Some of my earliest memories were of my mom teaching me to fold a nappy. In those days we could not buy disposable nappies. I have six siblings and being the eldest meant that I had to learn to help out. When my sister was born she was sibling number five and I was about seven. I recall how my mother was extremely busy and so she would recruit me to bottle feed my younger sister. Of course I loved my baby sister and it was a real pleasure for me to cuddle her and imagine the future when we could play together. As my dad often arrived home later at night because he worked as a geologist for CSIRO (Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organization) I would value our times together. Sometimes he would gather everyone together and share his knowledge of rocks because he loved to collect rocks. There were occasions when my dad would take us on special excursions which were scheduled around various geological sites. Once we went panning for gold in Ballarat, a small town just outside Melbourne. Gold was discovered there in 1851 and today it still attracts many visitors. Another wonderful memory is of our family trip to The Organ Pipes National Park which can best be described as a geologists dream as its’ hexagonal basalt columns have stood for millions of years. He would love to wander and pick up various rocks and explain their composition to us. At a young age I had a small collection of minerals, quartz, granite, amethyst, and other common rocks. Maybe that’s why when I grew up I went to work as an Administrator for a mining company.
Some of my earliest memories were of my mom teaching me to fold a nappy. In those days we could not buy disposable nappies. I have six siblings and being the eldest meant that I had to learn to help out. When my sister was born she was sibling number five and I was about seven. I recall how my mother was extremely busy and so she would recruit me to bottle feed my younger sister. Of course I loved my baby sister and it was a real pleasure for me to cuddle her and imagine the future when we could play together. As my dad often arrived home later at night because he worked as a geologist for CSIRO (Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organization) I would value our times together. Sometimes he would gather everyone together and share his knowledge of rocks because he loved to collect rocks. There were occasions when my dad would take us on special excursions which were scheduled around various geological sites. Once we went panning for gold in Ballarat, a small town just outside Melbourne. Gold was discovered there in 1851 and today it still attracts many visitors. Another wonderful memory is of our family trip to The Organ Pipes National Park which can best be described as a geologists dream as its’ hexagonal basalt columns have stood for millions of years. He would love to wander and pick up various rocks and explain their composition to us. At a young age I had a small collection of minerals, quartz, granite, amethyst, and other common rocks. Maybe that’s why when I grew up I went to work as an Administrator for a mining company.