Bill Ronald from Cumnock to New Zealand

 By Bill "Wumpy" Ronald born 1940 in Cumnock. Edited by Kay McMeekin

I was born in 1941, the 20th of April, Hitler`s birthday. 

My dad, William Burley Ronald,  was the secretary /treasurer for the Cumnock ramblers for well over 25 years. I was called after him and both me and Dave my older brother were members. Sunday mornings we met at the foot of the Barhill and we chalked the road for ones that turned up late giving the time we left and where the club run was going . I did a number of trips with Tam Foster and his wife Mary, my brother Dav, Daw Mc Gill and many others leaving on Friday nights and coming back on Sundays we stayed in Youth Hostels or cycling club rooms if the others were racing. It was a great time and we saw a lot of places we would not have seen being off the main roads trying to avoid traffic. I was known mostly by my nickname Wumpy. 

I started work at the Barony pit when I left school working in the wood yard and then I was sent to Dungavel mining school for 3 months, school one day and training the next day under ground at the Kames colliery.  On completion back to the Barony and I applied for an apprentice ship and started this for 18 months at Lugar workshops then transferred back to the Barony then a stint at Whitehill pit finished my apprenticeship back at the Barony then due to the temporary closure I was sent to Sorn Mine where I was on standby maintenance electrician at the mechanised face.

Taken at the Barony pit, Bill on the driver`s seat and Jim Kirkland is leaning on the tractor.
Prior to 1961 as we were both electrical apprentices

I was courting the wife (Elizabeth Brown Adams) when 17 years old and I told her that I always had a yearning to go to New Zealand and she replied that she would also like to go there even though we knew nothing about the country. Once out of my time we both applied to New Zealand House. We were interviewed had x-rays and medical checks then Betty got word from her step-sister in Australia that single couples were being split up in Australia; men living in barracks and young women in barracks 50 miles apart, so we wrote to New Zealand House and asked if we could get married and still travel under the emigration scheme. We got a yes answer, so we got married and we received a reply telling us that a junior official had misinformed us, so we needed a sponsor. We wrote to the Wellington Post and paid for an advert which was answered by a Scottish lady and she found us a sponsor. We later thought this lady was employed by the government as we found out she had helped at least 3 other couples at the same time. 

In  December 1963 we got a letter asking us if we were willing at short notice to leave on the 31st January 1964 from Tilbury Docks on board the passenger ship Rangitoto. We left on that date and we were both 22 years old. We travelled via Curaçao, Panama Canal, Panama City, Papettie (Tahiti) then Auckland in New Zealand. We then had a 15 hour train trip to Wellington  - it stopped at every place on route. Started work the next day doing contract work at the new library block at the university. We worked a 9 hour day 8 hours  and 1hour overtime and I was paid 1 hour travelling time every work day.  At Sorn mine I did not get overtime and my take home pay after tax was £10 12 shillings. In New Zealand, working 5 days plus ½ day on Saturday I got £23 pounds 17 shillings . Betty also worked sewing police and fire brigade uniforms earning £15 pound 14 shillings. We saved my wage and lived off her wage. After 4 years we had enough money to buy a ¼ acre  plot of land and with a government loan, we had our house built. The loan only applied to people who would have a new house and not an existing house. We took out a 15 year loan and paid it off in 10 years making the house freehold. The house was a 3 bedroom, each bedroom having a walk in wardrobe, a bath room which had a bath, sink, a built in  mirror cabinet and separate shower box, separate toilet, laundry, kitchen/dining room and a lounge. The house was built with redwood outside and rimu frames. 80% of the houses in New Zealand  are made of wood because it flexes in the eathquake tremors, brick houses crack. For about a year we knew no-one but we made friends as most of the tradesmen came from the UK. Then one day I met John Carson who lived in Netherthird and we regularly met and we each related what news we had and I would pass on the Chronicles my mum sent us.

We were surprised that food was a lot cheaper and the first day we went shopping Betty bought a box of peaches and a side of lamb walking back to the house Betty said we don`t have a fridge, only an air vent with fine mesh that kept the blow flies away. The meat did not go off but a fridge was bought a week later. The day the son was born I returned to work 2 hours later and as I turned the corner of the University the whole length of the Library roof stood every man on the job they were chanting, "Here is the new Daddy’ clap clap of the hands and they all kept repeating it till I entered the building. That day at the pub I had to put the 10 jugs of beer on the table for the first round of drinks . We finished work at 5pm and the pub closed at 6pm this was known as "the 6 oclock swill". During the war years the women of New Zealand got this law passed as drunkenness was rife prior to it  The laws have now been altered with some pubs getting a late license and are open till am. About a year before we left Cumnock I got my appendix out and I can`t handle alcohol and I gave away drinking about 50 years ago. I will sit with drinkers and have one glass of beer on rare occasions. When I was deer hunting through the bush near the mountain tops on the way home there was normally 3 or 4 of us and next to where we left the car we would put a half gallon flagon of beer in a pool nearby and I would have a mug full while the others would share the rest after carrying a 150 lb deer for several hours. It tasted great.

When we arrived in New Zealand in 1964 in Wellington there were more jobs than people due to the high loss of men during the war and the population was just under 2 ½ million for a country slightly larger than the UK so if you wanted to get ahead you had to work overtime, but Sunday work employers had to apply for a special dispensation and prove that the job could only be done on a Sunday. Being an electrician meant that we could be cutting off power to neighbouring companies, so Sunday work was done regularly by our trade. Betty and I talked about this and how it could not last. So to make the most of it while it lasted, I decided to work for my employer Monday to Friday and the weekends take on private jobs. I  got a tough lesson on life very quickly though. Two friends I played football with I got 2 new houses to wire up each house was for a young married couple. One chap was a builder and to avoid tax on his business he signed it onto his wife's name. Once completed she divorced him. This house was huge with a games room and bar about 3 times the size of a normal house.  I never got paid. The other house the chap was bankrupt and no payment. After this I decided I would only do work for an employer. I did a lot of jobs for close friends. They paid for the material and I did the jobs for nothing as they helped us to move to Wainui from Wellington etc.  

We had 2 kids by this time, David and Jan, and then the parents came out from Cumnock for a year and I had started racing greyhounds so we raced the dogs as far north as Rotorua 350 miles away and at our local tracks Lower Hutt 2miles away, Masterton 60 miles, Palmerston North 100 miles and Hawera 180 miles away so it let them see a lot of the country. While at Masterton we would go into the fruit orchards and pick our own apples pears and peaches then coming back from Palmerston we would call in at the market gardens and pick our own beetroot, carrots and other vegetables from the roadside stalls. Some of these like tomatoes, corn on the cob I would stop at a big letter box and get a bag of tomatoes for a $1. These were honesty boxes. The growers would come down at night and lift the money from the saucer and replenish the bags of tomatoes in the morning. Small orchards did this with their fruit. I met a Arab family touring New Zealand and he seen the sign "kiwi fruit $1 a bag". He was looking for someone to pay and when I came up he was amazed when I showed him the saucer and put my $2 in the saucer. He held his hand up with the money in his hand looking for a camera. I told him that times were changing. This was the old ways.  In the country where some one has been eating a plum peach, pear or apple while in a car throw the core out and a tree will grow, you will get plenty of apples but the rest are generally stripped of all the fruit. 

Prior to the parents coming out I took up deer hunting. There were generally 3 of us; Hamana (Ham) a Maori. He was an engineer. He had a German gun 9 mill Mauser. He was knowledgeable in ballistics. He made up his own ammo. Bryan a pakeha (White Kiwi) and myself. Ham gave me the nickname Radar from the TV series Mash. A lot of national parks the best access to them would be through a station, a farm with 3000 acres or more so we would go to the farm house and ask permission to walk through their property. In most cases Ham would get me to ask and as soon as I spoke “ listen he sounds like granddad” the Sutherlands, Donalds,  McKay etc all gave us permission except at lambing time.  I would get their phone number and ring up in advance. If we got a deer we would call in on the way home and drop off some venison. Some areas were heavily hunted so the deer knew that people were not there Monday - Friday and would stop moving around after Saturday morning lying low til Monday so we started walking in with torches on a Friday. We would be lucky to shoot a deer after Saturday morning.

1 Son David wearing T shirt with Lance who fishes with rod from boat while David is diving for crays

2 David cooking crays in kitchen. we now do all cooking outside with bigger pot

3 The start of the Wainawa gorge packed full of venison and a set of 8 point antlers 

4 Colin leaning on hut with myself with deer head I shot

5 Collecting David with stag he shot in the Orongorongo range. He carried the deer 6 miles from early in the morning

WORKING HOLIDAY TO AUSTRALIA

In 1971 there was an exodus of tradesmen leaving New Zealand  for Australia and  the stories you heard were that there was that much work, the conditions were better and the wages were a lot higher. So Betty and I talked it over and decided it would give us a chance to see Australia if we went for a working holiday. The kids education would not be interrupted too much as David had only started school a year after his birthday in June, and Jan would be 5 in the last day of February. So we rented out our house to a young English couple. We were happy enough in New Zealand but curiosity is like a gold rush. It must be true as there were plenty going there. The first impressions we had once over there was that it was better but that was like cosmetics, the nitty gritty does not show up. It was like Scotland in Queensland once you got a job you stayed with it as jobs were scarce and like the American system everything favoured the big companies who juggled their enterprices from state to state and could avoid the law and taxes as each State had its own parliament. Criminals also used the State system to avoid the law by just crossing the border into another state and they could not be brought back. I saw examples of this as when there was a lapse in the building boom, companies left workers with no wages the owners crossed into New South Wales 60 miles from Brisbane an hour's drive.  2 young chaps did the same, stole 2 motorbikes and all the leather gear plus helmies from work mates .There was also a lot of scams - invest in a new high story building being built mostly appartments you paid 10 % of the price of a new appartment and when the building was completed its value had sky rocketed in the Gold Coast, only thing is a lot of these companies stopped after a year and vanished with the depositors' money and started the same procedure in another state and some landed in New Zealand. You could toss a coin and if it landed heads you had a great life in Aussie, if tails you rued the day. I was employed all the time and was offered a job as an assistant to a trouble shooter in the oil fields, great wages but no family life . Because we never got any overtime I had the best time with the kids every night down at the play park while Betty cooked tea and the weekends going swimming with them  Betty got a start as a part-time job working for an upholsterer after taking the kids to school and picking them up after school. Many kids were abducted, no kids walked to school and I even got an ear bashing for letting the kids run ahead of me into the ice cream shop before going to the play park an old lady told me, "you are not in New Zealand now. Always keep the kids at your side or you`ll lose them".  We stayed for 21 months so that we could take our car over to New Zealand as to buy a new car in New Zealand you needed overseas funds as New Zealand kept its budget and only borrowed  for national projects power stations etc.

We sailed to Aussie and we flew back giving the English couple 3 months notice as to when we would be back. While we lived in Brisbane for the 21 months working holiday my dad wrote me and asked if I would go up and see Buddy Ramsay and his wife seeing as your both are in Queensland . The Ramsays lived in North Queensland in a village called Milanda and we lived in the South . So we planned a trip for the school holidays in August which was 10 months after we lived there. Before leaving there was a petrol tanker strike by the drivers with rumours going around it was over, others saying it was still on, so I got confirmation from the AA that it was over. We dropped the back seat of the station wagon and put in a matress and pillows for the kids to lie on and let them sleep if they got tired. Heading north we encountered several cars towing caravans, so they were causing a long line of traffic slowing everybody down doing about 40 mph. We witnessed many a near miss and it took about 10 miles for everyone to pass it. About100 miles north we came to Quimpie and the road went over a hump-back bridge over a gorge. On the bridge were markings with dates showing the levels of great floods. The water was 30ft below these marks. After a while we were on empty roads for long spells and more than 300 miles since leaving we came to Gladstone where we intended to book into a motel  It did not happen as the town was packed with families as the men were working on a new power station and also work was being done on the highway which was going to be tar sealed all the way to Darwin in the North so we decided to head further North to Rockhampton which turned out to have no petrol and there were tents everywhere with people being stranded so we headed another 20 miles out of town and went to a village called Caves. We went into the beer garden at the pub and ordered meals, kids being allowed as long as they behaved the waitress said, "You`ll be after fuel", and pointed to a chap "He has the post office and petrol pumps. He has had a delivery today and he has to have his post office open for another 2 hours so follow him out when he goes”, which we did plus the whole pub,  filled up the tank and told him to keep the change and off into the darkness. We hit more road works and picked up a kangaroo running along side of us for 100 yards

Then it jumped over the bonnet just missing our windscreen! Soon we were back onto tar roads again and we decided to sleep at the side of the road, Betty and Jan slept on the mattress, Dave and I slept in our sleeping bags next to the car. in the morning at first light we took off and the first lay-by we came to we stopped and Betty was making sandwiches. The kids got the first 2 and I was boiling the kettle when Jan let out a scream. There were 2 huge emus and one had her sandwich the other was trying to get David`s. I looked around and the place was bare. There had been a drought for 3 years . I took out half a loaf and scattered it and we got going to Mackay where the only accommodation was a caravan in a park. we hired it for the day. David wanted a swim in the pool so the notice said parents must be with the kids at all times. The water in the pool was crystal clear and David jumped in. The pool was 8ft deep and it caught him by surprise and he froze and forgot to swim. I had to dive in with all my clothes on and most of our money. Betty had to dry  the dollar bills pegged to a line in the caravan. Next morning on the road we had done 600 miles and into sugar cane country and heading North, still 600 miles to go to Cairns.

After leaving Mackay we travelled up past Porsepine to Bowen inland from Bowen is a Cattle Station that was owned by the Scottish Pastural Society they had a huge herd and had imported a stud bull that was pure white this station was thousands of acres in size and once in a while a worker would go out to the far end of the property and check the herd .on one of these trips the worker could not find the herd so he kept looking and he found tracks that the herd had been stolen a work party with an aboriginie tracker went after the herd and they eventually tracked the culprits down 800 miles south near Roma and they found the stud bull. The men were arrested and the court case was held in Roma 300 miles west of Brisbane the jury was all small lease farmers who hated the big land owners even with the proof and brand marks the jury found the men innocent hence the term a 'kangaroo court'. After Bowen we came to AYR and I sent a postcard to the parents and on again we were right into the sugar cane and they were burning off the cane right up to the road the drivers side of the car got all the paint blistered the ash from the fires went thousands of feet up in the air and further on it fell littering the country side this is called Queensland snow. After this we came to a forest on both sides of the road and we saw a cassawary a big bird like an emu then more canefields and the small town of Ingham where we stayed in a motel. We were all down to shorts and tee shirts. Next day we travelled up to Cairns we could not find accommodation so we headed north about 10 miles where we found a sandy bay with coconut trees and a stream. Here we rested for 2 days the kids having races using small crabs then'  dad we want a coconut”.  The trunk of the trees has a hard ridge round them these marks are where the palm leaves have broken off when the tree is growing they make good foot  holds when climbing. Once I dropped 2 coconuts down descending the edges dig into your bare skin and give you a nasty rash . There was a few bushes that separated us from a smaller bay and a young Aborigine couple had a makeshift tent made out of sacks and had 3 kids about a year apart I watched the chap spearing quite large fish which he had tied to a string when he noticed me he was very wary I went and got some sweets, and took them to him. I unwrapped the paper and showed him he still did not understand, and he could not speak English so I ate it and placed them on the ground and left I came back to see him the next day but he was gone . After breakfast we travelled up through forest and steep hill up onto the Atherton Table land to the Milanda village a beautiful place with the rainforest trees overlapping the road and the local swimming pool was a waterfall into a large natural pool. We met the Ramsays and we stayed with them for 2 days. Buddy took us through the rain forest showing us the orchids staghorn ferns and the Monstera deliciosa. The fruit is poisonous till it ripens.Iit`s like a big cucumber and has 7 different flavours. After that he took us to a reservoir dam which was full of turtles and they ate bread out of your finger tips. When we left we took the kids out on the glass bottom boat to look at the great barrier reef, all the fish multi coloured . AccomModation was easier to find on the way back . One motel was bed and breakfast $10 a head it was steak /eggs for breakfast orange juice etc. The owners were Italians. Before we reached Brisbane we were buying 5lb bag of oranges /$1  bananas lettuce, tomatoes and pineapples were also cheap at roadside stalls . A great trip and new experience. All the little towns have been built up and we have been told the bay we stayed at is now a big holiday resort.

(I asked Bill how he got the car to New Zealand, given that they flew back. This is his answer)

Being a member of the AA these were 2 of the main services they did, at that time! 

1 When leaving Aussie you took your car to the depot and you filled in declaration forms for customs and you paid the charges and they then did the rest by shipping the car down to Sydney and there was a weekly service from there to New Zealand,  a transport ship and you knew exactly when the ship would be in Wellington and a few days later we then cleared the customs there. 

2 If you were going to a city you had never been to you contacted the AA and they had a car waiting at a special lay-by and you followed that car through the city streets to get you to your destination. 

We flew from Brisbane down to Sydney as there was no direct flight to Wellington from Brisbane. The plane going to Wellington from Sydney was delayed due to a minor fault which took more than 3 hours to fix and load up with fuel and luggage  so because it was an international flight ,we were told to report to the dining area where we were given a 3ncourse meal  One of the most remarkable trips we done was to go to Roma 30 0miles inland from Brisbane during summer, prior to Toowoomba we stopped at the roadside stalls and bought a rock melon, water melon, oranges, and big bunches of grapes. We were told early on to quench thirst, eat fruit as liquids just made you sweat. Before you enter Toowoomba you have to go up a steep double bended hill at the last bend going down hill there is a large trench full of loose chips in line with the road this is to stop trucks whose brakes have failed . After Toowoomba the road is flat and straight. I found that travelling at 70 mph was the most economic on the petrol every 20 miles or so the road had 2 right angle turns for a cottage and huge wheat silos then the same angles going the opposite way this was done so that if people fell asleep they did not crash into the cottage or silos. After Dalby and Chinchilla the temperature was climbing up to 45C I was driving with just my shorts Betty had shorts and sleeveless shirt the kids were in their swimming togs. The air coming through the car vents was hot. By the time we got to Roma we were looking for a swimming pool . We booked into a motel and went to the pool the whole population was in and the water was Luke warm. Then after that the beer garden for a feed then later on we went to the drive in movie. MASH the film was on and during the movie we looked over the flat horizon and we could see for miles black clouds forming then lightning that covered the whole horizon. Never in my life have I ever seen forked lightning so massive. The clouds got nearer and all of a sudden there was a storm and the rain was that heavy the windscreen wipers could not take the water away and the film was a stream of colours no outline whatsoever after about 20 minutes the rain lessened and adults plus kids were dancing in the rain the drought was broken. The next morning there were no signs of the water, no puddles but signs of green beginning to appear the grass was starting to grow already. On the way back we detoured down a different route closer to the New South Wales border then up to Brisbane.