I have been friends with Adam since the day we entered College in September 1969, so this year we celebrate 55 years of our friendship.

Adam has lived his life in Australia since university in the UK and has run a successful chiropractic clinic but is now semi-retired.  He also founded and runs a charity giving direct aid to the homeless in Brisbane (and has been doing so since the terrible floods there a few years ago).

I had gone through three flights (London/Singapore, Singapore/Sydney, Sydney/Harvey Bay) without a stopover, so was a little weary when I eventually got to Burram Heads, a lovely quiet resort, in North Queensland.  Adam, gung ho as ever, insisted I go with him on arrival for a refreshing swim: “There are Tiger Sharks but they do not come in this close to shore, although the locals say I am mad” says Adam when we are in the water.  (N.B. for rather obvious reasons swimming in Australian river estuaries is not generally recommended.)

Adam mentioned over evening drinks (he still makes all his own spirits, wine and beer with varying degrees of success) that in the Burram Estuary there are three small islands named “Guernsey”, “Alderney” and “Jersey”.  That the largest of these is “Guernsey” and the smallest “Jersey”, suggests that they were discovered and named by a Guernseyman.  This led us on to a discussion of the many links between a small island and a very large one.

Adam mentioned that we were only a few kilometres away from Childers, named after H.C. Childers, the British Home Secretary and Old Elizabethan (958) who was instrumental in founding Melbourne Grammar School and Melbourne University.

Childers is a charming Victorian small town and below are photos of me and Adam there.

During my time in Australia I had some email exchanges with Bruce Parker (4747) who pointed me in the direction of other Old Elizabethan and Australian links such as the explorer Charles Kennedy (349) after whom Mount Kennedy is named.

In the future I hope to do some research concerning the OE/Guernsey/Australia connection, so if anyone has any information, please let me know through Sara Wright at the College Development & Marketing office.