June 

In January 1975 we returned to Australia. Whilst in Papua New Guinea we had sold our home in Narrabeen and bought an old house in Neutral Bay as investment property. Now we moved into this spacious but run-down place and started to renovate soon, adding a garage, a sunroom at the back and turned the space under the roof into a large family room.The garden was very small but soon I turned that into a green oasis. We lived in this beautiful place close to the city and with a Harbour Bridge view for 21 years till we retired. 

And these were very happy years.    

 May

At the end of 1971 Hartmut had an offer to work for 2 years as economics lecturer at Goroka Teachers College in Papua New Guinea. What an opportunity. A chance not to be missed.

This new experiences was so exciting and had it’s challenges too. Hart loved his job and extended his contract by a year. The students came from every part of Papua New Guinea. Although this was a 3 year teachers training course some of the graduates took positions in the new government. With so many expatriates leaving in a hurry before independence, I was asked within 6 months after arriving in Goroka to work in the college administration. With only the Australian Principal and one typist left the College was not functioning well. I too enjoyed working in the college, although to pay was not much: I agreed to accept local wages. The Hippy time was in full swing and it made it all more exciting. Schooling for our 2 eldest children was problematic. Ulrike and Tom attend the local high school as the only European kids and had to do correspondence lessons with the Australian curriculum as well. After 2 years Ulrike had to leave and stay with friends in Australia to do year 11, because high school finished with year 10 in PNG.       

We lived in one of the many small new 2 bedroom cottages on the college ground the Australian government has quickly put up to accommodate the new staff needed to finally train some local people for self-government. The place was very small for a family of 6 but comfortable. We put up a room divider in the large open space living area and had a third bedroom. 

                                                                                   

 It was expected to employ a local person. We did not want a ‘houseboy’, but a gardener would be very useful. Jacob from a village near by became our gardener and transformed the land around our little house into a beautiful garden and build a little roundhouse too. We are still in contact with Jacob and his family.

Saturdays we went to the local market. 

Sing-sings and the annual show were spectacular.

 On the highway to Lae.

Visiting  Jacob’s village   

                             

    Hart’s father visited us and we went to a students village    

Hart’s favourite group of students  

Michael Somare addressing the students   

                                        

The Queen and Prince Phillip visiting the College on their 1974 tour of PNG.  

      

             

  This photos Hart took  must be one of the nicest ever of the Queen.

 April

From 1963 on, right from the beginning when Hartmut was a teacher we saved every penny to buy a house. And within 3 years in Sydney we had saved enough for a deposit to look for a places. Our friend Ron helped us a lot to find a good place. Just when we thought there is a little cottage in Narrabeen which may be suitable, a phone call came from the Housing Commission: ” You are next in line for a place, a new 3-bedroom brick-veneer house in Green Acre is available for you now.” What to do? After long discussions we made the difficult decision: old timber-fibro 2 bedroom cottage at a norther beaches suburb with a mortgage  may be a better option after all than a perfect home with hardly any debts at the western outskirts of Sydney.

We got the keys for our first own home on 10 March 1966, the day we left Berlin six years earlier. Over the six years we lived in Narrabeen we renovated the place with the help of two good friends and and made it a beautiful home for our family.

  

There was a nice big backyard with a clump of bananas and a a big gum tree. 

And we had very nice neighbours.

 March

Big changes effecting our life happened late in 1961 and early 1962.The Berlin Wall was put up in August 1961, making it impossible for people from the West to visit family in the East. And our relatives, like most in Berlin, lived in both parts of the city. So we could no longer visit our parents if we were to return.The 'East' was closed off from the 'Free World'. 

Also Hartmut received an offer of a study place at Sydney Teachers College and a scholarship for a one year course to gain a Teaching Certificate. So we decided to move to Sydney. And before we could let our parents know that we wanted to stay longer in Australia my mother died. 

We moved to Sydney and found soon a very nice place in Balgowlah, near a bay of the harbour with views to Manly. A lovely very old widowed lady lived on the ground floor of that beautiful house and we rented the upper floor.There were two bedrooms, a large living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. The kids got the large bedroom, the very small second bedroom became the study and in the large living room we put a bed for us and made it look like a sofa during the day.

We lived in Balgowlah for four years and they were happy years. Hartmut became a teacher; our two eldest started school and our third and fourth child were born there.