A Toasty Christmas Anchored Off Western Australia

Almost fifty years ago, a teenager at sea, I was on the MV Westminster Bridge, anchored off Dampier, Western Australia for almost three weeks. It was blistering hot and the air conditioning conked out. So Christmas dinner was on deck.

Finally, we get ashore, go to the only bar that's open, and the Chief Cook, a very well built lad from Liverpool, gets into a fight with an aborigine, which was a brutal battle until a policeman arrived.

The policeman was amiable, used to the hard life of the mining town, and drove us back to the ship. On the way he shined a spot light to the roadside, 'Roo!' He exclaims! As he now became our tour guide. In wonder at the awesome sight, I marveled at how fortunate I was and watched the Kangaroo bounce into the night. Other than that fight and a huge brawl a few months later in Port Headland, another mining town, the Kangaroo was the only wildlife I saw in Australia. :)