Parenteel Derck Backer (van Roekel) - Inleiding Naamlijst Bronnen

Cornelia Maria Johanna van Roekel

Dochter van Lodevicus (Lowie) van Roekel en Johanna Antoinetta (Ann) van Stiphout, geboren 14-12-1937 Tongelre

Trouwt 1963 AU Alice Springs NT Allan John Anderson,

Kinderen:

1. Bruce John Anderson
2. Erika Robyn Anderson

Bronnen:

Cornelia Anderson Email 22-10-2005:

Bruce John heeft geen kinderen, Erika Robyn gescheiden en heeft geen kinderen, Voor biografische aantekeningen van Cornelia zie hieronder.
Bruce John has no children, Erika Robyn is divorced and has no children, For some biographical notes of Cornelia see next item.

Cornelia Anderson Email 20-11-2005, biographical notes:

Just a note on your letter.

Tante Corrie would have been Cornelia as I was named for her.

My father was a butcher by trade. He was called Lowie as well as Joop would have been shortened for Johannes I think. Will have to look that up. Dad had a shop in Tongelre near the chuch and opposite the school so we never got away with any thing.

My parents settled in Jamestown South Australia, we were never in these camps most migrants went. And when Joop came out he stayed with us for a while before moving to Port Pirie which is 30 kilometres away. Nicolaas was the one who had the rubber mats.

Pictures I will have to have a look. My mother became demented and burnt most of them. That can happen with dementia sad but what can you do.
Alice Springs comes in the picture via me. I was a nurse and worked in the Northern Territory at Tennant Creek. (few nurses in our family). As Allan came from Brisbane, Queensland we decided to marry in Alice Springs half way between both families and told them all after the deed was done. Usually in Australia people marry in girls family town.

We lived in the Territory for about 5 years. It was dusty, flies were bad and it was hot in summer cold in winter. The wind was lazy and went right through your bones but you needed sunglasses. Before coloured sheets came in we had pinkish ones. The red dust got into every thing. I used to hang out the washing and could see the dust coming. I knew I would have 15 minutes before it hit and by that time washing was dry. All the same I liked it, it gets in your blood. Some people never got away.

Allan was a refrigeration and aircondition mechanic. We both worked for the Federal Government. At that time the Territory was controlled from Canberra, but now is a state and has its own ministers ect.

Allan decided to do some study by correspondence so we moved to Aboriginal Settlement about 50 kilometres from Tennant Creek.About 500 km north of Alice. We often would go for the weekend to Alice , Mount Isa and at times to Darwin. Darwin was further to go about 800 kms.

After five years we went to Canberra and lived there about 15 years before coming north to Brisbane. We left the Territory in December with temperatures of about 40 degrees C and froze in Canberra at about 20 degrees C that first summer and winter although I was more climatised by then.

When we went back in the nineties for a visit, I could have stayed there. I missed it and even now thinking about it, it pulls you back. The outback is beautiful and after it rains the desert blooms it only takes 14 days after the rain for the flowers to be up. Die quickly too but while they bloom, beautiful.

Not that it is the same to live there now. It was primitive, we could go to the pictures once a week which were old ,often used to breakdown. The seats were canvas and as they broke they just tacked them up a bit till the next time. We had balls either at the hotel or at the Memorial Club. The only bitumen roads were from Alice Spring to Darwin and from the Three Ways to Mout Isa. The junction was about 30 kms from Tennant. We drove from Tennant to South Aust. To visit parents and from The Alice down it was dirt with dust about a foot on each side. This was in the sixties. That road is bitumen now.

There used to be a train from The Alice to Adelaide, the Ghan, one each way once a week. Often it used to have washouts and there you were. Been on it once when we left. Some how the Government payed for our transfer as Allan worked at Parliament House so moving was easy. The car went on and we spend two days and one night on it. We got of at Port Augusta to visit parents in Jamestown.

Now the track has been moved as well as the road and breakdowns do not happen too often and it goes from Adelaide to Darwin. It is a tourist attraction and a lot of people use it. Now they have a picture theatre, airconditioned, a swimming pool and it even has suburbs. We used to drive to the large tanks, that water was for the cattle and swim in there. Have a picnic with towels over our heads whist we ate. Our drinking water came from artisian bores which you had to put in the fridge overnight else you could not drink it. It smelled. Allan had to send away samples from time to time and it came back as not fit for human consumption but we all drank it. Perhaps that’s why both of us never suffer from drinking any local water wherever we go. Water in the creeks is non existent but when it rained it poured. After not seeing rain for 6 months took a photo of it as it hit the water tanks. Alice Springs also has changed a lot and Darwin was rebuild after the cyclone hit it in the eighties and off course all of the towns have grown. Better send this.

I hope you were not bored reading my rambling but perhaps you can imagen when you see this show Alice [Flying Doctors...]. I have not seen it so cannot tell you if it was filmed there.

Regards Corry Anderson