No dunny holes for us. Bathurst was an advanced town, we had a night cart even well out of town.

We did have fun when it came to our sullage pit. Regulation called for it to be 6'6" deep, but it was wet that year. We struck water at 5', & could not clear it fast enough to dig down to that depth. In those more enlightened times with sensible bureaucrats, the local inspector approved ours at almost 6Ft.

We had a quarter acre garden. Half peas, then tomatoes, cabbage, cauliflower & rhubarb. Sometimes spuds & carrots, but root crops often failed in the heavy black soil if it was wet. Raised ducks too, & sometimes had enough ducks & peas to sell to local restaurants & pubs. My first chore each afternoon was to put 25 bucket loads of well water onto a different section each day.

Never went hungry, dad had a reasonable job, but it would have been nice to afford a new pair of football boots, that actually fitted.

Was it a better time Canem Malum, I think it was. I had a morning paper run that earned me enough to buy a good bike, & I had access to a great education, that earned me a General Motors scholarship to do engineering at uni. I could ride down to the river with my cattle dog running beside me, & take the 22 to try to shoot a rabbit for dinner, & no one turned a hair.

We spent a couple of years living in a dirt floor tin shed, while we gathered short supply materials to build a house. Today when I bought an old council worksite caravan to use as a hay shed, the council inspectors were there in 3 days. They had a complaint I had a gypsy encampment on the place. Yes I'm sure it was a better time.