Meeting Elmer

Bertha was working in Yangan milking cows at the time she met Elmer.

It was through her boss, Mrs Neilson, the couple came to know each other.

"He looked so big and bushy... I'd never seen a man that looked so much like the bush," says Bertha.

Elmer had been timbergetting for her boss's husband, Christie Neilson, who died in an accident.

Mrs Neilson had trying to get in touch with Elmer to ask if he would bring back her husband's working gear from the bush.

"She used to leave messages at the places in Yangan, the shopping places and the pub and those places," says Bertha.

"So at last he came.

"He came at night, must have been when he finished work.

"He looked like he'd just been rained on."

The occasion left an impression on Bertha for more than one reason.

She and her boss, Mrs Neilson were barefoot when he arrived.

"In those days a woman never let a man see her without shoes and we were embarrassed!"

"We had our bare feet under the table and we wouldn't get up!"