A 1935 Chevrolet did not have a boot. There was a luggage rack that folded down and everything was loaded onto that. It coped easily with two shipping trunks and a couple of suitcases and the first task was to go shopping. A butchers shop was the first requirement so in we went. We had escaped the worst of rationing because we had been at Aldergrove in Northern Ireland for three years but my mother was staggered when we walked in the shop. It was wall to wall with joints of every type of meat hanging from hooks. Having loaded up with what would have been a months supply of meat in England we then proceeded to Meikles, Rhodesia’s premier retail and hotel chain. We had seen supermarkets in American films but this was the first time we had been in one. It was fantastic; all you had to do was wander around with a trolley and fill it full of goodies. Unfortunately most of my goodies were unloaded from mine before we reached the checkout.
Bulawayo had been planned as a modern city way back in the 1920’s. It had a modern block arrangement and the streets were incredibly wide. Cars could be parked face in to the pavement, two lanes of traffic, centre parking across the middle of the road with another two lanes plus face in parking the other side. When it was planned the requirement was to be able to turn a Full Span of Oxen (16 or 8 pairs) around in one movement. The oxen had gone but the ease of parking remained.
We punched out into the bush up the Salisbury road. Twenty five miles out of Bulawayo we arrived at an establishment known as Ntabazinduna Mission. This was right in the middle of the sticks. It consisted of a Presbyterian church, house, school and a few hangers on. How we managed to live in this place was purely by chance.
Just across the road and railway was a relief landing strip for Heany called White’s Run. My father had an inexperienced student who he took up there to give him some circuit practice. Having established that he was not going to kill anybody he sent him off solo and retired to a hut where the ambulance and fire tender crews used when there was nobody around. A Rev Williamson, Pastor of said Ntabizinduna Mission came in and asked him whether he knew of anybody who could look after his house whilst he went to the UK on leave. My father jumped at this, finding accommodation was almost impossible and that is why we could go out and join him.
The house was extensively furnished and had every convenience except electric light. There were light switches in every room but this relied on a bank of batteries in a shed that required careful husbandry with recharging from a wind generator. This came under the heading of ‘far too difficult’ so we were stuck with Tilley lamps. The telephone was a party line and the operator called the necessary number by the number of rings on the bell; we were on four rings. My mother was more than happy with the facilities available so after a late dinner I settled down to my first night listening to the sounds of the wildlife of Africa.