RITCHIE FAMILY TRAVELS

The propensity for travelling the globe runs through our veins.Our ancestors were intrepid travellers, adventurers and pioneers.The World was an unknown place back then, they weren't even sure if it was round, or flat, nevertheless they boarded the 'West Wind' and sailed to Australia.
The voyage took eighteen months.
Here are some of our ancestors travelling experiences, and some of ours too!!...

POSTCARD FROM PORT PHILLIP, 1858

LETTER TO 'THE ARGUS ' NEWSPAPER - Melbourne Victoria- then known as Port Phillip, from passengers of the "West Wind "'the American ship which brought our Great, Great, Grandparents Alexander Ritchie and his wife Mary McCullum to Australia,  after the birth of Grandfather on board the ship 1.2.1853.

The letter is written by Alexanders brother-in-law Walter MaCallum.
It appears from records that the first part of the journey did not go well, the Captain was drunk, the boat was unseaworthy, and in the midst of all this, Great Grandmother Catherine, gave birth to our Grandfather, 'bless her!

Port Phillip,
28th April, 1858.
TO: CAPTAIN WRIGHT.
DEAR SIR,-

We, the passengers on board the American steam-ship "West  Wind," beg leave, before separating, to express to you their heartfelt thanks for conducting  them through the latter half of their previously protracted voyage so successfully, while you had to compete with difficulties of a most unusual kind.

They would also bear testimony to your admirable qualifications as a seaman,and uptight and honourable conduct as a gentleman, and we have felt the value of these characteristics the more for their contrast with the profligate and unprincipled conduct of those who had charge of the vessel on the first part of our voyage.

We also feel satisfied,that but for the order and discipline which you enforced among these parties, we would never have made our intended destination.
In taking our leave of you, we wish you every success in your professional career, and every happiness in private life.
  Signed on behalf of the passengers:

WALTER B. MACALLUM.
ALEX. FOWLER.
THOMAS OWEN. 397 99

POSTCARD FROM BUENOS AIRES 2005

July 2005...So.. my 23 year old   takes off to back pack around South America, and I prepare to travel vicariously through her emails and graphic photos, which start arriving soon after she arrives.... the contents of which are not for the feint-hearted.

Dear Mum,

... that's me just sailing down the Amazon River on a tyre. It's so hot here, great to get a swim

Yes, there are alligators, but they are way over the other side of the river.

Dear Mum :

... this one's of me, hang gliding off the coast of Lima, can you see me waving? those rocks way  down below do look pretty jagged , but the Instructor says all will be ok

Dear Mum :

... me again, waving to you from horseback up the side of Maccu Pichu.

It's a bit hard to see me because of the mist, and I feel a bit sick from the altitude, also  the mountain is vertical, the white stuff is snow, the rocks are a bit slippery, and the horse has lost its footing a couple of times, but I'm having a great time !

Dear Mum :

... hello again, myself and Rhiannon are in the back of a ute with a dead chook in a sugar bag  on our way to a village in the jungle.

The chook was a gift for the Sharmon of the village, but it has died on the way because its taking a long time to get there, almost three days so far, so I'm not sure when we will arrive ,because the driver doesn't speak much English ,and drives very fast on the dirt road around hair-pin bends with 300 ft drops beside them, and I think he's been smoking Coca leaf, but I'll email you when we arrive.

Oh, might not be an Internet cafe there, never mind, we are in the Amazon Jungle on the way to the Peruvian border.

Yes  I know people sometimes disappear under these circumstances, but right now I'm more worried about the dead chook, which is starting to smell, and also I haven't eaten for two days.

And finally...

Dear Mum :

...Have arrived safely in Peru. My friend and I have just  been dispersed with tear gas by riot Police during a street demonstration in Lima, but I've had something to eat at last.

Hostel Accomodation not too good here, there's something crawling in the beds..

Oh, by the way.. there's a ticket for Argentina on its way... see you there on 25th !"

Well, you know,your kids can be a pain  sometimes, but hang in there, because they grow up and buy you airline tickets!!

So I phoned the Tax man and told him to take stress leave for two weeks, then informed my cafe team that they had just become part of that wonderful Aussie Institution, the volunteer work force !! and they were still thinking that over,  as they waved me good-bye......

Some customers said they would just wait out the front..until I got back !!!

....then I .packed my placards in the suitcase, just in case there were any really good demonstrations, and boarded Aerolineas Argentinas, for that long, long flight across the Pacific Ocean to Argentina.

.. and let me tell you, it was a long time between fags.

Sat next to a lovely Brazilian woman who couldn't speak a word of English, I don't speak Portugese ,so naturally we found a way to communicate.I told her I might have a heart attack.( Well everyone told me I probably would, because I was too old, smoked too much, Third World planes fall out of the sky, the usual cheery stuff)
Maria said something like " No worries Senora, I know what to do, just go to sleep now "
So I took her advice, which was fine, as later I discovered she was a Doctor.
Landed safely at Buenos Aires, stepped onto the tarmac, and lit a cigarette..well ??all the porters and all the customs men and women were smoking..why not ??
Went looking for  my 23 year old Aussie backpacker, and didn't have much trouble spotting her, I'd recognize those shoulders anywhere, with that big pack too, she had just flown in from Bolivia, looking happy, but a bit skinny.

After a joyful reunion with her  in a pile of legs and luggage and backpacks on the floor of the airport, oblivious to the stares of other travellers,we hit Buenos Aires, and arrived at our B & B- the Hotel Frossard on Tucaman Street,  once owned by the family of Che Guevera.

So I said  "How come the most successful revolutionaries always come from wealthy families.?"
.. and my aussie backpacker's said...
"Well, how come you're walking around  Argentina looking  at home amongst total strangers in a foreign country where you don't speak a word of their  language ?? "
The  Y generation, no idea of the Baby Boomers.
Don't they know we feel at at home anywhere in the world?
Buenos Aires..what a town. Streets so wide you can fit six cars across, Spanish architecture everywhere, beautiful bread, beautiful looking people.

Public toilets everywhere, in dress shops, leather shops, even the corner Tobacconist, with cleaners in and out every half an hour!!
No graffiti in this city. Only saw it once, on the side of a Bank,
.. in Spanish..

 BANKS ARE SHIT!!"





Mmmm .Must be Universal.

God, if only Australia had been  discovered by the Spaniards instead of the Poms, we'd be able to smoke everywhere, find a Loo, and Tango in the streets at 9.00 a.m. without getting booked by a Council Ranger for being outside the white lines.


The Black economy is alive and well in Buenos Aires.

We had our favourite place, and went there each night.
The old bloke behind the till was whacking the cash into his pocket, the drawer was always open, and the till read 20 pesos.
I think it had read 20 pesos for the last eight years. Very informal, their Economy.
Putting my key card into the ATM, imagine my delight to find there were thousands and thousands of dollars in there,well I thought,they are doing okay back in the Cafe ,I'll keep on spending.... but uh oh.. the balance in pesos, not Euros or AUD.Only one third that much.Never mind, I still bought ten pairs of shoes back with me.
Beautiful looking people, the Argentines ,and they have great style, all wear gorgeous clothes and shoes.
The shops are wonderful, all the great Designer Houses are there. Beautiful Alpaca  goods.

Argentine leather, in the latest European style, very reasonable at about $110 AUD. We shopped for coats at Only Leather on the Mall, and friend Carlo looked after us.
My Aussie backpacker couldn't decide, so just bought two!

We went to the Eva Peron's Museum in Palermo.. which houses all of Argentina's most famous daughter's stuff in a beautiful old home, which was originally one of the houses she set up for the street children of Buenos Aires in the 1930's.Her dresses,suits,hats,and jewellery, and lots of photos of her, are all on display.
Last week was the fiftieth anniverary of her death from cancer at age 33.
Not sure I approved of her husband Juan´s fascist politics but I guess he did his best for the "cabecitas negras "which is how the rich disdainfully referred to the poor, dark-skinned "peronistas" in those times, or "shirtless workers "  - which is what I'll be when I get back home, if I don't stop spending money.

My Aussie backpacker shops a lot, and eats a lot.

Anyway,Evita's body was kidnapped when she died in 1955, and taken to Spain, but was returned in the 70´s, and we also visited the crypt in Ricoletta where she is buried.($ 20,000 US if you want to be buried there! )
What a beautiful, peaceful place for her last resting place.
Seems she is still remembered either with passionate adoration, or vehement hatred.Maybe she was a Scorpio.

Also went to a demonstration in the main square near Govt house, which was very orderly, although there were a lot of Policia standing by, but we soon made friends with them!

Argentina needs the touriste dollar.





In 2001 when the Argentine economy was very bad, there were riots in the Plaza De Mayo, and 27 people were shot and killed.
Twice I have been to an ATM, and the screen says ¨sorry no pesos today ¨ so you just try another one., until you get one that's got cash in it.

Every Thursday afternoon at 3.30 pm there is a March in the Plaza by the Madres of Plaza de Mayo, some of whom are now in their eighties.It was very moving to see parents, brothers, sisters and other family
members holding photos of their children who disappeared in the late 70´s during the Dirty War..30,000 of them, taken by the Military Regime and never seen again.

They have never given up, and they still march, every Thursday.
Spent the afternoon sitting on a park bench talking to Guillermo Pesce ; a 71 year old half-Spanish half-Italian writer, whose brother disappeared all those years ago.
 The soldiers and police just came into his house one night, and took his brother, whilst his pregnant sister-in-law watched, helplessly.
He was never seen or heard of again, and Guillermo still marches along with the others, every Thursday afternoon.
Footnote : Guillermo sadly passed away in 2006.
No doubt his descendants still March every Thursday afternoon.

There are police, watchmen, security guards everywhere, every few feet, in the street, all night
No Asian people. Haven't seen a single one.
Its strange to be in a country inhabited only by its natives, after living in multi-cultural Oz.
Not many indiginous people here, I think its too far south. But some playing the pipes in the Street.

You also see children begging in the streets which looks incongrous next to Argentine shoppers hurrying by carrying 6 or 7 designer label shopping bags.
Apparently the beggars are from Bosnia, and ex-USSR mostly Ukraine.They are well organized, and arrive by bus to the city each day.
I´ve seen a boy around two and a half sitting alone in the street, filthy and begging. Of course I gave him money.

Of course, the Aussie Backpacker warned me against it ( She'd been in South America for three months )
Of course, the next day as I was walking along she said "Look behind you, Mum " and there they were,all following me in a long, long line.!!
Of course there is poverty. Extreme poverty. Of course some of the ads on Argentina TV warn viewers that child Prostitution is illegal.
But it's a beautiful, vibrant city, this'Paris of South America '
Shopping is a dream.
We could all take a lesson in Customer Service from the Argenines.
On arrival, they greet you, then leave you alone, only approach again if you obviously want help, and then they are charming and helpful, but not pushy.
The cafe con leche ( coffee with milk ) arrives with a tiny glass of mineral water. Nice touch.

Each night the chefs in their big hats from the restaurants and cafes pace up and down outside their place, and spruik.
Competition is fierce. They hand out the menu to passers by, and get them in
They do this by saying the food at the other restaurants is crap, and theirs is better.
We could try that in Sydney ( as opposed to just gossiping about it )
Last week went to a cafe along the wharf, and I went to the toilet. Signs
all in Spanish so I took a guess, and went in.

Six pairs of brown MALE eyes looked up at me.????
I said ¨Perdon, no Espanol !! ¨and backed out quick smart.
Terribly funny, for them.
We went to a Tango Club. Naturally. How could you go to Latin America, and not go to a Tango club??
Huge stage, rows and rows of balcony seats, plush red velvet chairs, white linen tableclothes and candelabra... like an old theatre straight out of the 50´s, it was full of Columbians, Mexicans and Brazilians all dressed up in furs and diamonds .. fabulous Tango dancers singers and orchestra.. wonderful food and wine.We just rocked up in our thongs. None of them have a clue where Australia is anyway.

Everyone talks politics here, endlessly.


Went to the Antique markets, and to La Boca, which is like The Cross in Sydney, dangerous at night, beautiful by day.






Tango dancers everywhere in the sun at 9.00 a.m. in the morning, dancing on the cobbled streets.
Visited the famous  Café Tortoni, in Buenos Aires ..one of the most famous cafes in the world, where all the Presidents and all the movie stars  whenever they are in B.A..
Beautiful stained glass ceilings, but I thought the food was only average, and over  priced, and the waiters were a bit snooty., too. Here ,as in Europe, being a waiter is a Profession, and they get a lot of kudos, unlike Australia, where you do it to get cash, whilst you are working your way through Uni.
Argentine men are very nice looking, fair skin, black hair,the women are beautiful.. and the children !!!
I want to take them all home with me.
If you look at Sydney and Buenos Aires on a world map, the line running between them is dead straight.
Maybe that's why we feel so at home here, because both countries are aligned on the map, both down the bottom of the Globe......
I'll never forget these two weeks in beautiful, brave Argentina.

"And when you're life is ended, it won't matter how much money you made,how big your house is,or how many friends you have, the size of your funeral is still going to depend on the weather."

Hola!!

Postcard from Tallubudgera..QLD 2006

Sharon Natasha Alana and Robyn




  Visited Sharon and Paul  Fairhall at Tallubudgera.
and their children (?) Craig,Alana and Ryan, their partners and their children too.

Sharon's Dad, Graham Herbert was also there .

___________

POSTCARD FROM WARRANDYTE,VIC DEC.2009

Flew to Melbourne on Boxing Day....


 Had a great lunch at Lyn Ritchie's in lovely Warrandyte-


Ruth John and Robyn Ritchie



Deb,Ruth,Tash and Lyn

Del in thoughtful mode

Tony dropped in on his way home from Hawaii