Across the Pacific

[The SS Mariposa departed San Francisco on 14 November 1941]. The first port of call was Los Angeles, where we went on a ride on the famous roller coaster, the only occupants as I remember apart from two American matelots off their ship. We were pea-green and I thought our mother would have a heart attack, but the sailors were totally unaffected by it all. Somehow going on a roller coaster when you are the only occupants is much more frightening than when it's full of other screaming tourists.

Our tour across the Pacific took us to Hawaii, American Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand, and eventually to Sydney. 

[According to Barbara's scrapbook of the voyage (from which these postcards are taken), somewhere between Hawaii and Samoa they visitedTin Can Island, which consisted of a single palm tree. Perhaps unsurprisingly I have been unable to locate this on any map]. 

Since the ship's passengers included a large consignment of Australian RAAF personnel as well as various soldiers and sailors of other nationalities (mainly American) we had plenty of entertainment on board with dances and cinema showings and also there was a swimming pool rigged up on deck. We had a high old time and got rather out of control I think, as we were outnumbered by men ten to one and there were very few other teenagers or children on board. The men of course enjoyed treating us to ice creams and fizzy pop. 

Little did we know it but we were passing through Honolulu just about three weeks before the Japanese attacked the American naval base there in Pearl Harbour. We must have been one of the last ships to get through.