Paul Alexander

Ship/Flight Number: QF32

Arrival Date: 01/06/1967

I was born into a working class family in Coventry, England, on 4 June 1950. I had a good childhood. My parents took us on holidays to the coast twice a year and I loved going fishing with my uncle, my mother’s brother. Part of the thrill was riding to a nearby river or dam on his motorbike. He took me fishing for the first time when I was five years old and I caught six little fish.

In addition to fishing, I did a lot of cycling, hiking, and, if the weather permitted, a bit of camping. When I was in my late teens, I tried to organise a cycling trip through France with my mates, but they kept pulling out. They didn’t seem to share my enthusiasm for outdoor adventures.

I left school when I was 15 years old and started a carpentry apprenticeship – I was always good with my hands. After about six months, I was working on a building site in the middle of winter and nearly froze. I thought, ‘there’s got to be something better than this!’

I decided that I would join the Royal Navy and get paid to see a bit of the world. I passed my exams, but failed my medical test because they thought I was colour blind. (I later found out that I wasn’t colour blind, but it was too late by then.)

A friend suggested that I apply to join the merchant navy instead. I passed my exam and my medical tests this time and was given a date to report to the Southampton docks in about a month hence.

In the meantime, I picked up a newspaper and saw an advertisement for the BBM. I made some enquiries and went to an information session they were running in Coventry with my father. I was so excited by the thought of sailing to Australia to work on the land for two years, I accidentally forgot about my date with the merchant navy!

I went to the BBM office in Australia House in London and spoke to the recruiter. I told him that I liked to be outdoors and wanted to work in the country. He was a straight talker and told me that working on a farm can be a hard life. I remember him telling me that I might find that all I can do is crawl into bed at the end of a long day.

The Qantas plane I arrived In Sydney on in 1967.

One of the things that interested me about joining the BBM was the sea voyage to Australia, however, by the time I was accepted in 1967, they had swapped ships for planes. I always felt that I missed out.

I landed in Sydney on 1 June 1967 and celebrated my 17th birthday at the training farm three days later.

Little Brothers normally stayed at the farm for 2-3 weeks before they accepted a job. I was there for five weeks! Every morning, after we’d done the milking and were having breakfast in the dining hall, the manager would walk around and tell the boys the jobs that were available. I didn’t want to work on a small dairy farm, I wanted a big property that was truly ‘out bush’.

A day or two later, the manager came right up to me after breakfast and said that he had a job on a sheep and cattle property that was 38,000 acres near Brewarrina. I decided that was big enough for me.

I boarded the train at Sydney’s Central Station at 10.30pm and tried to make myself comfortable for the 16.5-hour trip. It was actually a cattle train with two passenger carriages attached. There was no heating, and it was the middle of July so it was a very cold trip.

When I got off the train in Brewarrina, I was wearing a light grey suit with a white shirt, black tie, silver and gold waistcoat, gold signet ring, and a coat with a fur collar. A bloke came up to me and said: “you’ve got to be the Pommie that’s coming to work for Woodie!” He was the local taxi driver, and he knew that no one else would get off a train dressed like that.

Me in my work clothes on the BBM training farm, 1967.

‘Woodie’, aka Mr Woods, owned four properties. The next day he told me to get in the truck with him as we were going to check that the sheep had enough water. After we’d been driving for an hour or so, I asked him how much further it would be. That’s when I learnt that we were going to check on the sheep on one of his other properties – in central Queensland! I was shocked as I’d left half my gear in the shed in Brewarrina. I had to borrow some clothes and a week later the boss delivered the rest of my gear.

I found myself on ‘Moorindorah Station’, a 68,000 acre property outside Bollon. Our living conditions were primitive. There was no television or mains electricity. A generator provided a bit of dull electric light, and we could pick up some ABC radio at night time. We had a chip heater for hot water, a kerosene fridge and a wood stove for cooking. The telephone line would frequently break down, so we learnt to fix it ourselves.

I worked long hours for six days of the week and had Sundays off. Mr Wood would buy sheep in poor condition, with eight months of wool on them. He’d fatten them up on his properties, hire shearers in to collect their fleece after 12 months growth, and then sell them as good sheep.

Riding a pony on the BBM Training farm, 1967.

There were about 500 head of cattle and 20,000 head of sheep on Moorindorah Station. I had never ridden a horse before, but I discovered that I loved it. After you’ve been on a horse for 10-12 hours/day, you walk around bow-legged for a while afterwards.

I was there for three and a half years and would have stayed, except I was called up for National Service in 1970. I went to the army training camp in Singleton and was then given a job driving trucks at the base in Holdsworthy.

That’s how I met my first wife. My mate asked me to drive him to his girlfriend’s place and I was introduced to her sister. I left the army in 1972, and Sandra and I got married about 12 months later.

My parents came out to Australia for our wedding in 1973, then six months later they decided to emigrate permanently, with my sister and her husband. Twelve months after that my grandparents on my mother’s side joined them, and then my aunt and uncle came too. They all lived in Western Sydney. My father never really settled – he missed his friends. After smoking like a chimney all his life, he died of lung cancer at the age of 60. My mother remarried five years later and died in 2020.

While I was in the army, the Mr Wood died, and all his properties were sold. My bush adventure was over. Since I couldn’t go back to working for ‘Woodie’ when I’d finished my National Service, I started picking up work in the building industry. I installed cladding, awnings, screens and other small jobs. I did some building courses at TAFE and eventually qualified as a licensed builder.

Paul in his Australian army uniform, 1970.

Sandra and I lived in Killarney Vale on the Central Coast of NSW. We were married for five years before we had children. Tragically, she died giving birth to our third child. She had a pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in an artery), and the doctors couldn’t save Sandra or our baby. She was only 30 years old and never drank or smoked.

After she died, I decided to get away and moved to Cabramatta before buying a house in Kingswood in western Sydney. I started working for a home improvements company and after three years they offered me the job on the Central Coast as a supervisor. I moved back there in 1983 and stayed for the next 10-12 years. One of the things that kept me there was meeting and marrying Janine. We had ten years and three children together before we went our separate ways.

By the 1990s, my eldest son had moved to Perth and his father-in-law was looking for someone to install an awning. He said there was a shortage of tradies in Perth and that I should come over for a change and pick up some work. I did a bit of research and found three companies in Perth advertising for people to build carports and awnings. I went over for eight weeks and stayed for eight years. Western Australia has the best beaches in the country.

I was installing awnings and carports for people who lived in Newdegate and Hopetoun, which is not far from Esperance. Once word got around that I was doing this work, I started picking up similar odd jobs. The big skies and vast horizons reminded me of my time in central Queensland. I liked it out here, so Moira (my new partner) and I bought a little house in Hopetoun, 100 yards from the beach. I was enjoying life when I had a cardiac arrest.

I spent the next few years bouncing between the emergency department at Perth hospital, my beach house in Hopetoun, and a house in Newcastle. I had three separate heart attacks, requiring three stents to open up my blocked arteries. After two trips with the flying doctor to Perth, I realised that I needed to live somewhere closer to a hospital than Hopetoun, so we moved to Foster on the central coast of NSW.

I’ve never for one moment regretted coming out to Australia when I was 16 years old. I found out later that my parents thought I’d come back after two years. I’ve lived in Australia for 55 years and never been back to the UK. When I was at Mooindorah Station I asked my parents to book me a berth on a ship to go back for a holiday, but by the time I sent my parents the deposit and they sent me the ticket, the ship had sailed! The company wouldn’t refund my deposit, but I rang BBM, and they got my money back.

I think the BBM migration scheme was really good. They didn’t just find you a job – they cared about your welfare and would get in touch and find out how you were going. I think it’s good that they are still helping young people today. In 1995 (or thereabouts), my eldest son rang me up and asked: ‘what was that organisation you came out from England with?’ When I told him it was the BBM, he said: ‘I’ve just got a $2000 scholarship from them to study at Tocal Agricultural College!’

My oldest son and youngest sons bought 450 acres near Coonabarabran (about four hours drive north-west of Port Stephens) in New South Wales and recently added another 1000 acres as a hobby farm. We sometimes have family get togethers there, so I still get to experience the big skies of the Australian outback. Maybe I’ll celebrate my 75th birthday out there in June 2025.

Paul and Moira at the Perth Zoo, 2023

Three years ago, Moira and I bought an older house at North Arm Cove (near Port Stephens) and we’ve been gradually repairing and renovating it. We also bought a caravan so we can see more of this beautiful country. Two of my sons have caravans and we are planning lots of road trips together. Moira’s son lives at Mission Beach in north Queensland, and we plan to drive the van there in winter to visit him. We might come back via an inland route and call into Bollan to see ‘Moorindorah Station’ where my Australian adventure started. Moira and I have been together for 28 years and we’re really happy.

Coming to Australia with the BBM has been a great experience and I don’t regret one minute of it. I was disappointed that I didn’t get to come out by ship, but my daughter has booked us on a cruise in October (2025), so I’ll finally get to go on a big ocean liner.

One of my happiest childhood memories was going fishing with my uncle and father. I’ve taken my five children and 11 grandchildren fishing. It feels like I’m continuing a family pastime, on the other side of the world.