Bob Jubb - Journey to America

Transcript

We went by ship to Wellington in New Zealand, and picked up some more Kiwis, and then across the Pacific to San Francisco. I always remember walking through the ... As we came off the wharf, there was a caption over the gateway, and it said, "Through these portals pass the finest fighting men in the world."

The Aussies all said, "How did you know we were coming?" And asked various questions of the locals. We enjoyed that. No, not much.

We were put on a train and sent the northern route up through Wyoming and Utah and into Colorado and across Northern America to Camp Miles Standish in Massachusetts. The Americans were just so welcoming and really lovely people.

I remember the train stopped at a little place called Salida in Colorado, and I remember it had a great tall mountain up behind the village. An old fellow came up, and he peered at my shoulder flash, which had Australia, and he peered at that and he said, "Australia." And he leaned back and he said, "Say, which part of the States are you fellows from?" Some of the Americans had a bit to learn about geography, I think.

We played cards and peered out at the ever-changing scenery. It was winter, and it was really very cold, and the wonderful trains, the Pullman trains, were all heated, so we lived in great comfort. Well, being winter, there wasn't a lot visible in the farmland. A lot of it was snow-covered, and all through the Utah, the Wasatch Range, and then it went along. I remember the Colorado River, and we were going along beside the river. The railway line was up above, like on a ledge, with the river flowing down here. One stage went through this Royal Gorge Canyon, and the bridge over was a thousand feet up above the railway line. It was quite spectacular. We had nothing like that in Australia, but they were sights that you would never forget.