9 July

My dad and his friends emigrated to Australia at the start of the 1950s. They were part of that big wave of post-war immigration, that gave Australia the hugest rush of European culture and energy, after the war. They established Tablelands Building Company in Bathurst, still running today. One of their sidelines was building motels in multiple towns and running those, a real growth industry at that time. They were fantastically successful entrepreneurs. One was the Motel Capri, still in Bathurst, a classic piece of 1950s/60s architecture. Motels were new then, mass ownership of cars was new and you could park your car right outside your room. There were also fuel bowsers (see the pic) at the motel where guests could re-fuel. The 60s and 70s had such wonderful style, I still remember living amongst it, mum and dad had wonderful furniture and clothes and cars etc. Anyway, somebody posted this picture of the Capri, from 1960, to the Bathurst Memories site. Looking at it closely, I suddenly realised my dad is the figure you can see standing at the bowsers. He used to help guests fuel their cars.