Skyhooks
sang about “Living in the seventies” but at that stage of my life it was more
about learning and less about living, although there were certainly some songs
and bands that bring back memories about my life during that decade.The
seventies started with my last year of Primary School. I was house captain and
athletics captain and life was all about running. My PE teacher, David Parkin,
was a young AFL player at the time, fresh out of teachers’ college and captain
of Hawthorn, a team I had no interest in. But Mr Parkin coached me for
athletics and obviously encouraged me, because that was one of my best sporting
years – I peaked early! I loved school, working hard and getting good results
because all I ever wanted to be was a teacher.
Starting
High School meant a long bike ride up a steep hill to Glen Waverley high, and a
quick whizz down the hill to home. “Dinking” on bikes was a common occurrence,
until one afternoon when I swung my foot through the bike spokes and came down
in a crashing heap – a month on crutches taught me a tough lesson about speed
and stupidity. Glen Waverley at that time was a small outer eastern suburb of
Melbourne, the end of the train line, with a fledgling shopping centre called
The Glen – now one of the largest and most popular centres in the eastern
suburbs. As it grew from a few shops to the multi level centre it is today, it
swallowed up houses and streets and these days its façade is visible from far
away. I had no interest in shopping, though, so I have no real memories of
spending any time there. I was more likely to be found training at the local
athletics track or practising for the school choir or production – never a star
but always in the chorus in productions of “Bye bye Birdie” and “Oklahoma”.
In
1973, my father was offered a promotion in Sydney. The company he had worked
for were moving their headquarters so there was really no choice. I remember
being sad to leave my friends but excited for a new adventure. It was much
different for my mother, though, leaving her close knit family behind, the
friends she had spent her entire life with, and having to find a new job in a
hurry as the house prices in Sydney were so much more than the equivalent in
Melbourne. We packed up and moved at the end of the school year, and my sister
and I were left in charge of directing the removalists as mum and dad went to
the bank to finalise the mortgage. We loved telling them where to put all the
furniture! The biggest shock came on our first night, though; with no screens
on the windows the huge Christmas beetles (something we had no experience with)
flew in every little gap. Sport was a shock too – we’d been brought up on AFL
but in those days “football” in Sydney meant Rugby League, (there were no AFL
teams in NSW) we knew nothing about the game and there was almost no mention of
our football anywhere!
In
1974 I started a new school in a new state. By then I was in fourth form (year
ten) and, whilst I had been doing quite well and had good school reports from
Glen Waverley High, the school decided that, since I had “come from Victoria”,
I should go into the bottom classes. Obviously they thought their educational
standards were far superior!! Within a month or two, however, the teachers had
decided I was more capable and I was moved into the “advanced” classes – it
took some time for me to catch up on what I had missed, which did not make my
parents very happy! My father brought up his disappointment at the school
P&C meeting – and found himself on blackberry clearing duty at the next
working bee – a sign of who was boss (not dad!). But once I made a few friends
and settled into class, I was very happy in my new environment. I also got
involved in the school musical (“Oklahoma” – again!) and took up athletics with
a local club.
School dances were a new thing to enjoy, with a young ACDC
playing for us one memorable night and other talented local bands also making
an appearance. Another notable aspect of the dances in our school hall was
unwelcome attendance by the local “sharpie” gangs, who often got into fights –
something that fascinated me and my friends but horrified our parents, as you
can imagine. And, as happens at that age, my friends and I developed an
interest in socialising and boys, which overtook my interest in studying and
somewhat affected my school marks. I was still determined to become a teacher,
though, so I didn’t give up learning altogether. As I was old enough for a job
I became a “check out chick” at Coles New World. In those days, the shops were
only open late one night a week and until noon on Saturday, so I still had
plenty of time for studying and lots of opportunities for socialising. I
graduated high school at the end of 1975 with enough marks to get into teachers
college – just!
My
part time job gave me enough money to buy a car – a second hand Datsun 1200 –
which I drove to Mitchell College of Advanced Education in Bathurst, where I
had been offered a scholarship to study for a Bachelor of Education. I had
never lived in a country town before and it was fascinating to meet so many
people from rural towns and farms, as well as the other city students at the
college. Most of us boarded on campus, away from our parents and other adults.
It was quite different to be solely responsible and I found the transition
challenging – staying up late and partying more than I ever had before. I
wasn’t eighteen when I started college so had never been to a bar or pub, but
by the time I graduated in the last year of the seventies I had acquired a
“Bachelor of Befuddlement” as well as my educational degree, and I was well
used to fending for myself. College dances were entertained by bands such as
Rose Tattoo and Midnight Oil – the Cockroaches also played, in the days when
they were a rock band and not The Wiggles! Bathurst is also the home of Mount
Panorama, and hooning around the race track was a popular late night activity.
On one particularly reckless night I allowed someone else to drive my precious
Datsun (while I was in the passenger seat) and he rolled it on the S bends at
the top of Conrod Straight – nobody was injured, the college rugby boys turned
it over again and we drove back home – but once again I had a salutary lesson
in speed and stupidity. I must be a slow learner.
I
graduated at the end of 1979, along with 6000 other would-be teachers. Jobs
were non existent and many took up casual teaching to earn a living, while I
joined the Public Service for a few years before I secured a full time position
in a school. Whilst the seventies were not my favourite decade and I didn’t do
a whole lot of living, I certainly learned a lot – in the classroom and in the
school of life.
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