Published: 13 Jan 2025

Neil’s question brought a happy smile to Kevin. He had fond memories of his year or so in Torrens Creek and would have been more than happy to spend his entire life in a town of no more than a few hundred people, a railway siding, hotel and one general store. What was there to cause stress, he had his horses and occasionally he could ride to school leaving Roany to graze in the school yard. It was true playmates were few on the ground but coming from the sheep station where he was the only kid the few was more than requirements.

Kevin had befriended one lad and often they would take walks in the adjacent bushland while heeding warnings not to stray to far. Kevin recalls an occasion when he and the lad decided to chop down a tree. His friend’s name has been long lost to time, so for the exercise he will be named Johnny. The tree was little more then a sapling, its trunk possible no thicker than a man’s lower leg. Why they wished to demolish the poor tree is also lost in time but with a small tomahawk, the same axe Kevin later lost at the town’s fancy dress party, they took to destroying the spindly tree.

During the chopping, a few chips at a time and getting no where, there was conversation. Kevin recalled part of the conversation being about giving a gift then asking for its return. Give a thing then take a thing you are sure to wear the devil’s ring was the gist of the adage but its meaning wasn’t known to either boy. When Johnny asked of the meaning Kevin said if you take something back after gifting it, the Devil places a ring around your dick. Johnny was totally confused. Being a little younger than Kevin, Johnny hadn’t come to understand much about body parts. Possibly Kevin recalled playing horses with the Jones kid back at the station and was angling for a rendition. It didn’t happen, nor did the final destruction of the tree.

The Devil’s ring episode was the only account of Kevin’s developing sexuality while living at Torrens Creek. Possibly as there weren’t enough male children and he already realised the girls didn’t have the equipment that interested him. It was as well, as even back then that kind of behaviour could bring nothing but trouble.

Most of Kevin’s days were taken up with school and riding and as he did on the station he would be gone for hours, sometimes without clue to his whereabouts but turn Roany about, slacken the reins and she always headed for home. There were other events such as visits to outlying properties and the arrival of a milking cow donated by the manager of Dunluce. The cow was known to Kevin as it was born at the time when Roany had her foal he named Kicker. A short time after its arrival the cow escaped from the yard and was never seen again. It was suggested Taffy sold it.

Ivy struggled to make ends meet while trying to manage the little money left from Taffy’s drinking, not helped when Kevin was sent to the store for a loaf of bread, he eating the soft insides before returning home with mostly crust. To make matters worse the store keeper reported the lad for stealing cherry ripe chocolates from his counter display. When challenged on the matter Kevin couldn’t understand how he was discovered, disregarding the ring of chocolate around his mouth and sticky fingers. Unlike adults, kids don’t mind sticky fingers and with the outback heat chocolate sticky fingers were a certainty.

Schooldays were more fun than learning, there was boomerang throwing in the school yard, marbling by placing paper down on water infused with oil paint and raffia weaving. Torrens Creek School was a single room building on tall supports with a verandah at back and front and one teacher teaching six grades. The younger pupils sat to the front, scratching their work on slate boards.

Kevin couldn’t remember anything about his lessons although for some reason a certain song remained. The song was the John Brown song and in retrospect why would an American civil war tune be of interest to anyone on a dot of outback civilization thousands of miles and a century away from east coast America. The words John Brown’s body lies a-mold’ring in the grave brought young Kevin to tears as one of the older boys happened to have the name John Brown and the thought of John dead was enough to upset. When questioned about his tears, he remained mute.

As for the school’s John Brown, he was much alive and lived on a property some distance from town, while his only way to travel to school was by motor vehicle, therefore at twelve he was a proficient driver. Often after school he would give Kevin a lift home, even if the distance was no more than a half mile or so.

Driving regulations were loosely defined in the fifties, considered if a lad could drive a horse and buggy at twelve, even younger, there wasn’t any reason why he couldn’t drive a motor vehicle. Drivers licences were often considered an optional extra, besides road traffic was light and the roads so bad once beyond the cities it was almost impossible to gain enough speed to cause to great an accident.

An example of road law optionality was the occasion when Taffy Jones and Ivy were working on Dunluce station and Taffy away on a muster being one of the rare occasions that had him in the saddle. Ivy needed to visit her sister Mary in Hughenden; therefore as Taffy wasn’t about she drove his old black Ford sedan.

It was a bugger of a night with the rain so heavy, Ivy could hardly see the road ahead but she had young Kevin seated alongside giving her advice. He felt most proud pointing through the rain to where the ruts in the unseal road were the deepest and at those spots Ivy would need to drive with one wheel on the side of the road and the other at centre, not to fall into some of the deeper gouges made by rain and road traffic.

During the visit to Hughenden Sid, Ivy’s brother-in-law suggested it was about time she did something about getting a drivers licence. Ivy agreed and during the following day she visited the local police station. Constable Roland Lester happened to be the duty office that morning and as they were acquainted Lester showed surprised seeing Ivy in town without Taffy.

Ivy explained it was her sister Mary’s birthday.

“So what can I do for you Ivy, has the little feller’ been up to mischief? If so we can lock him up for a few hours.”

Kevin shows concern for his freedom. He knew of the lock-up as Bill Riddle one of the men from Dunluce had spent the night in the lock-up for being drunk and disorderly then on his return to the station he was docked two day’s pay for his indiscretion.

Ivy laughs and ruffles Kevin’s hair.

Lester withdraws his proposal with a smile.

“Sid suggested it’s about time I did something about getting a drivers licence.”

Constable Lester appears surprised, “did you drive into town during last night’s storm?”

“I did.”

“You drove in on your own?”

“No I had Kevin to guide me,” Ivy gives the lad a smile and a second hair ruffling.

Lester gives the lad an extra smile as he collects a document from a drawer.

He commences to write.

“Ivy, I would say anyone who could drive through that storm can drive anywhere,” Lester officially stamps the document, “there you go, you are now fully qualified and licensed to drive any vehicle up to one and a half tonne.”

With the telling Neil appears amazed, “it was as simple as that?” he suggests.

“Yes I can remember the incident as clearly as if it was yesterday and mum’s licence was not only free from cost but issued for life, although after leaving Dunluce, I don’t recall her ever driving again and definitely not the old truck she and Taffy bought for their attempt at creating their trucking business.”

“I had to go for my licence twice, the examiner was a stickler for correct as I got the distance from a fire hydrant and corner wrong,” Neil admits.

“If I had to go for my licence these days correct distances would be a problem for me as well,” Kevin suggests.

“Why so?”

“I have been driving for so long distances and road law are automatic, besides if asked what distance from a fire hydrant I’d say three feet and fail as the instructor wouldn’t know what that was in metric. I firstly went for my licence in Atherton at seventeen.”

“Did you get it first go?” Neil asks.

Kevin laughs; “no way and in retrospect I shouldn’t have even tried. Firstly I hadn’t a clue about road law and the car I took my test in was an old Ford Angler convertible from yonks back with a difficult accelerator.”

“Who owned the car?”

“You may remember I spoke of mum living with a fellow from Mareeba after she left Forest Home Station.”

“I do.”

“Bob Ferguson bought it for mum to drive but by then she had lost her driving nerve.”

“Did Bob teach you to drive?”

“He gave me some lessons and on the occasion I would sneak a lesson on my own at night and my first night drive gave me quite a scare.”

“Why was that?”

“I sneaked out of town and was on a dark road when I notice there was a car following me, the lights were dull but most definitely it was following me. I became nervous and made a left turn at the next crossroad, hoping to shake them off but the lights continued to follow. The cops I thought so I stoped expecting the worst, so did the lights and nothing happened. I continued on and so did the lights. Eventually I became brave enough to investigate and getting out of the vehicle I discovered it was my own tail lights that were following me.”

“Surely you would have known the difference between headlights and tail lights?”

“In those days lights weren’t as bright as now and don’t forget I had never driven at night before, besides the rear plastic window in the car’s convertible top didn’t give much clarity.”

“What happened when you went for your licence?”

“The local police sergeant took the test. It was up to Hospital Hill and a handbrake start on a steep incline. Firstly he placed his cigarette packet behind a rear wheel, saying if you flatten it you’ve failed and you will owe me a fresh packet of smokes.”

“And?”

“I’m getting there. I flattened his smokes then it was back to the main street where my nerves gave out and that bloody accelerator, I kangaroo jumped the car along the street until it stalled. I tried to restart the flooded motor then the sergeant demanded the keys. He said leave the car here and I’ll get Bob to collect it later. You’ve failed kid and that was the worst example of driving I’ve ever encountered and you owe me a fresh packet.”

“Did you buy him a packet?”

“Not likely, besides I saw the packet when he placed it behind the wheel and it was empty.”

“You eventually got your licence.”

“Yes some years later here in Melbourne.”

“Cute story what happened after leaving Dunluce and your time in Torrens Creek, did you then live in Hughenden?”

“Not Hughenden, although we did stay with mum’s sister Mary for a while, do you remember me telling you about the incident with Taffy Jones and his axe?”

“I do.”

“Soon after that mum packed our belongings and we left for Hughenden but after a short stay with my cousins mum found employment as housemaid at the Railway Hotel in Mareeba.”

“Did you attend school in Hughenden?”

“Not during that stay as we were only there for a short time before going to Mareeba.”

“Did you attend school in Mareeba?”

“I did for one school term but that was many years later, during my education I went to ten schools in two states,” Kevin laughs, “that is why I’m so dumb.”

“I would never agree with you there Kevin.”

“True, yet not growing up in a family unit meant my socialising was with children and I never became skilled in adult conversation. There was also another result of living in board and that was throughout life I craved for a regimented lifestyle, I even contemplated joining the army when I miss out on conscription.”

“That would have been during Vietnam?”

“Yes at that stage in life I wanted to save the world from communism – funny that?”

“Why?”

“Since I’ve had a complete turnabout and can see how wrong that war had been.”

“Couldn’t that be said of any war?”

“Too true and in my opinion it is much easier to purchase another country’s industry then place an occupying army, a little like what China is doing around the world these days.”

“So we have you leaving Taffy and Torrens Creek and your mother finding employment in Mareeba – what next?”

“Firstly there was the train smash.”

“Where was that?”

“In Torrens creek, two trains on the same line hit each other. It occurred at night right outside our house and I didn’t hear a thing.

“True and sometimes you have conflicting reports made by those who witness an event. So you departed Torrens Creek soon after the train accident.”

“Yes about a week later we went to my aunt’s house in Hughenden.”

“Did you stay long with your aunt?”

“Not long at all as I said mum had got the position at the hotel in Mareeba.”

“Did leaving Hughenden concern you?”

“I would say not as my head remained in Torrens Creek with Roany and at the time I supposed we would be returning there.”
 
 
It was midyear when Ivy with young Kevin departed Hughenden for her new employment in Mareeba and in a way a godsend, as even if the sisters dearly loved each other they could never live under the same roof for any length of time. Also Kevin’s mischievous character led his cousins into continuous strife none more so than Glen who was Kevin’s age. On one occasion Glen’s older brother Christopher caught Kevin and Glen partly naked checking out each other’s equipment and he pimped (told on them) to their mothers. The boys quickly took fright and hid under the house with the spiders and the dust.

“What do you think you were doing?” Mary calls into the dusty darkness as Ivy stands by in support.

“We were only playing dickies,” Kevin innocently replies.

“Come out and I’ll cut them off.”

“No!”

“You shouldn’t touch other’s privates,” Mary warned.

“We weren’t touching we were only looking,” Kevin answers as he had discovered a difference being one had a hood and the other did not. It was quite some time before the boys could be coxed out and the incident forgotten. Even so and at such a young age Kevin realised any game that included the male appendage should be kept most private.
 
 
The journey to Mareeba and Ivy’s new employment was nothing more that a holiday for Kevin. Not once did he think of school although he continuously asked would he have his horses in Mareeba. To Kevin Mareeba was to be another sheep station and more fun, at no stage did he realise what was installed for him. Firstly there was Townsville and the first time Kevin had seen a large town as he could not remember the city of his birth. There was an even bigger surprise being the ocean, as previously there was only the Torrens Creek with it occasional flow, or the dam on Dunluce station. Not only was this ocean so wide it was impossible to see the other side, it had an island on the horizon. Another surprise being a ferry could take you to Magnetic Island for a day trip. It was soon understood the travelling game could be much more pleasing than attending any school.

The stay in Townsville was for less than a week, with Ivy finding lodgings at the Country Women’s Association houses adjacent to the beach front, so Kevin spent much of his time on the beach looking for what ever was new to fuel his imagination under rocks or washed up on the sand. During his fossicking he met up with a local lad who told him about coral and how it grew in the water. Kevin’s worldly knowledge was developing by the day when told if you fell and cut your leg on coral it never healed. Kevin believed the telling and was addiment he would not go deep sea diving.
 
 
The Townsville holiday was the last for Kevin for quite some time but offered many fond memories, the strongest being a cyclone delaying their continuation further into the tropics. One of his memories was a trip to Magnetic Island and the strange way his mother while at the CWA home, needed to put coin into a machine to obtain gas to cook their dinner. It was also surprising that the dinner cooked without having to put wood into the stove’s burner box.

It was most definitely a strange new world the young lad was entering into and for now he put aside his concern for his horses and friends from the Torrens Creek School as he had Mareeba to imagine. Would it be like Hughenden or was it another sheep station.

Gary’s stories are about life for gay men in Australia’s past and present. Your emails to him are the only payment he receives. Email Gary to let him know you are reading: Conder 333 at Hotmail dot Com

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