About Lauren

Currently

Lauren has finished her first year at Notre Dame and after a nervous start, passed without the need for any resits. So I guess that she has made a pretty good start. Her Physio course is spot on for me and she will have no shortage of aches and pains to sort out for me when she becomes more proficient! She is doing a double major with Sports Science, adding a year to her course (5 years). I just don't know why she'd do that to herself but she reckons that life will be easier spread over the extra year? She has completed her swimming instructers qualification, her lifesaving and surf life saving quals plus she has completed her surfing instructors ticket. She has just started as a surfing instructor for the summer months. It pays very well and it should sustain her through the academic year! This year she's had her 18th birthday party and been for a trip to Melbourne. I think that she's a chip off the old block and has a real thirst for travel now. Many of the students go overseas for their placement year and it would not surprise me if she went to somewhere exotic.... Though it would need to be close to a surfing beach!

About John Prothero

John Prothero's story (thats me) tells of my links to places such as Great Barr, West Bromwich and Birmingham in the UK. I hope to chronical some of my associations with Sydney, Warnbro, Perth, Karratha, Wickham, Gove etc in Australia and many other parts of the world.

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Our family name: Prothero, seems to be Welsh, it is the Anglicised form of the Welsh; ap Rhydderch 'son of Rhydderch'.

There is a section which encompasses what I know of my father, Arthur Prothero. Unfortunately he is no longer alive and he was not one to discuss himself much! Like most sons, it was not until I slipped into the role of parent myself that I fully understood and appreciated my father. I now know that if he were here today, that his would be the life which I would most like to know more about. His life as bomber navigator during WWII was surely his defining era and I have done some research using his log books. The information gleaned from this source viewed in conjunction with gazetted information from RAF Bomber Command makes interesting reading!

We're finishing off the holidays with a trip to Margaret River and quaffed some seriously good wines of late! I should stick to Coral Bay as it's much healthier! Here we're sipping at the Colonial Brewing Company situated next to the Cheese factory, over the road from the Chocolate Factory.

This year is turning into a year of "future planning", though it is so difficult when you have others to consider! If I haven't been in touch recently, please forgive me and perhaps I'll see you soon!
This year is turning out to be quite busy in the classroom butI have decided that my travelling days (where work is concerned) are over (apart from within Australia)

Currently

Me, well last year I went to West Africa, South Africa, New Guinea, Lihir Island in the Pacific, Indonesia and of course, my beloved Coral Bay. Overseas, I've been teaching an Information Management System to gold mining personnel. Dakar airport in the middle of the night was just how I imagined the yanks last day in Saigon was. It was absolute pandemonium! I went to a place called Sabodala which is, in relative terms, near to Timbuctu (which is across the border in Mali). About the only thing of interest were the wild baboons that roam the area and the great football skills of the Senegalese workers. This time, I travelled via Johannesburg where I had not been for over 30 years. What a difference! I find that there is still a stark black / white divide but I went to the Apartheid museum in Joburg and it hit home what a long way they have come! I went to Mandella square where the malls and shopping areas generally was as good as anything that we have in Australia. Mostly white faces here though! I had to travel to Pretoria where my father spent some time in the 40's. This is the administrative and business center of South Africa and obviously, things aren't travelling too badly. However, my driver (Trevor, a white guy, tells me that business for him just now is not very good at all). Things were tingling with excitement, re the World Cup. Sadly for me, it turned into a non event as those bloody vuvuzelas sent me troppo!

Lihir Island was very interesting to me. I was on my way to Bougainville in the Solomon chain of islands many years ago. I got to Melbourne as a civil war broke out and was stranded. Lihir is relatively close and similar in nature to Bougainville so I acheived a long ambition when I got there. I am putting together a video that I took on the island. I will post it here when ready. The island is volcanic and thermals spring out everywhere (plumes of steam). The gold company actually drill to tap into this vast supply of relatively free energy. The island is right on the equator and extremely tropical. It rains just about every day followed by hot sun. This being the reason that so much grows here and everywhere is green jungle. I wont bite the hand that fed me except to say that they could do better with their tailings disposal. I am back in the classroom teaching people what they can do with computers and must say how much I enjoy the interaction with the students.

I sometimes go on Skype when I'm away or in the evenings at home. My username is Crockjohn if anyone wants a yarn?

About Marjorie

Currently

Marjorie seems as fit as she was 70 years ago and, as you can see, she still sees herself with the Saint Trinians girls! The occasional bout of flu turns out to be more serious these days. She spent a couple of weeks in hospital last year with pneumonia but was soon back organising parties and social gatherings at the RAAF estate where she now lives.
She is currently planning a trip on the Indian Pacific across the Nullabor to Sydney and return. It is certainly one of the worlds classic journies and one that John will never forget.