the Prawn season and drag Net the River for Prawns in front of our only House,  light fires, empty their Prawn Nets of Blow Fish, throw away their Large Beer Bottles, leaving a stinking mess behind.

 One night my Dad went down and threw one of them in the Water !

 I did a lot better than that ! I used to sneak up within touching distance of them, around their Camp Fire they cooked their Prawns on, *in River Water.

 When I heard them say let’s just do one more drag Bill, that was the signal I was waiting for ! I would pinch their cooked Prawns, four gallon tin and all !

 Home I would Tip the Prawns into my Mums concrete Laundry trough until the morning when I would explain the nice prawners gave the Prawns to me Mum. Honest !

 My Mum was always suspicious but my denials were always resolute!

 There were no Schools in the District, the closest approximation of a School was the old wooden Town Hall on High Road Riverton, I suppose about 10 KM from home.

 At the Hall we only had one class for all ages, our Teachers name was Mr Barnacle, not a very nice man who would flog kids at the slightest indiscretion in class but let them run wild outside.

 I have chosen not to name two of the oldest biggest and worst, bully’s psychopaths a more apt description.

 The two were mates, nearby was a Swamp, where they would go in search of baby birds, still nesting, climb the tree and pluck the live Birds out then proudly bring them back to school plucked bare of feathers.

 They bullied everyone, but favoured bullying girls.

 It was not long after WW 11 in the 1950s when Australia’s population had many migrants from Europe.

 One day the bully boys decide to pick on one very little Kid from France named Patrick, of course they wanted to humiliate Patrick so took off his Shorts baring all nature gave him.

I wont delve into what they did to him but poor Patrick, but he was worse for wear and sadly when Patrick got out of Hospital, Patrick and his Family went back to France. I stepped in for him on many occasions.

 There were so many incidents at that Hall / School it would make a good story similar to The Lord of The Flies movie.

 Our house was a tumble down house the Poms had made themselves it had a great verandah, and trellis, seasonally covered in the best tasting Passionfruit ever.

 Wild Horses used to pinch the Bread out of our Bread Box out the front near the road, delivered by Horse and Cart from Riverton.

 Men would poach the river for fish illegally, setting their net floats just below the surface in the evening, then come back in the early hours of the morning, but not before the Kid who lived on Riverton Drive, Rossmoyne ! who got up that little bit earlier !

 Of course I told my Mum I got up early and caught all the Fish in our Laundry trough !

Honest!!!