***-Working in the Tunnels-***
§*- "The Boys from the Snowy" -*§
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"N.B." I want to point out that what has been so far written is an early draft. As I receive additions and corrections from YOU they will, where appropriate, be used in an edited version.
Please read [Foreword] -first!
Happy days.
Ref.:\14snowy1.wb
This is the story about how I came to be working on the Snowy River project. It will also tell about the circumstanses of that work and much about the people I shared my life with for a span of more than ten years.
The story must also contain a fair slice of the life of a fellow who became better known as "The Pirate"
He became well known, particularly among the 'ex.seamen, and itinerant jobseekers who frequented the "Piccadilly Hotel" at 'Kings Cross' in Sydney. Well known and liked by the 'Snowy boys', as he was a goodhumoured fellow who easily acquired friends. I found him careless, generous and easygoing. One who faced Life as it came, one day at the time, with an unconcerned abandon.
I had learnt about the Hydro Electric project in the Snowy Mountains quite by chance some months before my meeting with the 'Pirate'.
I was in the saloon bar at the 'City Club Hotel' in Swanston Street, Melbourne. It was on the day the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth 2 was visiting the "Colonies" on her inaugural tour, and the commotion was hectic.
The Melbourne populace was festive - and on quite a few it was evident that the festivity had gone on all through the night at the 'campsites' along the footpath, as they awaited the triumphant appearance of their charming young queen.
As a somewhat less fanatic 'foreigner' I was bemused by this excitement. People had been up all night to secure their vantage points while I went down five minutes before the Royal limousine arrived, found an empty box in the back yard of the pub to stand on, and was, still, close enough to almost tap Her Highness on the shoulder as she drove past.
But it was a most memorable occasion!
While sitting in the lounge, nursing my beer (it was still too early in the day to 'get serious' with it), some Norwegian words suddenly reached me from a table across the room where a celebration seemed to have reached top gear. Seven or eight men had joined two lounge tables, now brimming with glasses of various shapes and sizes. The glasses were more or less full of what looked like a whole range of spirits as well as beer - and the same could be said of their owners. That was obviously why their voices had become audible above the general noise of the bar.
I had hardly spoken with any Norwegians since I came ashore more than a year before and, naturally, I became interested when I heard the language again. As they seemed to be a friendly crowd - and becoming 'friendlier' by the minute - I took my glass and wandered over to them.
They turned out to be part of a gang of boys on their way home to Norway!
I was told, after the introductions were over - accompanied by the traditional salutations of "Skål", that they had been working on the "Snowy Project". As the whole thing was 'news' to me, and sounded fabulous, I asked them to tell me more.
A Norwegian company, "Selmer Engineering", had won the first contract to build a huge hydro electric and irrigation complex in the Snowy Mountains. A condition of the contract was that they supply the necessary work experience so the tradesmen had been brought from Norway while general labour was hired in Australia.
They had worked at two locations. One called 'Munyang' and the other 'Guthega'. (Just the names sounded exciting to me - a 20 year old, incurable, adventurer).
Selmer Engineering, with the opening of Guthega Powerstation, had finished
their contract, and those who wanted it had the right to a free journey home to Norway.
Many chose to remain as there was ample jobs on the continuing project, particularly for these boys with their experience of the work. But this crowd, the boys whom I spoke with, had families back home who waited for them to return.
It would have been a couple of weeks after this meeting at the City Club that I met the bloke I would come to know as "The Pirate". It was at the Scandinavian Seamen's Church in Clarendon Street, South Melbourne. As I met him there he introduced himself as 'Ragnar Austdal'. I told him about my meeting with the 'Snowy boys'. Ragnar was immediately interested and said that he would probably have known them as he had also worked for Selmer in Munyang.
I had been thinking about what I had been told about the "Snowy" and this information from Ragnar made me really interested! I decided there and then that this would have to be more than a "hello", and "good-bye", meeting. The 'El Dorado' image the boys had given me of the Snowy had done the job, and Ragnar had the knowledge that I needed!
Ragnar came home with me. At that time I had a rented 'Bungalow' in the garden of a guest house in St. Kilda Road.
Over a couple of bottles of Lager Ragnar related to me his memories of 'life in the Snowy'. A story that really made my decision for me.
We agreed that he, who had just arrived from Sydney, could make a bed on the floor in my place, so as to save money.
At the time I had a salesman's job at "Herbert Small's Photographics" in Collins Street. My income there was quite reasonable but I was in debt! Some time earlier I had been in a car accident where I, among other things fractured my elbow, but which also left me with a sizable debt.
I needed to earn a lot of money. But, with hindsight, I think I also felt 'trapped', and needed the adventure.
Ragnar wanted nothing more than to get back to the mountains again, but he had a different plan.
While still in Sydney he had heard of another job he thought might be 'interesting'.
The Electricity Commission of Victoria had a project going in Kiewa Valley, on 'the other side' of the Snowy Mountains. They hired people at the head office in Melbourne so there was no need to go to the mountain 'on spec' hoping for a job. As he was broke this sounded good to him so he had hitch hiked with interstate transports to Melbourne. He had gone to the Seamen's' Church hoping to find a place to spend the night - so meeting me suited him to a 'Tee'!
So there we were - the two of us almost in the same boat. But now he had a place to stay, and I had a plan - plus 'high hopes'! (It is really amazing how we almost lived on 'High Hopes' in those days!)
The following morning I telephoned my work and got the day off. I also notified the boss that I might have to leave all together. (He knew all about my car accident and finacial predicament and was very sympathetic).
At the Central Post Office in Elizabeth street we found a telephone and a directory. After a couple of calls we knew who to see and where the office was. We decided it would be better to go there and "stay until we got a job" than chance a rebuff on the phone.
The Commission's office was only two blocks away - in Queen Street. We checked the register in the lobby to find that the one we wanted was on the second floor.
One hour later we were back on the street again; but this time we had train tickets to Albury and bus tickets from there to Mt. Beauty, the main base for the project.
As well as that we had job tickets to start work at 'West Kiewa Diversion Tunnel' where we would be working with the "Bull Gang". Their job was to lay down rails. waterpipes, compressed air, ventilation ducts and all these services behind the drilling team on the tunnel face. This was a 'regular' day job but we had applied for and, after a few months we would both be on the 'face' with a shiftwork allowance and bonus payments. As a 'tunneller' we would also receive 'danger money' which, like any other award, was not paid without reason. But the Pirate had previous experience and we were looked upon as 'a team' so as soon as a vacancy occurred we'd be on the "machines".
Ragnar and I had been almost a year in Mt. Beauty when I decided that 'my time had come'. I now had the knowledge and experience I would need to do an effective job for the new contractors on the Snowy Project. Ragnar, however, decided to stay a while longer. Björn, his younger brother had arrived 'out of the blue', hoping for a job so Ragnar decided to stay until he was taken care of.
In Sydney I later met some of the men from the Snowy job and went to Cooma with them when they returned to work.
The experience gained in Mt. Beauty stood me in good stead. I was put on straight away and taken into the mountains to a site named "Junction Shaft". - Here the actual "Snowy Story" begins.
You can read more of The "SNOWY STORY" By Clicking Here.
RETURN to the INDEX Page:(Click Here!)
'E-mail' address:
mroen@iprimus.com.au