Ice Breaker

With the focus yesterday on the Skudder family, it would have been easy to abandon my latest photo matching project.  A dress, a handbag and a familiar photo, with a poignant story attached...  Then with sublime serendipity, (I'd already taken the dress-based photos), I discovered in two separate parts of the house, a newspaper clipping and a diary entry, that brought life and colour to this moment in time.

The newspaper article goes on to describe a day of false starts and delays as the Magga Dan prepared to sail from Melbourne.  The loading of hundreds of drums of aviation spirit delayed departure, but my father's diary entry adds another dimension to events with palpable frustration.

8.45 left for Walshes [?] where prepared launch, about 10.35 left for Fishermans Bend where took in tow Beaver aircraft, after some trouble getting it off the Beach, grounding ourselves twice in process. A lot of wind made operation a bit awkward. Made 3 runs into ship before dropping plane safely.

And opening and closing the entry, my father makes intimate observations about his newly wedded state and his bride. I can't help feeling a little curl of pleasure in knowing that I was there in that farewell scene too: a tiny and probably unrealised presence, embarking on my own voyage of discovery.

But since this post started with a dress and a photo, I shall close with a dress and a photo: Bryony wearing what was in fact her grandmother's wedding dress!