Bremerton (CA 130) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 45 text:

Q so, x be Scorcely on hour went by in The entire 10 doys when 'rhere vvosn'T somebody on the pier iusf looking of us, ond scorcely on evening when The Ausfrolion-American Association didn't hove ci whole sfring of pzrties, picnics, dances, or fours lined up for us. R 2? if of if Q-se Haifa? 7' 007.5 Y? Q, PQRT Px-N-up 9 AY INDIAN OQE AN

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MELBUURNE 2 At last. As the spires of Melbourne and the crowd on Princes Pier drew nearer, it seemed as though we'd burst with anxiety and exhilaration. For many months we had been looking forward to this day-l December l956. We were proud that we had been selected to represent the United States Navy on such an important occasion, and we had worked 'hard to prove that we were deserving of the once-in-a-lifetime trip. We had read in our papers and magazines at home about the far-off Olympics and famous athletes we were sending U down under, we had experienced the bleak discauragement of the temporary cancellation, we had come four times the distance from New York to Gibraltar across the widest ocean in the world to a land less than iz of us had ever visited before, and now that we had reached our goal it seemed almost hard to believe. Melbourne! Australia!! We were the first official Navy visitors to Melbourne since l952. Pictures of our ship-and of our people-were splashed across the newspapers even before we got ashore. We had heard much about the friendliness of the Australians, but we weren't quite prepared for the flood of hospitality which im- mediately engulfed us, 3

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Supposedly the staid and steady- tempered second city ot Australia, Melbourne let her hair down a bit during the Games and rollicked in the glow ot the international noto- riety that for the time being put her on a par with her big sister, Sydney. Sydney, they'd tell us-you must go to Sydney. Much gayer. You'd like it. As it we didn't have our hands tull in Melbourne! We were impressed by the bigness ot the busy city-over a million and a halt souls-the tall buildings, the green parks lit was Spring in Australial and the left-handed traffic. We Wasted no time in getting acquainted with the stand-up pubs labovel, where men only are allowed to elbow their way up to the brass rail for a draft ot good strong Australian beer-but the penalty tor 'enioying these smoke-tilled sanctuaries ot masculinity is a 6 o'clock certew imposed mainly by the women voters ot Melbourne who like their husband home for dinner. lt might have mattered some to us, but the endless rounds ot social engagements more than took up where the pubs left oft.