Nov. 29, 1912

Now that we have a maid we have

a chance to look around and enjoy

the beauties of the place. Hobart is

a beautiful city with a fine harbour

in front of it and a glorious mount-

ain behind it. Everywhere one

catches fascinating glimpses of 

hills and water - And such flowers.

When we arrived every garden was

a mass of blooms. Geraniums, fuchsias,

species of palms, etc grow out of doors and

hardy vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower,

beans grow all during the winter. We

found the summer colder than we

expected. The people are devoted to

sports of all kinds, horse-racing, yachting,

rowing, swimming, tennis, golf

etc. Tasmania is the play ground

of Australia. Tourists swarm here in 

summer to escape the heat of the

mainland. This is a great country

for fruit - apples, pears, peaches,

apricots and all small fruits.

Its hard to get used to the seasons

being topsy-turvy, to having cold winds

 blow from the South and hot ones from

the North. Also to seeing the "Southern

Cross" instead of "The Dipper" and

the North Star.

Nov. 13, 1912

Got up tired this morning. Finished

packing, had breakfast and then

said good bye to the people we

knew. It was such a bustle getting

away from the boat. Drove up to

Melbourne town and while Jim

and Annie went out to see the

town I stayed with the children

and rested up a bit. Had dinner

at the hotel and then went to the

wharf and took passage on the 

Maunganui for Hobart. We were

delighted with the boat. It was new

clean and up to date in every way.

Nov. 11, 1912

A lovely bright morning and we

are still at Adelaide. Had a long
 letter from Jim. He will meet us

at Melbourne if possible. After

baby went to sleep Mrs. Reid, Annie

and I went for another walk. Got

some tea at a tea room but it cer-

tainly was rank stuff. Sat on deck

and talked to Mr. Smith and Mr.

Connel until lunch time. The

boat left Port Adelaide while

we were at lunch. We have lost

two days since we left Port Said

so will not get into Melbourne

until Wednesday instead of Monday

as we had hoped. It has been

very rough this afternoon. At

three I took baby to the cabin and 

we both had a nap. Got 

up in time for afternoon tea. Read

to the children for a while, went

for a walk. Gave Catherine a

bath and felt so shaky by the 

time I got ready for dinner

that I was glad to get up on

deck. Had such a good time

at dinner. Afterwards in the 

music room Mrs. Maclean Annie

Mrs. Reid and someone else played

brid(g)e and Mr. Connel and I sat

and looked on.

Nov. 10, 1912

A beautiful bright morning. Got

up on deck just as we were getting 

to the wharf at Port Adelaide. Its

a bleak looking place. Will not be

 able to leave here until some time

Monday as they cannot get men to

load coal. After we got the baby to

sleep, Annie, Mrs. Reid, Jean, Catherine

and I went for a long walk. The

sun was lovely and bright but the

wind was cold. We were glad to get

back to the boat. Sat in the music

room and read or talked in the

afternoon. Quite a crowd we knew

went to Adelaide but it being Sun-

day everything was closed up and

they came back cold tired and

hungry.

Nov. 5, 1912

Got up tired this morning. Dressed

to go on shore before breakfast.

Got to Fremantle at noon. Had

planned to go to Perth by river

boat but she was not be found.

Went by rail instead and it 

was so frightfully hot in the

 train that we all lost our tempers.

Went to the "Rose Tearoom" and

had tea, scones, cake and ice

cream but we were too hot to enjoy

it. Got cooled off later on and did

a little shopping and saw some

of the town. Took the ten to six

train back to Fremantle. It was

nice and cool coming back and we

got to the boat in time for dinner.

Went to the music room and talked 

to Mrs. Maclean for a while then

Mrs. Reid and I went out on deck.

Mr. Caris came back to the boat

with Mr. Connel. Went for 

a walk around the deck with Mr.

Caris and said good bye. Enjoyed

knowing him so much and he was

such a pleasant traveling com-

panion. After Mr. Caris left Mr.

Smith, Mrs. Reid, Mr. Connel and

I stayed on deck for an hour.

Nov. 4, 1912

This morning is lovely and fine

but the sea is rough! Had my trunk

up this morning. Spent part of the

morning on the top deck with Mr.

Caris. Read in the afternoon and

had a nap. Wore my black dress at

dinner. Mr. Caris came to dinner

wearing my scarlet tie. There was

a dance on deck later on. Mr. Caris

came down for me shortly before

refreshments were served. Later on

on we had lemon squash in the

dining room. Will miss our Perth

friends very much when they leave

us tomorrow.

Oct. 27, 1912

Sunday morning and very quiet. Colombo

looks so pretty from the water. It is

raining so no one thought of going on

shore. The natives came to the boat

with ornaments to sell. They are

such odd looking mortals. The

men have long black hair which

they were in a coil and have a 

funny looking comb stuck in it.

They wear very narrow skirts and

loose white coats. The harbour

is dotted with odd looking little

boats.

Oct. 26, 1912

Reached Colombo about six P. M.

Had not intended going on shore but

Miss Leishman, our stewardess insisted

on taking care of the children for us

so we decided to go. It was very beaut-

iful as we were going into Colombo.

The sun was just setting and the 

lights certainly were gorgeous. We

would not have enjoyed them so mcuh

had we known it meant bad weather.

Quite a crowd of us went on shore together.

Went in a launch and had dinner

at the G. O. Hotel. The dinner was

all right but we were not used to

the cooking and were afraid to

eat the highly seasoned stuff. After

dinner Mr. Cornel who was paying

for the evening suggested a rickshaw

ride, and it was too funny for any

thing to see the whole crowd of us start

off for our ride. First we went to the

Post Office as Annie and Mrs. Parker

were sending cables. Then we had another

ride and ended up in the shopping

 districts.It was lots of fun to shop.

Got beautiful hand made linen lace.

Annie got two little books  Jim wanted 

some little baskets for souvenirs and

had such a good time. Walked back

to the wharf and went in a rowboat

to the boat. They were coaling when 

we got back. Every door and port hole

was closed and it was so stifling

hot. We all went to the dining

room and had Ginger Ale and

sandwiches. It was so close that 

we did not sleep much. I fanned 

the kiddies nearly all night.

Oct. 18, 1912

Sitting on deck most of the day. Its

very hot. Too lazy even to read.

Know some very pleasant people

now. Mr. and Mrs. Howell, Mrs.

Donner Mrs. Maclean and Mrs.

Gardiner sit right near us on deck

and we do have such nice times.

Passed Mount Sinai today. The Red Sea is very interest-

ing.

Oct. 17, 1912

Intended getting up early but it

was eight oclock when I got on

deck. The water was very shallow and

we went very slowly all the way.

Were still in the Canal when we

got on deck. Could see Egyptian

Suez in the distance and land all 

around. Were in the Gulf of Suez

nearly all day. It was very warm

but we sat on deck and managed

to keep cool. Had our trunks taken

up at noon and got some cool

dresses. Wore my white muslin to

dinner and afterwards went up on the 

upper deck with Mrs. Donner and

watched a fancy dress ball. All were

having a very good time. Mrs. Howell

joined us later on and we had

lemon squash and sandwiches

with a young man. Mrs. Donner knew.

We are injoying our table companions

more and more and have such good

times in the dining room. Mr. Faris

has moved his chair down to the lower deck.

 Mrs. Donner has been at the

Captains table but does not like the

crowd and wishes we had a vacant

chair at our table.

Oct. 15, 1912

Have been feeling rather wretched
since leaving Marseilles but am
quite myself again. Reached
Port Said at five P. M. Went on
shore with Mrs. Reid. Took C.(Catherine)
and Jean Reid with us. Mongolia
anchored a few yards from wharf
so we went in in little rowboats
Port Said is a dirty place but
rather interesting. The shops are

very small. The owners stand

at the door or in the street trying

to coax people to buy. We got some

post cards and candy and I

bought a hand embroidered bag

as a souvenier. No twilight at

Port Said so we only had a very short

time on  shore. After dinner we

went up on the upper deck and watched

them (the natives) coal. They work very swiftly
yelled or sang all the time. The only
light was coal burning in braziers.
All the coal was carried in baskets on
their heads.

 

Oct. 10, 1912

Reached Marsielles at noon. It was

quite warm and not at all
pleasant at the wharf. I took care
of the children while Annie went
on shoare. Stayed on the top deck as
they were coaling and everything was
shut up down below. Annie went on
shore with Mr. and Mrs. Maclean
They found it rather difficult to
make much headway as none of them
knew any French. All the poeple at
one table got back in time for dinner
Had a good time at dinner and in
the evening. Stayed at Marsielles eight-
teen hours.

Oct. 4, 1912

Got up early as we had to
leave the house about nine A.M.
There was such a bustle getting

off. Took a taxi to Liverpool station
and the train from there to Tilbury
Docks. The train was so crowded
that we almost lost our tempers
before we got settled. Enjoyed the
train ride out through the country.
Got on board the boat safely. The
water was too shallow for the "Mongolia"
to come to the Dock so we went out
in a tug. It was such a relief when
we got settled. The day was beautiful
and bright and the water smooth.
The boat left about one and we
 went down for dinner. Had a
lot of trouble over our luggage as
our bedroom steward was about
half drunk. Did not get our suit-
cases until dark. Had a large out-
side main deck cabin and with
the exception of a few days we were very
comfortable and enjoyed our journey

very much. For lunch no seats
were given out. Just sat any place
that was vacant but at three o"clock we go permanent seats from the
head waiter. We were at table No. 7 and had such a nice crowd.
Mr. Cornel, Miss Faris, Mr. Faris
Annie and I on one side Mrs.
Reid, Mr. Parker, Miss Parker and Mr.
A Smith on the other. The boat was
not so very crowded when we left London.