After one too many bank-incidents, my Dad and his younger brother were banished to "the bush", where they ran a smallish (5000 acres) sheep station beyond the reach of the bright lights. When Dad married Mum, it took a year or two for a house to be built for the young marrieds; and in the meantime the three of them lived in a one-room rough log cabin, with only a blanket hanging from the roof to split the space. Late in her life, I asked Mum how on earth she and Dad ever found enough privacy to conceive me! She said that the younger brother was sent out in the dark from time to time to check the fences up in the top paddock a mile away!.

Great story !

Thinking about "back in the day" after receiving my Leaving Certificate in Perth, family moved to Indonesia. Jakarta at that time very underdeveloped and inexpensive, and then a great place for an Expat teenager. The American teenagers stick to themselves getting drunk on beer, not learning the language, and stuck to one area of town where they tended to live. The smaller Brit and European group tended to learn the local language, and venture to the few discos open at the time, ans the International School had an American curriculum, was pretty easy for most of us. Our group got along and several kept lifelong friendships formed- though coming from different countries some kept touch some did not. Most of us had cars with drivers, and could visit three discos and nightclubs, a restaurant at start of night, or street vendors wee hours of the morning, and leaving home was hard to spend more than $20 in a night. There was only one club opened past 1am, they had bribed one of the generals- so by two in the morning the "whole" town there - our group. sons of generals, local mob bosses, some working expats 30 and 40 years old and ladies of ill repute, local media or entertainment stars. Crazy environment for a 17 year old, and as I spoke the language and the street dialect I was often called in by different people to do translation duty.I made money on the side bringing records in from London and selling to DJ's and music stations.

It was cheap, for $1 one could buy 100 thin satay on a stick. Street vendors everywhere.

One couple I visit annually in Europe surprized me by getting some of the group to visit at same time- after 50 years, Two good friends I had not seen since then entered , and one so emotional burst into tears.I do not know if it was just seeing each other, or recycling on our lives at now our last phases. our shared experience a bit unique, so several mentioned they could never quite relate the experience to their later life.

Australians were only group at school that mixed with both groups, one night going out with the Americans, the other with Brits and Europeans.

As many of the Expats may have moved around, with parents as Diplomats, in military or large multinationals, some times they knew each other from other countries they had been too.

Bali was the first stop for young Australians on their way to visit London, some backpacking on the way. Locals quite annoyed with those who stayed upsetting their local way of life.

What wonderful memories you have from those days, Morpeth! I hope your children are as impressed as I am, and all BE members who stumble upon them! I didn't get to Indonesia until 1974, when I was 34 or 35, and my wife and I took our annual vacation there from our jobs in what was then The New Hebrides, down near Fiji. We took a train from Jakarta to the eastern end of Java, and the ferry (I presume; I really don't recall) across to Bali. That island was a lot, lot more sedate than it is now! We paid $2 a night for a room at a hotel within walking distance of Kuta Beach. Kuta had barely been discovered by mass tourism at that time. Happy days!

On the way home we stayed with friends of ours in Jakarta - a banker and his wife whom we knew from the New Hebs. I'll give you one story from that stay that will amuse you... They were required to employ five individuals from the adjoining village, in their (the bank's) house... a nightwatchman with a knife, a cook, a house-cleaner, a laundress, and a gardener. Each had his or her allotted work, and (but) there was a strict division of labour.for each one - and the employees stuck fast to each one's division. If the cook accidentally (!) dropped a cloth, she refused to pick it up because that was the cleaner's responsibility. The cleaner flat refused to pick it up. So... the cloth stayed on the floor until the lady of the house herself picked it up. The procedure sounds ridiculous, but that's what the banker and his wife told us! What do you reckon?

The time you were there Jakarta was still under-developed, the main place for social gathering was Hotel Indonesia and a new new hotels had been recently built, that downtown area was Menteng was where the nicer homes and some old Dutch homes were, if you were in newer area that was Kemang, Through out the city there were villages adjoining each other. Many day to day items not available in Jakarta so most Expats ended up going to Singapore every three months- at airport I was not allowed in unless barber at airport cut my hair.,

Having a night watchman standard- usually retired soldiers or related to soldiers, and maid, and cleaner plus when necessary gardener- though a separate laundress as well not so common. . Whether drive, or pedicab and even taxi almost a necessity- if there was an accident and European driver they could be lynched.

Yes it was a ferry, I caught a few times, and that train ride I remember unbearable in the heat. You are right Kuta and Sanur beach not so crowded those days, unless it has changed birth Bali and inland area more tranquil.

Television had one American soap opera at night.

Saturday mornings I was DH at local radio station as they wanted an English language show,

Don't know if you went out at all, but to this day most incredible disco/nightclub I have ever went to , the Tanamur you might have gone to.

Bali was cheap- funny our parents thought nothing going on our own there.

Morpeth. You're right and I was wrong. I remembered there were five locals and forgot about the driver, and why he was essential. So there must have been no laundress.

On a completely different topic - namely, the apparent reluctance of the children of emigrants to do their own emigrations... You'd think they would do what their parents did, but not many actually did. I'm thinking particularly of the children of the emigrants from Britain who settled in Australia and other British colonies back in the 19th Century. None of the children of my ancestral immigrants to Oz ever went anywhere else to live. Grandchildren (my generation) yes, but none of the original settlers' children ever went overseas themselves. I wonder why that was.

Good question. In my family same for those who went to Australia and United States, different of course for those who went to Rhodesia. Grandchildren though a different story sometimes.

Driver essential - it happened in Indonesia if an Expat in accident, locals would run amok (an Indonesian source word if I recall).

Another Indonesian story- son of rich Chinese-Indonesian owner of Japanese car franchise was known to us casually. In Indonesia periodically anti Chinese or even anti Japanese riots would break out. One time particularly brutal crowd went around burning Japanese cars, and burned down the headquarters of this franchise.Seeing the fellow at the disco I went over to offer my sympathy- he was celebrating with expensive champaign. He explained it was great because anyone who had a Japanese car could afford to but a new one, and the building was over-insured and he wanted a new one. Gossip was he and his father had paid off the generals to hold back suppressing the riot for a week.

One's teens and twenties are usually when we take non-serious jobs, to earn a few quid before we start forging careers. Hitching my way around Scandinavia, back in the day, I met up with an Aussie carpenter of my age who had lined up a job at a farm-home for autistic kids in Sweden, and who invited me to join him as his assistant. As it turned out, the boss was in greater need of a "house-father", so I did that for three weeks. My wife's first overseas job was as a cook at a children's home in London. In the next generation, our son drifted around Mexico before fluking into a job as a professional model for a year. A friend of mine found a job in London parking cars. A relative in her teens worked for a while as a "bingo assistant" in Skegness - surely the most exotic of all the jobs!

All five of us of course turned our talents to serious and successful careers in later years... Any other similar stories?

Hitching certainly was something more prevalent. I rarely see now.

As a work, one person I knew in Indonesia ended up getting bit parts in local television shows whenever they wanted a foreigner to appear in a show

.In Switzerland I knew a fellow who ran a type of disco/hostel- he ended up having almost all his staff being travellers who spread the word about work- he paid almost nothing. in cash, but provided room and board and let people keep 50% in tips and after 3 months would be a train ticket to wherever- so what happened was someone hitching around Europe and low on money , could always stop by to replenish their cash. However some enjoyed party atmosphere so much , ended up staying for a year. Swiss tax authorities caught up with owner, know a few people who worked there who later became successful

Before Brexit, ran across young Brits working in Croatia in summers various odd jobs, in exchange travel expenses, room and board, and cash at end of summer.

Hitched a lot as a young person. Started as a 14 year old by hitching from London to Bristol (returning from access visits to my Father). Naturally he would give me the train fare but I wasn't going to spend such riches on a train, no way! Worked well, until one day, standing by the Chiswick flyover with thumb out, my Father walked around the corner and caught me (having surreptitiously followed me from home)! Turned out that on the previous occasion my Mother had phoned him a couple of times wondering where I was (having checked train times, etc). Neither said anything - until I was caught!

Then I hitched to Oslo. where my Aussie flag caught the eye of a member of the Australian speed-skating team, and I stayed in their rented flat for a week. The team had their entry fees to European races paid by their national Association (which I'd never heard of, and still haven't!), but they had to pay for their own accommodation and food. In Oslo they were working on the wharves, for cash. So I worked there with them for a week, before hitting the road again - back to England, where I had a proper job lined up in an accountancy firm.

Two great stories, Morpeth! I've got nothing to match them! The best I can manage is a quickie from my ten days in Kuwait, back in 1965. On a whim, I walked into the local radio station and asked if they would like to interview me. They offered me 10 pounds and we went on air. At the end of the interview they asked me to select a song, to finish. "Oh, anything by Frank Sinatra", I said. Beeeeep! The interviewer said "I'm sorry, Mr Barlow, we can't play anything from that man, because he is a supporter of Israel and an enemy of Kuwait." Cripes! Who to substitute? I selected what I hoped was a safe choice and said for the replay, "Oh, anything by Perry Como". No beep, and all was well! Later, I discovered that one of Sinatra's "ratpack" was Jewish - Sammy Davis Jr, I think.

Yes Sammy Davis Jr converted to being Jewish.

Another "back in the day" theme, appropriate at this year-end, is how well we have kept up with some of our old, old, friends. Our friendships with some of them have endured since school days, and even the distance of thousands of miles hasn't kept us apart, at least in our respective thoughts.

Quite true. I avoid social media like the plague, but recently was convinced to join whatsapp group of my university days- there were only 300 students in the university so pretty much we all knew each other. How time flies, faster and faster it seems