Bob's brother Peter sent an informative email on Bob's
behalf earlier in the year, but Bob has now recovered from his carpal
tunnel operation and can not only type, but now has his own computer on
the net. Bob writes in an email dated 21NOV2000:
My sincere apologies for not getting to this sooner, but
letter writing is not high on my list of skills
these days. I have
only recently purchased my first computer and the learning process is
extremely slow. I have read many of the stories on your ATS web site
and they are all very interesting and varied. I feel I should add my
bit to the exercise seeing as so many others have made the effort. I
have a photo here somewhere which I shall post to you as I don't have
scanning facilities.
I left WRE about two weeks after receiving my indentures
and returned to my home town of Renmark where I worked on the fruit
harvest for several months. I then found a job as a welder with a
local engineering firm who were the pioneers in the
houseboat industry both from a building and operating perspective.
The tourist industry was the target for this industry and many enjoyable
times were spent on boats over the nine years I was there.
In 1968 I married my wife Diana (recently celebrated our
32nd wedding anniversary) and we have two daughters, Cindy 29 and Mandy
26. Currently we have four grand children - two boys and two girls
all living locally, the eldest being five years.
We had a big flood in the Murray River in 1974 and the
houseboats literally wore me thin by the end so I started my own
engineering business in early 1975. Initially I was building
complete houseboats until the demand for the aluminium pontoons we were
making became so great, we specialised only in pontoons for some ten years
or so.
I built my own factory in Renmark and employed several
welders and apprentices throughout these busy years. Apprentices then were
just as much a pain as I guess we were, but smoking pot was not high on
activities at WRE like it seemed to be with my lads. Eventually high
interest rates slowed the houseboat industry down and I wound my business
back to a more sedate level and decided to get rid
of as much stress as possible. This meant reducing staff to leave
only me and no one else to argue with.
For the past ten or twelve years, I have been building
aluminium punts and dinghies on my own and still enjoy the work
today. My brand name is RIVERMATE and they are mostly marketed
locally in SA and in Mildura in Victoria. Occasionally I have to
visit Adelaide on business and generally it's only a one day trip which is
enough to last me for a few months. I guess
the country blood is still as strong as ever.
Leisure activities these days are involved with
travelling around various parts of Australia in our Nissan Patrol, towing
an off-road camper trailer & boat wherever possible. I try for
two months at a time usually in winter and have found some wonderful
places off the beaten track. The Kimberley region of W.A. and the top end
of N.T. are great places to visit and forget the rest of the world exists
for a few weeks.
Complete retirement is not high on my list of priorities
at present as I'm having a pretty good mix of work and play at the
moment. I am looking forward to the reunion in January, and if it's
anything like last time, it will be a great event. See you all
there. |