Yes

At Easter of 1963 we went camping close to Echuca, on the Murray River. At the time my step father was rather newer to the lark than I am now; he was where I was about two years ago. Of course he had certain advantages; back then no one thought twice if the responsible adult administered the curative slap.

I don't remember much about that camping trip if the truth be told. My sisters were put to bed in the boot (trunk) of the family car, a 1960 Holden Sedan. I don't remember where I slept. I suspect it was the backseat of the same car. I do remember making the surprising, at the time, discovery that some Australian trees are so heavy the wood doesn't float in water. Well I didn't know so it was something of a shock when the carefully prepared battleship I'd made sank at its launch! The analogous discovery, that some rocks float, was made in 2000 in New Zealand.

Apart from those memories I recall the lamb chops and sausages cooked over a real camp fire and being forbidden to dive into the river. The latter probably saved my life; I couldn't swim and the Murray is notorious for it's underwater snags.

And one other memory. I got into an argument with Mum about something or other. I honestly don't remember what the something was apart from it having something to do with comic books. Maybe it was whether Superman really wears his underpants on the outside.

One thing led to another and the argument transformed into a bet with a stake of ten bob! Riches beyond the dreams of avarice to a 9 year old. Looking back on it I see where Mum was coming from; anything to shut me up! The odds on my being able to actually finance the debt if it went bad were astronomical.

So we returned to Melbourne. And off I set for the Footscray Library to obtain proof that I was right and Mum was wrong! If I were doing it today I'd already know that the library would be closed on Easter Tuesday. Thus, arrived at the library and finding it closed, I cast about for other ways of proving I was right, she was wrong and that ten bob was mine!

My solution? I stopped at a corner milkbar and asked the woman behind the counter to write the word 'yes' on a piece of paper. She did and I proudly presented it to Mum when she got home from work. Not surprisingly, Mum was rather less than convinced and I'm still waiting for that ten bob!