I arrived in Melbourne the first week in October 1958, a few days after the VFL Grand Final. To the uninitiated, the VFL Grand Final is by far the most important event of the year for almost every red-blooded person living in Victoria, even more important than the Melbourne Cup, which comes in second. Consequently my arrival was totally unnoticed.

It was one of those February days that seemed to get hotter with every passing hour, and the searing, north-westerly wind blew the fine red sand across the road like snow drift off a Himalayan mountain. The temperature had been above forty degrees since nine o'clock that morning and would probably stay there until well after sunset. I was working as a technician in the Servo Optical Section, on the Woomera Rocket Range, South Australia, and it was mid summer 1966.