Helen Monteath memories of her OE to Australia.....

Helen Monteath was back in the drafting room of the Southland Education Board with a golden tan and many happy memories to remind her of her two months working holiday in Australia.
She remembered:  She was employed in a Sydney firm which manufactured men's ties before she travelled on to Melbourne and began lookinf for work.  An advertisement "Wanted Lady Drivers" caught her eye and her application was accepted.
 

To her surprise Miss Monteath found that four of the other 15 girls emplyed at the car park full-time were New Zealanders, and she was told that there were always some New Zealand girls on the staff.
An average of 80 cars were parked in the bulding throughout the day, and a 24 hour service was maintained.
When she arrived in Melbourne with Miss Sinclair, Miss Montheath did not know a person there.  The first thing she did was to equip herself with a street map, and the, armed with a pile of pennies she made her way to the chief post office to look for some accommodation.
She was told that Invercargill and Melbourne were planned by the same person, and their wide streets were beautifully decorated for Christmas.
When Helen went to Sydney she found she had to take the hems of her skirts up several inches in line with the trend for shorter skirts.
The office girl were very well dressed and paisley was the name of the day.
​She also realised that most Australian girls wore make up and she had never seen so many red-heads in her life.

Helen brown

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