Originally Posted by
Sunfish
I was lucky enough at Ansett to take annual leave in October 1977(?) to Hayman Island with my wife. Our tickets were stamped “annual leave” we were upgraded and had a simply magical time there. I vaguely remember beachcombers and a big radial sitting in the shrubbery. Of course Abeles put a stop to that and rebuilt Hayman, taking it way out of reach of the average Australian.
A yes, staff travel in those days was fantastic. Not to wander too far from the thread here but I remember how airline employees went to great lengths to help each other in the days you mentioned. Had many experiences of amazing generosity and extra effort to which I always did my best to reciprocate when the opportunity came up. Another thing lost to history.