Everyone who helped on the Sequetus Series has it that they want to help.

That is the common thread, helping others. You will see it written in the Sequetus Series, book after book. It is there. Also in the Captain Kuro From Mars Series. So here is the real other side of all that made plain and visible. Nick’s desire to help.

Nick went to Tokyo at the end of 1992. In 1995 he volunteered to help at the Great Hanshin Earthquake, in Kobe. The city had been shattered. After that Nick was asked to volunteer in Nepal. That started a long term relationship, that exists today. All the while, Nick was writing the Sequetus series.

But different cultures were not new to Nick. In 1969 he teamed up with some fellow students and they went off to the highlands of New Guinea. There they met tribes that had only encountered white people once before in their history. Nick reveled in this. In his diary from 1970 he notes a tribal judicial payback in a park. This is where the accused was given a five minute head start, and tribal members painted in yellow clay would run after him with machetes. Nick said that in the evening they were told that the accused had died. See further below for more.

The header photo is of a group of children at a religious gathering. They worship the return of Maitreya, the one who Buddha said would follow one day to finish what he had started. This group also has s custom. They would light large bonfires and the members would write down on a paddle of wood what they had done that was bad that year, a confession. Then once given the okay, that wood would be thrown into the fire and their sins were no more. They could then lead a happier life with the regrets now forgiven. With Nick in the header photo is John Davis, behind, and Sawada Sensei by Nick’s side.

The photo immediately above shows Nick with a group of Buddhist monastery students in Kathmandu in 1995.

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NICK RETURNED TO NEPAL MANY TIMES, EVEN DURING ITS MAOIST CIVIL WAR.

Nepal is an enigma. It has areas that are very poor, and people that are extraordinarily rich. Nick met many interesting people, including dining with the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, and the President of the World Hindu Association, and members of royalty.

In Japan Nick worked on refining a way of improving literacy, and it was greatly accepted and used in nepal. Nick was awarded an honour from the King of Nepal in 2003 for his volunteer work in Nepal and Asia.

Nick also did volunteer work in India around that time. He also worked a lot in Japan. As he saw life differently he would bring this learning to his books so others could also reflect on what he had observed.

While Nick was did this he had freinds helping him in all countries. One was Mahesh Kunwar, above all others. Thank you for your help Mahesh. Another was Ravindra KC. Thank you as well. Another was Amar Moktan. Thank you Amar.

What We Do

Nick also worked extensively for ten months straight in Aceh

Aceh, in North Sumatra, suffered a devastating series of earthquakes, followed by massive tsunamis.

Aceh was in a protracted civil war at the time. A thirty year dirty war where entire villages were being eradicated for helping one side of the other. Nick took this as a chance to end the war with his literacy campaign.

You see, the program raises IQ. And if IQ goes up then war should stop. War is stupid, right? Well, if the population could be driven up into higher abilities so they could stop the wars that generals could not, then their was has a possibility of the war ending. And, it did end after over a hundred thousand people were put through the program.

Many believed in this program. One was Sei Broadhurst, my then wife, who worked behind the scenes, gathering volunteers and funds. Thank you Sei. There were also many in Aceh as well. And they still stay in contact, asking Nick to return.

Where We Work

A History

CHILDREN’S WELFARE HOME

NEPAL – ORPHANAGE 

The Children’s Welfare Home is one of many that sprung up after the civil war.  Nick had a program to help it.  But primarily they need donations, so if you are interested, please contact us.  There is a PayPal button in the left of the footer.

SPEAKING DURING A TRUCE

SPEAKING TO LAMAS

Nick was invited in 2003 to speak to a gathering of Lamas outside of Kathmandu.  There was a cease fire, and the curfew around the city capital was lifted for 72 hours so we could leave and enter.  Lamas are past life Gurus.  Aranged by Mahesh Kunwar – thank you!

BUDDHA’S BIRTHDAY

GOVERNMENT OPENING

Nick was asked to do the opening of the government ceremony for Buddha’s Birthday in 1998. On the left is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and behind Nick is the President of the World Hindu Federation.  Arranged through Mahesh and his brother. Thank you.

SCHOOL INTRODUCTION

TWO THOUSAND CHILDREN

Over two thousand children went through a program to measure their IQ and see if certain lessons done a certain way would raise IQ.  Uniformly children bettered their IQ by an average of 8.5 points.  That was significant.  Thank you Ranvindra KC, deeply, for your help.

KAOHSIUNG MAYOR

TAIWAN BOOK FAIR

In 2003 Nick briefly met the mayor of Taiwan at the Kaohsiung Book-fare, after Nick had finished speaking at an event there. The book-fare is a big thing in Taiwan, as it is in Japan. Nick also attended the Tokyo Book-fare while there.  Thank you Mei-Tsu very much for the chance.

KATHMANDU

SPEAKING TO SENIOR BUDDHIST OFFICIALS

On this occasion Nick spoke to many senior Buddhist Officials about his literacy program. It received support. It is notable that Buddhism thrived because its cannons were eventually translated and spread by writing across Asia.  Thank you all again, and I mean it.

RADIO AND TELEVISION

RADIO IN AUSTRALIA

In around 2004 Nick did both radio and television in Australia.  He had done some in Tokyo and enjoyed both. Nick was also involved in human rights at the time as one of his cases went to the UN.  You will find this in his books.  Also see the print media.  Thank you Michael, my aboriginal freind for this one.  That was a fun program in the aboriginal community in Queensland.  And for other radio, thank you Mary, Cyrus and Virginia. And thank you to those who helped in the television Nick appeared on. And thank you Eric for your work in Korea.

NEWSPAPER MEDIA

PAPER MEDIA

Nick did a lot of news media, particularly newspaper.  News media was done in Japan, Nepal, Taiwan, Malaysia, Korea, Indonesia, India, and Australia. Nick used media to handle many things including human rights abuses.  We guess, but maybe around a quarter of a billion copies of what Nick wrote, said, or been quoted, have been printed.  And, count what came from those who worked under him, it would be well over a billion copies printed.  Thank you Tojo, Minami, and Sato and the many many more.  Thank you as the message was vitally important to get out.

SPIRITUAL GROWTH

SENIOR RELIGIOUS LEADERS

Nick was heavily influenced by his years in Japan.  There, no religion is lambasted by another. Religious tolerance is part of the path.  This was many who helped on this path.  Many, many, too many.  Books, lectures, movements, advises, teachers.  You know who you are.  And for those who also helped and toiled in the World Council For Religious Freedom, WCRF, thank you.  It was Nick’s dream that man could be spiritually free, but that freedom would have to be fought for.

NORTH SUMATRA

GOVERNOR 2006

A year after the volunteer work was completed in Aceh, and North Sumatra, the Governor presented this ward to Nick on behalf of his team.  This work was extraordinary.  Nick mixed with rebels, police, army, and God know who, during the ten months he was up in Aceh.  And to those who attended Nick’s lessons, in the mosques and schools, thank you too.

KURO CHAN

SENIOR MENTOR

Kuro was by far Nick’s senior mentor. She taught a lot. He found that everything in life that applies to humans, applies to cats, and then to other species. But Nick learned of telepathy, magic and things that cannot be otherwise explained.  This magical but small being entered Nick’s life on the streets of Sydney in 2011.  To her he deeply says thank you.

BANDA ACEH

SAFE HAVEN – Bande Aceh 2005

Banda Aceh means Safe Haven or Safe Port in Persian.  It was the strong hold of the rebel forces of the civil war, and where Nick set up his volunteer centre.  Nick wants to thank the officials there, the generals, and the rebels. A year after the war Nick went back to listen to the speech by the President of Indonesia.  To him, Nick says thank you for seizing the opportunity.

CCHR NEPAL

MENTAL HEALTH HUMAN RIGHTS – 2003

Nick set up many programs in Nepal and this one is a human rights program for mental health. This was during the civil war.  Thank you Ravindra KC for running it.

SCHOOL PROGRAM 2003

THE TWO PROGRAM PARTS

There were two parts of this program. When done with a translator, per test results, it was disastrous. But done by a local, taught themselves – success!

GOVERNMENT EVENTS

NEPAL 2001

Over the years Nick has been invited to many events.  This was in many countries.  In this the person on Nick’s immediate right is a Supreme Court Judge.  This program had many speakers.

HUMAN RIGHTS MARCH

BERLIN 1998

In this program Nick was an invited participant, along with a Japanese who went with him. The hundred thousand attending this march, were a staggering number and called in from all over Europe.  Thank you Mr. Sakata.

BANGLADESH

DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY – 2003

A freind of Nick’s, the head of the Department of Philosophy, asked Nick to attend a workshop. Readers will note that Nick is big on philosophy.  Also note that Nick writes in fiction what he learns.  Thank you Doctor Islam.

CAMBODIA

CAMBODIA 2018

Nick took his literacy program to Cambodia.  And with help from an executive of the Department of Culture, Nick was quickly demonstrating how his program worked.  The kids and teachers loved it.

ENVIRONMENTAL REFORM

GARBAGE CLEAN UP OF THE RIVER

The holy river that flows through Nepal has been littered with garbage.  This was worse and worse after the King was assassinated and his brother abdicated. Here organizers have arranged for a people’s clean up.

ENVIRONMENTAL REFORM

KATHMANDU 2017

The holy river that flows through Nepal had been littered with no care.  A renowned film actress, Manisha Koirala, invited Nick to assist in the cleanup.  We toiled with the others pulling garbage up, weekend after weekend from the river banks.  The celebrities, with the media, made people aware.  That brought more people to help.

LITERACY

LITERACY

The Curriculum Development Committee of this Asian country was meeting with Nick on how to introduce this program, which was simply about how to use dictionaries in schools, and using these simple books to increase literacy.

HOKKAIDO JAPAN

SPECIAL CEREMONY 1999

Nick attended many spiritual events in Japan.  Japan is still very spiritual. This one was for the Maitreya, the one that Buddha said would come in the future to finish his work.  Nick was asked to partake and speak in front of ten thousand in the north island of Japan, Hokkaido.

ISLAMIC LEADERS

NORTHERN JAPAN – 1999

Some of those who attend these events are spiritual leaders of many great nations. On Nick’s left is Dr. Ali Gomaa, of Al Azhar University, and who was to shortly become the Grand Mufti of Egypt. Sir, you are a great man and teacher. And thank you to Sawada sensei beside me.

RADIO IN TAIWAN

RADIO WAS FUN

Nick recalls how a radio announcer was sick. He wanted to know what do do. Nick explained and after ten minutes the announcer said he was bettering. After an hour more, the announcer said his cold had completely gone.  Thank you Roy, you showed how to have fun on radio.

ACEH

INDONESIA 2005

This is the group in Aceh, Indonesia, where we put in various programs. Nick was in charge. It was random chaos the first few weeks. Our volunteers had to bring themselves, $1,500 to continue the operation.  Nick described it like being blindfolded on the wave of destiny.

CAMBODIA

Outside Siem Reap 2018

This is a small school, and the local children went through the same literacy program that the children in Nepal and Indonesia went through. Here, the children loved it like elsewhere. In this program children learn what stops them from learning.

JAPAN

Tokyo – 1995

This is which Mohammad Sabswary at an embassy mosque. Mohammad presented Nick with a copy of the Holy Qua ran. Nick then spent the next six months reading it cover to cover. Then Nick studied other Islamic texts. They were all good.

JAPAN

Honshu 1993

One of Nick’s first introduction to Buddhism was Takeda Sensei, pictured in the center. Tojo San is on the other side of Nick. This is in central Japan. Mr. Takeda taught Nick a lot about Japanese culture. If the reader looks at this page and then the Sequetus Series, and particularly after Book 8, it makes sense.

ACEH

INDONESIA 2005

War is a tough operation. More than people expected. While volunteers promised to stay for a month, many left after a week. So we put a cost of $1,500 a volunteer, in advance, and people stayed. After ten months the war ended, when others said it would not. In the end Nick so much about life. Thank you all.

ACEH

INDONESIA 2005

After five months we began the IQ raising seminars all across the tsunami affected areas. Often we did this in mosques. But sometimes we have schools like in the photograph. This school is for young girls. While Nick was teaching, he was also learning their way. He noted that while it was in war, he was safe.

ACEH

INDONESIA 2005

After we began the IQ raising seminars all across the tsunami affected areas people were taking notice.  It works when taught by people of the same native language.  We could tell how the instructors were doing by the test score results of the IQ rise.  The program was that effective.  If scores were low, we would pull in the instructors and find what they were not doing, correct it and scores would go back up.

HANOI

VIETNAM December 2018

Nick was invited by a freind and the military of Vietnam to an international conference on dioxin poisoning from the Vietnam War. Five million people are tragically afflicted by this deadly DNA altering toxin. That poison will remain, generation after generation, destroying lives.  What are the solutions?  Thank you Bente.  Everything you said was right.  In war, there are no victors.

BANDA ACEH

INDONESIA 2005

The Mayor of Banda Aceh presented Nick with this award for his group’s efforts in changing the situation, teaching the children. It was the children who worked out how to insist their parents demand peace.  This was a great success.  Many will never know why.  In the end, it taught Nick the value of life. Thank you to all the volunteers.  Some got sick.  Some got ill.  Some fled in fear.  But thank you all.

NEPAL

Kathmandu 1997

The King of Nepal would have his birthday and on that day people from all over the nation could come and say hello, thank him and so on. It did not matter the caste or the ethnic, as all were welcome. Here they line up waiting.

AUSTRALIA

Perth 2014

Kuro would often just walk on Nick’s sketches as he drew.  Nick knew she was communicating something but not sure what in the end. Often it was just a willingness to be there as part of the team and experience a togetherness.

KATHMANDU

Nepal 2017-2019

Nick’s personal assistant, Amar Moktan, was with Nick during these years, working hard behind the scenes. He ran translations projects, Better Education Nepal projects, and a lot more. Amar was inspirational.

INDIA

Mysore 1999

This program was not designed to get kids to be interested in the program, but that is how it ended up. In southern India. Kids are the same all over the world. In this part there has been little war and social turmoil so Nick noticed that people seemed more cheerful. Nick thanks the ashram where he stayed.

LAOS

Central Laos 2018

Laos is the land of a million elephants, or so the legend has it. It is a landlocked nation. It is poor, but has natural beauty. The elephants are protected and when rescued from illegal logging operations there are programs that help them. Here Nick is being taught to bathe elephants without getting drowned.

NEPAL

Kathmandu 2017-2019

This is Bimala Lama, from a village outside of Kathmandu. She became an assistant to Nick. Here she is feeding pigeons at a local Buddhist monastery. She taught Nick much of the Buddhist and Hindu ways. Her name Lama means one who was a Guru in a previous lifetime.

BANDA ACEH

INDONESIA 2005

These children are being taught the IQ rising program. It is being done in the school most. Most children died in the tsunami. One only needs to see the water mark on the wall to know why many of the children died.

BANDA ACEH

INDONESIA 2004

The tsunami hit on Christmas day. Bande Aceh is at the end of the harbor where the waves were racing to. To the horizon was rubble. There are no photos. The whole coast was like this. Whole villages vanished.

NEPAL

Kathmandu 2004

Nick is presenting the Speaker of the house of parliament an award. This is at the official opening of Narconon Nepal, a drug rehabilitation program centre. The opening was organized by Basante Kunwar, on the right.

AUSTRALIA

Northam 2015

The head of a construction company gave Nick a book of the region. In the book was a photo of someone of before Nick was born, but a doppelganger – a very similar look alike. This was inspiring for one of Nick’s books, and some deep thought.

NEPAL

Kathmandu 2004

The Curriculum Development Committee (CDC) was met with, and presented with the results of the program Nick was piloting. Headmasters attended. The CDC gave approval to put in the program across the country but funds were lacking.

NEPAL

Better Education Nepal 2018

These children put through the same program that raised IQ. The children loved it. These children are orphans, and their parents died during the Maoist civil war during the time of the earlier photos. There are no victors in war. The program was organized by Amar.

NEPAL

Better Education Nepal 2018

Amar Moktan is giving the program to the children here at the same school as above. One can see that the children are in laughter, humor, and enjoying the session. While they are like this, they absorb knowledge and what they are absorbing are examples of the program. These children like others had the expected IQ rise. That rise is the same in Nepal, Indonesia, Cambodia, Japan or other nations.

LAOS

Luang Prabang 2018

After meeting Kuro, the cat, Nick wanted to help other species too. And elephants are easy to communicate with. Nick first met an elephant, named Musti, in Mysore in 1999. They definitely could communicate together. Musti could tell what Nick was saying, and would oblige, but no one but Nick spoke English. Here Nick is learning more at an elephant sanctuary outside Luang Prabang.

KATHMANDU

KING’S AWARD 2003

Nick was invited to accept this award from the King of Nepal, on his birthday in 2003, for Nick’s volunteer work in Asia and Nepal. It was a great honour. Nick was only one of three foreigners to get this. Nick’s books are an extension of his desire to help the Earth and all that live here. Thank you deeply Mahesh and the others there then. This award also represents all the other work not mentioned here. And thank you to all who are not mentioned. Earth is at war. You are all heroes.

JAPAN

Outside Tokyo 1997

This is one of the 164 thousand religions incorporated in Japan. This is a popular religion that has a mix of Shinto and Buddhism. Yoko Takeda is on my right and must be thanked for her support. Sawada Sensei and Mr. Sakata are there too.

KOREA

Seoul 1994

Nick was invited to an international conference on religion in 1994 in Korea. It was a great chance to get into deep dialogue with high brow internationally recognized scholars. The concepts were deep and around when Book 9 to 12 (Temple Miniseries) were being written.

INDIA

Mysore 1999

Nick was invited to an ashram of a religious leader in India with 30 million followers. This leader was given a baby elephant named Musti. She was now seven years old. Nick was offered a photo. Nick just asked Musti to face the camera, and wave, and this is what we got.

NEPAL

Buddha’s Birthday 2001

Nick was invited to light the flame at Lord Buddha’s birthday at the Nepal government’s official ceremony. On Nick’s left is Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson. Behind is the president of the World Hindu federation.

JAPAN

Outside Tokyo 1994

Nick was invited to this small local Shinto shrine. Nick noticed that what each of these religions understood was something that worked for them, explaining how the cosmos worked from their understanding.

JAPAN

Tokyo 2002

Nick was invited to speak in Tokyo. He knew the audience and it was quite some fun. Nick classifies it as the highest civilization Earth. And the hallmark of civilization is politeness, manners and honour.

JAPAN

Tokyo 1995

Our first volunteering, at the Great Hanshin earthquake. The Red Cross put us in charge of mental health. There was a wall of security around Kobe. The army had sealed the city off. No one gets in or out. Entire multi story buildings have toppled.

JAPAN

Outside Tokyo 1998

Nick was invited to a Buddhist boot-camp. The first night they set off trecking up to the peak of a nearby mountain. In this photothey are at the peak. It is great to be there. They were told the reason for being there is to experience the view on the way down.

JAPAN

Outside Tokyo 1998

This was the view descending the mountain. Nick has spent 150 nights in wilderness. But Japanese natural beauty is unequaled. The next day Nick has to jump 100 feet off a bridge, knowing seven have died doing it before. This is Japan. You jump, controlling your fear.

JAPAN

Tokyo 1998

Nick was invited to join a major shrine that the Prime Minister belongs. Apparently Nick was the first foreigner until then to join. For years Nick would go there once a month with others of his team. While this team are at a Shinto shrine, they comes from many faiths.

JAPAN

Outside Tokyo 1997

Nick was invited to this shrine. It was under attack from an anti religious movement, politically based, doing all they can to destroy religion. Nick stands next to the statue of the Buddhist saint with sword and fire around, defending his faith.

JAPAN

Outside Tokyo 1997

It is hard to imagine that Japan was not made by some blessed existence. When one looks at the mountains, hills, the miles of divine beaches, it is an amazing land. There is not much in the way of Japanese natural dangers, like snakes etc. that can harm.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Port Moresby 1970 January

Nick has his diary from 1970, when he set out at 16 years old, from Melbourne for a three week expedition through the New Guinea highlands, which were remotely cut off the western civilization still. It was an experience that would form part of Nick’s character.

They arrived in Port Moresby. All members made a diary of their experience. This above is Nick’s. It has mud maps, sketches and the like.

In the last photograph are arrows and bows. The different arrows are used to hunt different game. The flat splayed arrow is to hunt pig. The narrow long spear like arrow in the left page is used to hunt people. There was also a four pronged arrow used for hunting birds.

This was a very different culture to what Nick had left in Australia. One can see to some degree how it helped him write his science fiction. There is a tapestry of truth behind all the stories.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Mount Hagan 1970 January

Nicks group moved on to Mount Hagan, the capital city of the highlands. There they acclimatized and got used to local conditions.

They began to bush walk. Nick had already spent over a hundred and thirty night in the Australian book as boy scout. He was looking forward to sleeping out with no venomous snakes. The troop cook, a native named Yamba supplied a lot of humor.

Here Nick witnessed a payback, a tribal judicial system where the accused is given five minutes start, and those painted in yellow leave after him with machetes.

At dinner Nick learned that the accused was later found dead. To the locals, this is how they manage. They did have prisons, but the western police system had to agree with local customs as well. The clash between the cultures had a wide line and no one knew how to cross it quickly and safely.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Mount Wilhelm 1970 February

On the third week, they finally climbed Mount Wilhelm, 16,400 feet. They met many new freinds. Many of them had only ever seen white skin once in their lives.

The top of Mount Wilhelm had snow at night, and this was near the equator. It was so cold one night that while nick wore everything in his pack he could not sleep.

On the final ascent they passed the wreckage of a B25 Mitchel bomber that had crashed during the Second World War. All had died.

The adventure intensified when their drivers perished in a landslide. A plane flew up to rescue them but flew through a tree trying to attract their attention. Then, aboard, they flew off a nearby cliff. The instruments partly worked. As the plane left the cliff it descended fast in the extremely thin air, and for an hour they kept only ten feet above the river surface, until the air thickened.

UNIVERSITY

Perth 1973 – January

Nick attended the University of Western Australia and graduated with a Bachelor Degree of Architecture.

Previously, at school, Nick had attended a boxing class. That was a failure, as it just made Nick a target for older bullies.

At university Nick was really tired of being picked upon and took up karate. Then after university he trained in Taekwondo. Nick finished training, at a point where in three moves he could fatally hurt another.

Nick was never picked on again, And, interestingly, as Nick could now confront anyone, including people armed, he never got in a fight.

On one sad occasion Nick had to confront twenty bullies on a rampage, who had stripped and handcuffed a fellow student to humiliate him.

Nick confronted them all and freed the person. His freinds, however, vanished.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Near Koorda 1975 December

Nick worked in the wheat belt areas of Western Australia during his semester breaks.

It was hot and a lot of the work was done on the edge of desert regions.

The hottest time one year was at the beginning of the harvest season. One day a local wheat train derailed on a salt flat. The rail lines had gotten so hot and expanded they looked like spaghetti to the train driver.

As a consequence the rail lines separated and the train slid over sideways and carriages upturned telescoping into one another.

Nick and others now had a job to salvage the tens of thousand of tonnes of wheat. For this trucks were brought in. And it meant crawling inside the carriages through small holes, and hand-shoveling wheat out.

It was 55 degrees Celsius, crippling work, done with ten minutes shoveling, followed by a ten minute break. That was how it was done till all the rail cars were emptied.

EUROPE

Europe 1979

Nick went to Europe at the end of 1978. He had graduated. He wanted to get away, and experience something new.

So he went to Europe to experience the many new cultures. He met his future first wife there, from Sweden.

There were no mobile phones, no credit cards used, so this suited Nick’s mood of adventure.

He traveled through Italy first, and then every western nation in Europe. He also visited communist Yugoslavia and Romania.

To travel the Eastern Block one could not use credit cards. One needed cash, and it had to be kept on the person. There were no banks. It was risky.

Nick traveled to Dracula’s castle in Transylvania, outside of Brasov. Nick also recalls travelling cross country by steam train, while it was being overtaken by a horse and carriage. And the goats in the passenger section made the smell hmm….

AUSTRALIA

New South Wales 1968

Nick climbed Mount Kosciusko, Australia’s tallest mountain, along with two slightly smaller sister mountains.

In 1968 he climbed Mount Saint Clair in Tasmania. He was fortunate as other teenagers died the following year on the same train.

Nick did these climbs as part of the scout troop that he belonged to.

The above painting is from Eugene Von Geurard, a famous painter. Here he depicts the scene from the summit of Mt. Kosciukso.

AUSTRALIA

Victoria – Queensland 1963

Nick went with a group of youngsters of the Youth Australia League (YAL), on a train journey that went over a thousand miles from Melbourne to Brisbane. There in Brisbane they stayed a week in a hostel under the shadows of the Story Bridge. These trips were without parents or relatives, and were part of how Australia developed children into pioneer type personalities.

The above postcard is from the same area of the hostel, which was simple a huge grand home.

AUSTRALIA

Victoria 1959

Nick flew the first time alone as a five-year-old from near the Victorian border down to Melbourne. There Nick learned to swim. He was thrown in the deep end of a muddy damn, by a cousin,who later died from falling off a cliff in India at 16 years old.

Adventure had risks and Nick remembers one of his freinds who fell to his death at 15 years of age on a rock climb.