Love Story

Diary of the Rev Howard Kettle L.Th.

Commencing on April 17^th at 5pm, a Wednesday afternoon when he took his departure from Melbourne en route for the great open spaces of Northern Australia as a missionary appointed by the Methodist Inland Mission Board.

Wednesday April 17^th 1929: 5pm.

Left Melbourne on the Sydney Express after a very warm and somewhat sad family send-off, Was very brave myself although was really not as brave as outward appearances indicated. Had a full compartment, a smoker, one lady in it, but she did not smoke while traveling to Albury. A chap sitting on the other side of me though made up for it, as he smoked continuously a vile cheap brand of cigar. Altogether though had a good trip to Albury, where we trans-shipped into the sleeper and after having some supper on the station, retired.

My father was 28 when he left Victoria, and I feel certain he would have had no idea at the time how much this trip would impact on his future, particularly with regard to his personal life. And he did not have a lot of compliments for the Queensland Railways after traveling through Victoria ad NSW.

Saturday April 20^th:

Arriving at the border all had then to transfer to a Queensland train and the railway service here compared with down south is rotten. The trip throughout the day though was not bad. The country through which we passed as regards scenery was fair and in places good especially coming down from the hills after leaving Toowoomba and here the likeness to Tasmania was much in evidence. Several of the passengers on the train, including myself, got into conversation and although we were unknown to each other it made the journey much more pleasant. Just after crossing the border the grade was very steep, so much so that the engine refused to function and we had to wait until another train following caught up to us and gave us a push until we safely negotiated the climb.

How travel has changed! (It is my plan to insert excerpts from my father's diaries as I attempt to retrace his steps and tell his story. )

family background

Its often seems amazing to me that my parents met and married. He was from Victoria, born in Buchan 1901;and she was from north Queensland, born in Charters Towers in 1914. They metwhen my mother was living with her family on McArthur River station in NT and my father was stationed in Camooweal as a patrol padre with the Inland Mission. Mum was brought up strict Anglican and dad was a Methodist clergyman. But they did meet, and fell in love and married in Camooweal. There are many more stories to relate from my father's diaries of his experiences in Queensland and also from his time as a padre to the troops in the Middle East in WW2.