Almost a Farmer

For two of his primary school years during World War II the author travelled to school by horse and cart and threw stones at rabbits, a free roaming hawk perched on his shoulder, and an owl came when called for supper.

He aimed to be a farmer, but it was not to be. After agricultural college he worked on two farms, but to marry the daughter of the second farmer, he needed an occupation without milking cows, so joined the Government agricultural advisory service. After a wrong turn on a country road on their honeymoon, they were lucky to survive.

At 26, he enrolled at the University of Adelaide to gain qualifications for research. The book describes challenges and successes of university life, and travel by ship to England to continue for a PhD degree. Both universities posed a challenge of existing on a minimal budget, with highlights and unexpected events, such as a wheel falling off the car on the way to an exam, a child nearly born premature on the Italian ship, and then nearly born in a car, eviction from their flat in Reading for leaving a burnt cake at the landlady's front door, and returning to a position in Adelaide via the USA and Philippines at short notice.

The whole is interwoven with family life, University work, and history of places.